Psalm Meditation 931
Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 22, 2018

Psalm 67
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.
(NRSV)

We like the idea of equity of judgment until it appears that someone else receives a benefit at our expense. When I was in college I was asked to referee a volleyball game at church camp. It happened that one of the teams that day was the group for whom I was youth pastor. In an attempt not to be accused of bias I ended up calling a lot more faults and fouls on my own team. And while it may seem to work that way with God sometimes, it is not the case. God is fair and equitable among us.

We may be aware of times God calls faults and fouls on us more often than we are when it happens to others. Life is more complex than a volleyball game. Since we are aware of the rules we are conscious of the fouls being called. Since it happens to us we are conscious of the call being made where we may miss it when called against others. On top of that life fouls are rarely called at the moment of the infraction. The effect of a foul committed in this moment may take weeks or even generations to make itself known and felt.

The psalmist reminds us that God is fair in judgment even as blessings come to us beyond our ability to earn, acknowledge, or even recognize them. God judges fairly, each according to our actions. God blesses unfairly, each according to the love God has for us without regard to our earning or deserving those blessings in any way. “May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.”

April 16, 2018
LCM