Psalm Meditation 917
Second Sunday After the Epiphany
January 14, 2018

Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
(NRSV)

According to the psalmist, God is greatly influenced by our actions. If we are good then God is good to us; if we are not, God exacts punishment on us. Much like a parent who lays down the rules and then gives us good and bad consequences according to how well we follow through on our rule keeping. As parents we like to think that we are in charge of the relationship with our children, however, when our lives are spent enforcing rules we find ourselves reacting rather than leading.

God has the ability to act on divine principles no matter what. God loves us, cares for us, offers us grace and forgiveness whether we are good or evil. The love of God is not a consequence of our actions, it is a gift that we are given to do with as we will. The consequences of our actions are not from God, the consequences are from our actions. I have heard, ’We are not punished for our sin as much as we are punished by our sin.’ That is, our actions have consequences built into them.

It is a rare person who can love people by their own choice. We are more inclined to love those who love us, to act for the benefit of those in our own circle of influence. God loves us no matter what. God is not influenced by our actions or associations, God is influenced by the choices God makes. God is not like us on a larger, grander scale. God is God. God is with us.

January 8, 2018
LCM