Psalm Meditation 873
Second Sunday in Lent
March 12, 2017

Psalm 37
1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers,
2 for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the LORD laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly;
15 their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16 Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever;
19 they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance.
20 But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving;
22 for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 Our steps are made firm by the LORD, when he delights in our way;
24 though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the LORD holds us by the hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
26 They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their children become a blessing.
27 Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever.
28 For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.
30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip.
32 The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them.
33 The LORD will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial.
34 Wait for the LORD, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked.
35 I have seen the wicked oppressing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
36 Again passed by, and they were no more; though I sought them, they could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
(NRSV)

It is easy to jealous of those who succeed by worldly standards of wealth, power, and influence. It appears that they have everything a person could possibly want; they lack for nothing. Well, except maybe friends or people they can trust with their lives and deepest, darkest secrets. The folks who have spent their time and energy amassing a fortune have probably not spent much time cultivating friendships or even relationships that are not business based. As I helped a friend move stuff from one place to another someone asked how I had gotten roped into helping. My flippant response was that I had discovered years ago that a truck is cheaper than friends, and once you buy a truck you suddenly have friends. There are folks who believe that with enough of the right resources they can buy friends.

For the most part what they have purchased is sycophants, ’yes folks.’ These are folks who will agree with whatever their rich friend says so that they can stay in the good graces and reap the benefits of this ’friendship.’ Friends are people who will challenge you, question your motives, and help you sort out alternatives prior to, rather than after taking a course of action. In some cases those ’friends’ will simply take a step back and keep silent in the face of a potentially disastrous plan. The ultimate goal of a sycophant is to step into the place of the former ’friend’ as the new rich person.

For people in a relationship with God there is no need to compete for the resources God offers. There may or may not be money, land, treasure as the rest of the world measures it. However, there will be relationships that are worth cultivating, there will be hearts and hands willing to do whatever can be done in times of trial, and there will be people ready and willing to rejoice in times that call for rejoicing. There are people of faith with a lot of material wealth and resources, as well as those with little to nothing. Among the people of God amassing material wealth is a secondary rather than primary consideration. The primary concern is, how can I serve in the name and for the glory of God.

March 6, 2017
LCM