Psalm Meditation 921
Transfiguration Sunday
February 11, 2018

Psalm 21
1 In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord, and in your help how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him—length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6 You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among humankind.
11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.
(NRSV)

There were kings that were chosen by God and there were kings that did not walk in the way of God. By the time the books of Kings and Chronicles were written the authors of those books seemed to know which kings were good and which were not. I wonder if there was in disagreeement over the faithfulness of a given king during a particular reign. I believe that each of us believes that we are doing the right thing, at least in the moment we are contemplating and acting. Sometimes it is not until years later that we realize that our actions were not as pure as we believed at the time. I am sure that kings were even more convinced of the rightness of their actions due to the absolute power given to kings of the biblical era.

One of the reasons that the definitive history of an era is not written until 50+ years have passed is that it takes that long for those with personal investments and prejudices to lose their influence in the evaluation. All-powerful kings likely declared and believed themselves to be living in the favor of the divine beings of the culture. It takes time to sort out which ones were faithful followers and which ones were not. Every victory is seen by supporters as evidence of divine blessing and each loss is seen by detractors as evidence of divine curse. It takes time to sort out the good and bad, the truth and fiction of an era.

We do well to keep ourselves from putting too much hope and trust in the rulers we have at any given moment. As people of faith we can look beyond the power of those in charge to see where God is pointing and leading. Because humans are mortal it is important to have an eternal focus for our ideals of faithful practice. We look to humans to lead us in the short term. It is important to look to God and the ways of God for the long term. “Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.”

February 5, 2018
LCM