Psalm Meditation 1142 ¶Fourth Sunday of Easter ¶May 8, 2022 ¶Psalm 20 1 The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah 4 May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your plans. 5 May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. 7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. 9 Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call. (NRSV) ¶I know there are families, congregations, and businesses, just to name a few, who are torn apart by infighting and competition among members. Most of us like to win when there is competition and rivalry in the groups of which we are a part. There are some who will do anything to keep from losing. And when they do lose, they will find or make a way to make themselves look and feel good and the others in the group look and feel bad. Infighting takes the shape of sniping at each other, sabotaging anything the other does, and generally being a thorn in each other’s side. It doesn’t have to be this way. ¶The psalmist offers this bit of cheerleading, placing the ruler into the care of God for help and protection. Yes, this is directed to the ruler, and it offers us a way to treat each other. Rather than sniping and hoping for the worst possible outcome for those we see as rivals, we can cheer each other on for the sake of the whole group. We don’t need to agree with them, or even like them; we can still support what they do for the good of the group. It is possible that our pet project and their pet project each have merit, and a chance to succeed if we allow the process to move forward with our prayers for success. ¶When our focus is on doing the work of God, rather than on outdoing those around us, we will find that God can prosper multiple plans and ideas at the same time. When our energy is directed to doing all the good we can we have no time to worry about which of us is better than the other, only whether we are being faithful. If we can do all this while cheerleading our group and those around us, we will ’rise and stand upright’ together for the glory of God in the world. ¶May 3, 2022 ¶LCM