Psalm Meditation 924
Third Sunday in Lent
March 4, 2018

Psalm 82
1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I say, “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!
(NRSV)

Many of us take comfort in knowing that we are where we deserve to be. Something we have done gives us the right to be right where we are in the economic and influence pecking order. We might have some question about those who have more than we; for the most part things are just as they should be. Then a psalm like this comes along to remind us that God has an eye toward widows and orphans, the lowly and destitute, the outsider and outcast. If God has a special concern for them why are they not better off?

Could it be that we too are to have a special concern for those who have less than we? Before “A rising tide lifts all boats.” can become helpful to those in some form of poverty we have to be sure that all people are in a boat to be lifted. Could it be that what we have is meant to be used for the sake of those whose needs are greater than ours rather than to move us farther up the economic and influence scale? As people of God our goal is not to be self-aggrandizement; our goal is to give to others as we have received.

As children of God we do well to take the advice of John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can, for as long as you can.” The problem is not with having money and other resources. The problem is in using our gifts and resources for our own selfish benefit rather than to help those whose needs are greater than our own.

February 26, 2018
LCM