Psalm Meditation 1036
Third Sunday of Easter
April 26, 2020

Psalm 85
1 Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
(NRSV)

These are anxious times in which we live and it is tempting to give credit and blame for all this to someone. It must be a punishment from God for all the terrible things those people over there have been doing for all these years. All of us good people are simply caught in the cross-fire between God and the people at fault. There is a long list of biblical warrant for this thinking. When things go bad for us, God is angry with us for something. When things go well for us, God is rewarding us for being such good boys and girls. However, the arc of Scripture has another view that fits more comfortably.

God loves us: three words, nine letters and two spaces. There simple words have taken volumes to explain and illustrate. We are so used to having to earn the love and respect of those around us that we can’t quite grasp that God acts out of love for us. “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.” God is not out to get us, to punish us for all the sins and wickedness of our lives. God chooses to love us and to be a source of peace for us.

We can look for, and find, the angry, vindictive God in Scripture. We can look for, and find, the God who loves us and offers us peace just as easily. The psalmist offers an image of God as one who loves us, revives us, and offers us peace in every time. Yes, there is judgment, however that leads to peace. Years ago I heard the phrase, ‘the Bible is a mirror,’ and at my best I remember that we find what we seek when we look into the Bible. When we look to condemn or be condemned, we can find God’s judgment. When we seek grace, mercy, and peace we find that. It is not that God gives us what we want and need so much as we see what we expect to see because God is bigger and broader than we can imagine.

April 20, 2020
LCM