Psalm Meditation 1320 ¶Proper 22 ¶October 5, 2025 ¶Psalm 40 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm40&version=NRSVUE ¶No matter what is going on, what worries, troubles, scares, or overjoys us, God is with us to offer us presence and help. God may not come in the way we want or expect, however, God is with us in each of our ups and downs. Here the psalmist is asking for release from those who would offer hurt instead of help, shame instead of honor, indifference instead of love. God is with us to stem the tide of trouble from without or within. God does not make our troubles go away, God helps us to face them with faith and love. ¶One of the ways adversaries attempt to destroy us, is by robbing us of joy. They do all they can to suck the fun out of everything, not finding humor in anything but our calamities, discouraging singing and dancing as pointless and stupid. When there is no fun, there is no energy to move in any direction. We can be easily squashed and squelched when we have no avenue for fun. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that protest songs are so effective is that they give us an excuse to sing out our fear and frustration with those who would hold us down. ¶If we ask children if they can sing, dance, draw, paint, play an instrument, they will respond with enthusiasm that they can do all of those things. Through the years, adults put standards and criteria to those activities and if we can’t do them perfectly we begin to believe we can’t do them. God has a way of giving us songs to sing, dances to dance, art to draw and paint, instruments to play whether they are dedicated or improvised instruments to play in public or for our own amusement. God puts a song in our hearts which leaks out through our voices to remind us we are held in the steadfast love of God. ¶September 29, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1319 ¶Proper 21 ¶September 28, 2025 ¶Psalm 35 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2035&version=NRSVUE ¶I am told that I am, at least, slightly cynical. I am sure there is more truth to that than I am willing to admit, especially when I read psalms like this one. My first interpretation is that this is someone who has done something to upset folks. When those folks begin to retaliate, the psalmist goes into victim mode. ‘Oh God do you see what all those mean people are doing to me? You need to step in and destroy them all.’ I am pretty sure that victim culture is a fairly modern concept, so there must be something else at work for the psalmist. ¶I am told that, despite all the cheerleading to the contrary, Israel was neither big nor powerful in relation to neighboring nation states, so the people and the state were plagued by attacks from more powerful people and nations. Whether the psalmist was David, or someone writing in his name, an attack on the ruler was an attack on the entire nation. And, an attack on the nation was an attack on the ruler. It was demoralizing to be attacked on a regular basis. It was death by a thousand cuts. ¶In the midst of those demoralizing attacks, a voice is raised to God to protect the nation from the folks who spent their time and energy attempting to antagonize and demoralize the people of Israel. If God were to step in to the fray with us, we would know that we can’t be destroyed even if we are driven from our land or killed outright. With God on our side we have the assurance that we have a place in the presence of God, even if we do not have a place on earth to call home. ¶September 22, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1318 ¶Proper 20 ¶September 21, 2025 ¶Psalm 31 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2031&version=NRSVUE ¶In times of trial and uncertainty we seek out a person or place of refuge. We lean in to the comfort that comes from feeling safe, if only for a moment. I imagine that most of those reading these words turn to the God of the Bible for that sense of refuge. In the comfort of God’s presence we find the time and space to reflect on how God is working in the world, as well as how we can be co-laborers in that work. Knowing that God is with us, leading and guiding us, we find the wherewithal to move courageously into the world as people of God. ¶With the assurance of the rock solid presence of God in our lives, we can face the uncertainty of the world around us, and within us. I am convinced that the opposite of faith is certainty, rather than doubt. When we are certain, we have no need for faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) The presence of God in our lives is to give us the strength and courage to move ahead without certainty, believing that whether we succeed or fail in our tasks, we are held in the steadfast love of God. ¶After the psalmist pledges to seek refuge in YHWH, there follows a recital of reasons that God will offer that place of peace. Some of the reasons are because the psalmist is seeking to be a person of God. Most of the reasons are because God has a long history of grace, goodness, trustworthiness, and steadfast love directed toward those who seek to follow the way of God and beyond. ¶September 15, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1317 ¶Proper 19 ¶September 14, 2025 ¶Psalm 21 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2021&version=NRSVUE ¶In the biblical era, the fortunes of a nation were bound up with the fortune of the ruler. This is still true in some parts of the world today. The ruler owns everything, and doles out fortune and favor for the benefit of the whole population. If the ruler is blessed with riches and long life, the whole people is more likely to benefit from these blessings. If the ruler finds joy in the presence of the LORD, the people also find joy in God, and trust in the providence and steadfast love of the LORD. ¶Royal enemies were enemies of the whole realm, and God was called upon to defeat those enemies for the sake of the ruler, the people, and in the name of the LORD. As God defeated enemies, it was believed that the LORD proved mastery over the divinities of those nations who attempted to conquer the people of the LORD. The people of the LORD sing praises for the strength and power that keeps them safe from those who wish to destroy them for any number of reasons. ¶While we continue to be influenced by those entrusted to rule over us, we do have a little more personal agency. Some are able to amass personal fortunes and wield power and influence as if they had the authority to rule over people and nations. Each of us is able to give glory to God and to live in the steadfast love that gives our lives meaning and purpose. “Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.” ¶September 9, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1316 ¶Proper 19 ¶September 7, 2025 ¶Psalm 46 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2046&version=NRSVUE ¶In these days of uncertainty and upheaval it is easy to lose hop by losing focus on what is going right. Folks with whom we disagree on politics, religion, or other big topics can talk about the weather, families, mutual friends, and past shared experience. We can see that we continue to have a meaningful connection to each other despite important differences in thinking, and acting. According to some, remembering our connections then makes it easier to talk about our disagreements without losing our friendship. ¶Uncertainty is a harbinger of change, and most of us don’t like change that we did not have a part in planning. The psalmist reminds us that we can weather change because God is with us as a refuge and strength. While not everyone believes the same things I do about God, I believe that God is with each one of us providing refuge and strength, without concern for out beliefs. That is because it is the nature of God to be present rather than being present only with those who believe. ¶To those who comment on the number of problems for which followers of God have been responsible, the psalmists points out the number of desolations God has brought upon the earth; wars cease, weapons of war are broken, shields are burned to nothing. Any who perpetuate these things are not of God, despite protestations to the contrary. ““Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.” ¶September 1, 2025 ¶LCM