Psalm Meditation 1046
Proper 9
July 5, 2020

Psalm 136
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
4 who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
10 who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;
17 who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures forever.
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
26 O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
(NRSV)

A litany is a call and response liturgy in which the response is always the same. As a child in worship I thought they were boring because we had to say the same thing over and over. I also thought it unfair that the leader got all the variety while we were stuck with the same old same old. In seminary, the litany I had to write for a class had a different response every time. All these years later, I realize it was not a litany, and I have a deeper appreciation for what happens in the call and response of a litany.

The litany arose in a time before the majority of worshipers was literate so a repeated response allowed more people to participate in this act of worship. Whether worship was conducted in Latin or the local language there was the one phrase to learn in order to join in. In our more literate era the litany gives us the opportunity to have a concept reinforced by repetition. One of my mentors along the way told us that anything we hear at least ten times takes on a reality it did not have before. In this particular psalm, the consistent repetition of, “for his steadfast love endures forever.” serves as instruction and reminder that God loves us, forever.

I continue to think that litanies are boring, and I am not likely to use them as an act of worship. However, I am ever grateful for the reminder that God’s love is not something that comes and goes, it is not something that God offers and withholds depending on my behavior or some whim on the part of God. In the whole history of salvation, one of the constants, whether we have acknowledged it or not, has been God’s love, for his steadfast love endures forever.

June 30, 2020
LCM