Psalm Meditation 828
Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 1, 2016

Psalm 26
1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.
4 I do not sit with the worthless, nor do I consort with hypocrites;
5 I hate the company of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O LORD,
7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving, and telling all your wondrous deeds.
8 O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell, and the place where your glory abides.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
10 those in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the LORD.
(NRSV)

I first heard it in reference to one of my older colleagues, “He can brag in such a way that you are proud to know him.” That is not usually the case with people. Those who brag and boast are some of the most difficult to live around since they are some of the least likely to be able to live as they say they do. While they do all the things they say they do, they also have this large piece of pride, to the point of arrogance, between them and the good deeds that they carry on about. Every now and then, though, one meets a person who says how they behave in the presence of God in a way that is humble and genuine.

We can’t know which kind of person the psalmist is; humble and genuine or annoying and arrogant. It is probably just as well. If the psalmist is one of those annoying, arrogant types it is easy to dismiss the psalm as the boasting of a hypocritical zealot. If the psalmist is humble and genuine it is easy to dismiss the psalm as an impossible ideal limited to those whose personality type lends itself to this kind of faithfulness and righteousness.

Since we don’t know the psalmist we can aim ourselves in the direction the psalm leans. We can do our best to err on the side of keeping the love of God in the forefront of our awareness. With the love of God before us we can find ourselves avoiding the temptation to sit on the sidelines and complain about how things are being done without contributing our best effort. We can keep ourselves from being a part of the group that thinks some people deserve the evil that comes to them and join in devising new ways to make those folks suffer. In place of those things we join in acts of worship, witness and thanksgiving to God. We live with integrity and grace in the presence of God.

April 25, 2016
LCM