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