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