Psalm Meditation 1027
Transfiguration
February 23, 2020

Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright.
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind.
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds.
16 A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
18 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
(NRSV)

We like to think that we are on God’s good list, loved and cared for, protected and kept from the evil things that life has to offer. And part of that is true and right. God loves us and cares for us. It is God’s intention that we stay away from evil. The world that God created and presents to us is a good place with a lot of potential for greater good. But wait, God gave us the ability to make choices so we would not be boring puppets always and only dancing to the tune of God’s fiddle. God is ever hopeful that we will choose to be in the presence of God, but what good is that if we have no choice in the matter?

So, after all the verses celebrating the activity of God in the world, all the wonderful things that God has made and provided for us, the psalmist reminds us that we get to choose whether or not we give God the credit for all these great things. As we choose to follow the paths in which God leads, we experience God as a constant source of abundance and wonder. If we decide to follow the path of our own making we discover that it is nowhere near as much fun as we thought it was going to be. Like a child running away from home, we discover that it is harder than we thought to be on our own. Some of us return home while others slog along making their way on their own power.

The good thing in either choice is that God continues to love and care for us not matter what choices we make. Those who stand near to God are aware of God’s watching while others experience God’s care without being able to name it as such. The steadfast love of God is upon us, know it or not, like it or not. We can accept the love of God or reject it, however we can’t make it go away; only God can do that. “[God] loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”


February 16, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/