Psalm Meditation 957
Proper 24
October 21, 2018

Psalm 9
1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before you.
4 For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins; their cities you have rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever, he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with equity.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the peoples.
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord. See what I suffer from those who hate me; you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,
14 so that I may recount all your praises, and, in the gates of daughter Zion, rejoice in your deliverance.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall depart to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
19 Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail; let the nations be judged before you.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord; let the nations know that they are only human. Selah
(NRSV)

According to research, the lower one sinks into poverty that leads to loss of control in life the more deeply one trusts in God. In our prosperity gospel emphasis it would seem that the more one gets, the more one would accept that there is a god who rewards us with riches and punishes ‘those people’ with the poverty they deserve. However, it those who have nothing, and few prospects of getting anything, who are the most likely to believe in God, who rescues the downtrodden and oppressed. It may be that God keeps folks from sinking further into lack of resources and God may offer a bit of help and hope to rise above the current state.

In the depths of need God is there to offer solace and comfort to those who otherwise have no hope and no prospects for survival except by the grace and mercy of God. The psalmist knows that those who have something to lose, will lose it one day. The riches and resources will dry up, be taken away by others, or the owner will die, leaving the resources for another to claim. Those who have nothing but faith in God will always God’s presence in life, in death, in life beyond death.

While we are tempted to see ourselves on the side of God as we read Scripture, chances are good in this case that we can number ourselves among the oppressors and those who hold others down by our sins of omission or of commission. Fortunately, God is gracious and merciful to oppressor and oppressed alike. We can use a portion of our wherewithal to help those who are oppressed stay where they are and perhaps take a step toward the level of ease and comfort in which we live, by the grace of God.

October 15, 2018
LCM