Psalm Meditation 934
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 13, 2018

Psalm 36
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes.
2 For they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit; they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
10 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie prostrate; they are thrust down, unable to rise.
(NRSV)

I imagine the psalmist and I agree on one of the motivations for sin even though we express it differently. The psalmist says, “they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated” and I believe we rationalize our own behavior so that it is not sin in our eyes. There is no reason for our sin to be found out and hated because ours is not really sin. We are providing a service, inviting people to participate in something we enjoy, helping them experience something besides the dullness of their existence. How could that possibly be a bad thing?

We may even judge others harshly for the same activity and continue to practice that sin without ever seeing our lives as sinful. My psychologist friends call it our shadow life. The things that annoy us most about others are things of which we too are guilty. We convince ourselves that it is a harmless distraction when we do it and a terrible sin when we see others involved. On top of that we know our motives are innocent and we assume the worst possible motivation for the other. Because our motives are pure we deserve a place in the steadfast love of God, and all those others are among those “thrust down, unable to rise.”

Sometimes it is good to look at ourselves more carefully than usual. We may see something about ourselves that needs addressing through confession and repentance. Sometimes we are bothered by things in others that are so unlike us that we can’t understand how anyone could behave that way. Often we are troubled by actions that are present and denied in us. Perhaps as we take refuge in the shadow of God’s wings we can see that there is a place for those we are quick to judge as well.

May 7, 2018
LCM