Psalm Meditation 1121 ¶Third Sunday of Advent ¶December 12, 2021 ¶Psalm 24 1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; 2 for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. 5 They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. 6 Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah 7 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah (NRSV) ¶The last few American presidents have been rejected by people who did not vote for him and are angry that their person did not win. Signs saying, “Not my President” are seen from both parties. Does this mean that those dissenters don’t have a president, that they will only follow the person they believe should have won, or this is a way of expressing the extreme displeasure with the outcome of the election? For most of the dissenters it is probably a form of verbal protest that gives a feeling of satisfaction that they still have a voice in the outcome even if it did not turn their way. ¶There are a growing number of folks who claim there is no God. They reject the claims of religions that believe in a being or group of beings who have some say in the way the world, and all the creatures in it go about our lives. Some folks are content to believe as long as everything is going well for them. As soon as things go sour, they reject the existence of one who would let them suffer. Does this mean that no deity exists for them, they have no intention of following anyone outside of themselves, or is it a protest of the extremes to which religious people have gone to show that they are right and the rest of us are wrong? ¶The psalmist tells us that those who believe in and follow the ways of God, YHWH, will receive blessing and vindication, (a defense against criticism). It seems to me, that believers are not the only ones who are offered blessing and vindication, we are the ones who are looking toward God to receive the gifts that God offers to us. We are the ones listening for the cry to lift up the gates so that God may come in. We are the ones who have gifts to share with others, knowing that they are from God even if the recipients do not acknowledge the origin of those gifts. ¶December 6, 2021 ¶LCM