Psalm Meditation 1041
Pentecost
May 31, 2020

Psalm 60
1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; now restore us!
2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
3 You have made your people suffer hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, to rally to it out of bowshot. Selah
5 Give victory with your right hand, and answer us, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
6 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
11 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)

When things are not going our way, it is tempting to wander into despair; to wander off into negative thoughts and allow them to consume us. The psalmist is voicing this kind of despair. Everything is turning sour and we are caught in the middle of it. Not only is our army being defeated, we have to deal with earthquakes too. All the good things we expect from God are going the opposite way.

And then the psalmist remembers that it is not always this bad. God continues to offer us protection and safety even as we are being overrun by enemies and disasters. God has made promises to us that are being honored on a daily basis. God treats us well and all those ‘others’ are treated with serious disrespect. Things are not going well right now, however, God is with us and things will turn around shortly.

We have a choice in our lives; we can dwell on the negative, harping to God about all the things that are wrong in our lives and relationships, or we can dwell on the positive, thanking God for all the good things going on in our lives and relationships. It takes time and effort on our part to change our point of view and attitude. We will fall back into old patterns and have to remember what we are doing. And God will continue to be a refuge and strength.

May 25, 2020
LCM