Psalm Meditation 1188 ¶Fifth Sunday in Lent ¶March 26, 2023 ¶Psalm 54 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+54&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶It would be easier to tell the good people from the bad if we were purely one or the other, and even if we could agree on what is good and what is bad for everyone. The difficulty is that something that is bad as far as I am concerned is perfectly acceptable for some that I know and love. And the opposite is also true, something I think is acceptable is a bad thing for people who love me. There are things we would not do to each other that are okay to do to people we see as ‘other.’ ¶The psalmist is being picked on for being an outsider to those in a particular group. Because there is no connection between them it is acceptable behavior to insult and threaten the life of the psalmist. Those of us reading this psalm are on the side of the author, and join the call for God to destroy these ‘insolent’ for their words and behavior directed toward the psalmist. We are also aware that being in the same situation as our psalmist we too would be threatened by the words and actions of ‘those’ people. ¶Though the psalm is about being picked on we can learn that it is not good to pick on others when we are in the position of power and influence. We can go through the motions of offering God the best we have to offer and giving thanks for all the ways God delivers us from the evils around us. If we turn around and participate in those same evils we lump ourselves in with the folks we are grateful that God is going to destroy. ¶March 20, 2023 ¶LCM