Psalm Meditation 891
Proper 10
July 16, 2017

Psalm 31
1 In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.
3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
6 You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities,
8 and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!—as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.
17 Do not let me be put to shame, O LORD, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be stilled that speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19 O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone!
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege.
22 I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the LORD, all you his saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD.
(NRSV)

Trusting God can be hard work because God doesn’t always deliver what we want, when we want, and in the way we want it. Some people decide to trust God in spite of this flawed delivery system and claim God as their own. They continue to trust God even when things don’t work out as anticipated. The good thing is that by trusting God folks discover that God can come up with some pretty neat alternatives that had not crossed the minds of those who put their trust in God.

Other people decide that because God is not willing/able to meet their needs as expected, God is not to be trusted. Because they don’t trust God they miss seeing the ways God acts to meet their needs and wants. They are disappointed often enough that they stop looking for or expecting anything from God. Their expectations, that God is not trustworthy, are met because they fail/refuse to see the ways God is at work in their lives.

Someone once pointed out to me that trust is first given and then earned. That is, I have to trust you with my wants and needs, or expectations and responsibilities before you can possibly deliver on them. I have to trust you with a responsibility before you can show yourself trustworthy. The psalmist makes the bold choice to trust in God and to say, “You are my God.” Once that step is taken the psalmist sees God at work in a variety of ways. It is entirely possible that God was already at work in the psalmist’s life and the activity was missed because the psalmist had no eye for the work of God without the companion choice of trust in God.

July 10, 2017
LCM