Psalm Meditation 946
Proper 13
August 5, 2018
Psalm 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are those who make the LORD their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
11 Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
(NRSV)
In my first year of ministry I was told it didn’t sound like I believed what I was preaching. I had to admit, to myself at least, that I was telling folks what I thought they wanted to hear. It was a very helpful critique that has influenced my preaching ever since. I was reminded of the incident when the psalmist says, “I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.” One of the blessings of preaching is having the privilege of telling people about the deliverance God offers. Pastors have the honor and obligation to remind folks that God is with us all the time.
Some people want to hear that God is vengeful and will lash out at us for the smallest of infractions. At the very least we want to hear that God is out to get all of ‘them.’ When what we want to know is that God can dish out punishment with what appears to us to be great glee a word of grace and deliverance can be jarring. We want to know that shame, confusion, and dishonor await those who stand against us. And yet, God offers deliverance and salvation.
As in the case with the one who criticized my early preaching, we can be delivered by those who stand against us. Sometimes, our enemies, adversaries, and opponents are the ones who remind us of the deliverance and salvation that God offers to “all who seek you rejoice and [are] glad in you...” Whether the intent is to move us closer to God or to destroy us, those who stand against us can be the ones who remind us, who demonstrate to us, the presence and deliverance of God in our lives.
July 31, 2018
LCM
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Monday, July 23, 2018
Psalm Meditation 945
Proper 12
July 29, 2018
Psalm 13
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
(NRSV)
As soon as things fail to go the worse than we planned we are tempted to feel abandoned by God. At least until something happens around us that really does feel as if God has walked away and left us where we stand. The temptation is to believe that God is the one who left us and that it was done on purpose. My wife and I often get separated while shopping because one of us, usually me, gets distracted by something. When I look up I am alone and have to catch up, find my way back.
There are times in which God leaves us so that we can discover a strength, a skill, a need that we would not know we had any other way. As scary as it can be to be left to our own devices, there comes a time when it is important to learn that we are capable. The first morning that mom didn’t lay out socks with our school outfits, my little brother and I went downstairs to let mom know that she forgot. She let us know that she did not forget, she thought that we were old enough to pick out our own socks. Within a few days we were picking out clothes ourselves. We had not been abandoned or forgotten, we had been trusted.
While it may feel as if we are abandoned, we are not. Whether we have been separated from God due to choice on the part of one of us, or due to some randomness around us, God is with us, God is present in a way that may be beyond our ability to see at the moment. We may learn a skill or discover a strength we would rather not have, and still, God is with us, surrounding us with steadfast love.
July 23, 2018
LCM
Proper 12
July 29, 2018
Psalm 13
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
(NRSV)
As soon as things fail to go the worse than we planned we are tempted to feel abandoned by God. At least until something happens around us that really does feel as if God has walked away and left us where we stand. The temptation is to believe that God is the one who left us and that it was done on purpose. My wife and I often get separated while shopping because one of us, usually me, gets distracted by something. When I look up I am alone and have to catch up, find my way back.
There are times in which God leaves us so that we can discover a strength, a skill, a need that we would not know we had any other way. As scary as it can be to be left to our own devices, there comes a time when it is important to learn that we are capable. The first morning that mom didn’t lay out socks with our school outfits, my little brother and I went downstairs to let mom know that she forgot. She let us know that she did not forget, she thought that we were old enough to pick out our own socks. Within a few days we were picking out clothes ourselves. We had not been abandoned or forgotten, we had been trusted.
While it may feel as if we are abandoned, we are not. Whether we have been separated from God due to choice on the part of one of us, or due to some randomness around us, God is with us, God is present in a way that may be beyond our ability to see at the moment. We may learn a skill or discover a strength we would rather not have, and still, God is with us, surrounding us with steadfast love.
July 23, 2018
LCM
Monday, July 16, 2018
Psalm Meditation 944
Proper 11
July 22, 2018
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
‘Thank you’ seems to be so easy to say until it comes to actually saying it. The words do come trippingly off the tongue of some folks, and they obviously mean it when they say, “thank you.” The rest of us feel the weight of the baggage that these two little words carry. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges that I am beholden to you in some way. You have given me something in the way of time, effort, energy, goods, or services. To say ‘thank you’ means that I am not the rugged individual so highly prized in the world in which we live. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges our dependence on each other.
The psalmist pauses to give thanks for a rich variety of ways that God is active among us. In this psalm the thanks are for loving us, being faithful to us, and providing us the spiritual resources to meet the challenges and opportunities of our lives. Sometimes we take all this for granted so it is a good reminder to pause In the middle of whatever is going on in our lives to give thanks for all that God does among us. Giving thanks to God is a good habit to form. If we get to the point in which our habit becomes going through the motions and saying the words without the meaning, it is good to break free of the habit and give thanks from our hearts.
Givng thanks is hard. It is hard to thank the people around us and it is hard to thank God. Every exercise is hard at first. Lifting weights, taking first steps, writing the first paragraph, initiating a conversation each take effort and energy. Each of these activities get easier the more we do them. It is a good idea to step back from our habits to make sure we are using proper form, that we are making progress toward a goal rather than being stuck at a comfortable pace. Giving thanks to God, saying ‘thank you’ to the people around us is good exercise. To give thanks with our whole hearts is great exercise.
July 16, 2018
LCM
Proper 11
July 22, 2018
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
‘Thank you’ seems to be so easy to say until it comes to actually saying it. The words do come trippingly off the tongue of some folks, and they obviously mean it when they say, “thank you.” The rest of us feel the weight of the baggage that these two little words carry. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges that I am beholden to you in some way. You have given me something in the way of time, effort, energy, goods, or services. To say ‘thank you’ means that I am not the rugged individual so highly prized in the world in which we live. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges our dependence on each other.
The psalmist pauses to give thanks for a rich variety of ways that God is active among us. In this psalm the thanks are for loving us, being faithful to us, and providing us the spiritual resources to meet the challenges and opportunities of our lives. Sometimes we take all this for granted so it is a good reminder to pause In the middle of whatever is going on in our lives to give thanks for all that God does among us. Giving thanks to God is a good habit to form. If we get to the point in which our habit becomes going through the motions and saying the words without the meaning, it is good to break free of the habit and give thanks from our hearts.
Givng thanks is hard. It is hard to thank the people around us and it is hard to thank God. Every exercise is hard at first. Lifting weights, taking first steps, writing the first paragraph, initiating a conversation each take effort and energy. Each of these activities get easier the more we do them. It is a good idea to step back from our habits to make sure we are using proper form, that we are making progress toward a goal rather than being stuck at a comfortable pace. Giving thanks to God, saying ‘thank you’ to the people around us is good exercise. To give thanks with our whole hearts is great exercise.
July 16, 2018
LCM
Monday, July 9, 2018
Psalm Meditation 943
Proper 10
July 15, 2018
Psalm 63
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
(NRSV)
Most days it is possible to make it through the day without giving much thought to what a gift family and friends are. We take them for granted because they have always been around and we expect them to continue being around. And then something happens. Something monumental happens. Something that brings us to the realization that these people are a special group of people. It may be an addition to the group or a loss within the group that helps us realize how special and important each person is to this group of people.
We do this with God as well. We go on our merry way, knowing that God will always be around and will be somewhere between present and distant in our lives. And something happens. We experience God as particularly present or absent for us. The psalmist discovers that the presence of God is something worth seeking. I get a sense that the psalmist is approaching from a distance, looking in with longing to where God is. Having discovered a desire for God the psalmist approaches with a new appreciation for all the ways God has been and can be present.
When we decide to seek God we discover that the presence of God is a rich feast for our souls and senses. We find that God has been present far longer than we realized at the time. God has been supporting us in ways that were once outside our awareness. Our gratitude is deepened and we look for other ways God has been watching over us and holding us up in the trials and triumphs of our lives. We find ourselves saying with the psalmist, “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
July 9, 2018
LCM
Proper 10
July 15, 2018
Psalm 63
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
(NRSV)
Most days it is possible to make it through the day without giving much thought to what a gift family and friends are. We take them for granted because they have always been around and we expect them to continue being around. And then something happens. Something monumental happens. Something that brings us to the realization that these people are a special group of people. It may be an addition to the group or a loss within the group that helps us realize how special and important each person is to this group of people.
We do this with God as well. We go on our merry way, knowing that God will always be around and will be somewhere between present and distant in our lives. And something happens. We experience God as particularly present or absent for us. The psalmist discovers that the presence of God is something worth seeking. I get a sense that the psalmist is approaching from a distance, looking in with longing to where God is. Having discovered a desire for God the psalmist approaches with a new appreciation for all the ways God has been and can be present.
When we decide to seek God we discover that the presence of God is a rich feast for our souls and senses. We find that God has been present far longer than we realized at the time. God has been supporting us in ways that were once outside our awareness. Our gratitude is deepened and we look for other ways God has been watching over us and holding us up in the trials and triumphs of our lives. We find ourselves saying with the psalmist, “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
July 9, 2018
LCM
Monday, July 2, 2018
Psalm Meditation 942
Proper 9
July 8, 2018
Psalm 88
1 O LORD, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,
5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O LORD, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me.
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness.
(NRSV)
There is something comforting about knowing that I am not alone, I am not the only one to have ever experienced something as dark as this psalm. At my lowest point I can look at this psalm and realize that I am not the only one who has felt abandoned by God and the people around me. With this psalm I realize that my worst has not been as bad as it could be. I have always had someone who loves me, even if I felt cut off from them at the moment.
The psalmist feels totally abandoned, by companions as well as by God. Yet, the psalm is addressed to God. In the midst of feeling completely and utterly alone, the psalmist continues to be aware that God is close enough to hear this cry for help and comfort. The psalmist continues to believe that in the bleakest darkness God can hear the cry of one who feels lost and separated from God.
Each of us has had a worst day of our lives, a day in which we both question the existence of God and feel ourselves asking God why we have been abandoned. My worst day may be more or less intense than yours, however we have each been aware of what a terrible day each of us has had. We may have more to come, the worst may be behind us, or we may be living in the worst days right now. This psalm is the only one that ends without a word of hope. May we feel the comforting presence of God even in this dark psalm.
July 2, 2018
LCM
Proper 9
July 8, 2018
Psalm 88
1 O LORD, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,
5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O LORD, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me.
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness.
(NRSV)
There is something comforting about knowing that I am not alone, I am not the only one to have ever experienced something as dark as this psalm. At my lowest point I can look at this psalm and realize that I am not the only one who has felt abandoned by God and the people around me. With this psalm I realize that my worst has not been as bad as it could be. I have always had someone who loves me, even if I felt cut off from them at the moment.
The psalmist feels totally abandoned, by companions as well as by God. Yet, the psalm is addressed to God. In the midst of feeling completely and utterly alone, the psalmist continues to be aware that God is close enough to hear this cry for help and comfort. The psalmist continues to believe that in the bleakest darkness God can hear the cry of one who feels lost and separated from God.
Each of us has had a worst day of our lives, a day in which we both question the existence of God and feel ourselves asking God why we have been abandoned. My worst day may be more or less intense than yours, however we have each been aware of what a terrible day each of us has had. We may have more to come, the worst may be behind us, or we may be living in the worst days right now. This psalm is the only one that ends without a word of hope. May we feel the comforting presence of God even in this dark psalm.
July 2, 2018
LCM
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