Psalm Meditation 1022
Second Sunday After Epiphany
January 19, 2020

Psalm 132
1 O Lord, remember in David’s favor all the hardships he endured;
2 how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.”
8 Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy.
10 For your servant David’s sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation:
14 “This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam.”
(NRSV)

In the rush to show ourselves faithful and worthy of God’s attention, we make promises that are beyond our ability to keep. David wanted to provide a place for God to dwell, but had to depend on God to pick that place as well as provide the victory over its inhabitants. It is as a child who wants to get a special gift for a parent and having to get the money for the gift from the parent who is to receive it. Most parents will gladly give the money for the child whose heart is in the right place.

After David promises to find a place for God to dwell, David receives a promise from God that David will receive a house, a dynasty, as long as he and his family remain faithful to God. The Davidic dynasty lasted much longer than the faithfulness of the various rulers of the house of David. The various successors to the throne went back and forth between faithful and tyrannical. God’s promise to the house of David stood firm for many generations.

We continue to make promises to God that are sincere in the moment and turn to dust once we are back on solid footing. God, on the other hand, continues to uphold promises made to us long after we have forgotten to keep our side of the bargain, deal, covenant. God is not only better at keeping promises, God makes broader and deeper promises than we could imagine and ask. We, like David, can’t out-promise God, even as God appreciates our attempts and loves us no matter what.

January 13, 2020
LCM