Psalm Meditation 1331 ¶Fourth Sunday of Advent ¶December 21, 2025 ¶Psalm 43 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2043&version=NRSVUE ¶When things go sideways in our lives our first thought can be to decide who is to blame and why it is someone besides me. It is all those other people who are out to get me anyway who caused this particular calamity. I do not deserve to be treated this way and God let me down by not protecting me from this trial. ¶If only God were watching out for me more carefully this would have happened to someone who deserved it and not to me. ‘God, now that you have let this happen to me, I am giving you this opportunity to fix it by leading me back into your gracious presence where I can go to your altar and praise you for welcoming me back to your presence where I belong. ¶After going through the blaming part, we get to where it isn’t as important to lay blame as it is to remember that God is with us to quiet our spirits and restore our faith. Even in the worst of situations we see that God is with us, to share our burdens and give us hope as we move into the future with the assurance of God’s abiding presence in our lives. ¶December 15, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1330 ¶Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudette) ¶December 14, 2025 ¶Psalm 38 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2038&version=NRSVUE ¶The helpful lesson from psalms like this one is the focus on God. While the psalmist is convinced that God is contributing to the current pain it is still God who is being called on for help and comfort. Even though it is God who has inflicted some of the foul and festering wounds, the psalmist knows that the most helpful relief will come from God. Friends who are willing and able to help are at a loss of what kind of help is needed so they stand back, still willing while feeling helpless. ¶God stands as the one who is willing, able, and knows what we need and how to offer it to us. It may be direct help, though it is just as likely that help will come in the form of one who says or does the right thing at the right time without knowing that they have done so. An awkward word at an awkward time may be the right thing to say in that moment. An act of care and concern can be life changing when God is in that act. That God can act through our awkward discomfort is a gift that is given to the giver and the receiver. ¶Whether we are the mediator or receiver of an act of God, we can give thanks for God’s presence in and around us. We will certainly go through times of woundedness and pain that seem insurmountable. And yet, God continues to be with us, offering us healing and wholeness in the face of our deepest wounds. ¶December 8, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1329 ¶Second Sunday of Advent ¶December 7, 2025 ¶Psalm 58 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2058&version=NRSVUE ¶We like to know that we are a lot like God. We like the same things, the same people, and the same behaviors from those around us. The difficulty is that it is so much easier for us if we see that God is more like us instead of us becoming more like God in our thoughts, words, and actions. If we want revenge, certainly God wants the same satisfaction from seeing us standing triumphantly over those who have done us wrong. And, of course, we always want God on our side rather than exacting some kind of revenge on us for the way we treat those around us. ¶So, we call on God to break the teeth of those who are mean to us, to tear out the fangs of those who have hurt us in any way. When a prophetic voice reminds us that the will of God is for us to love our enemies, we respond that we love it when our enemies suffer, and our constant prayer for them is to dissolve into nothingness and to die screaming in the fires God has prepared for them and their kind. Our love and compassion are reserved for the people of our own tribe, clan, group. ¶Revenge may be sweet in the short term, however it leaves a terrible aftertaste that we may or may not notice. While there is a certain amount of glee in watching the suffering of those who have hurt us in some way, it keeps us from moving in the direction God is leading and calling us. “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.” The reward is in moving toward God rather than in reveling in the suffering of others. ¶December 1, 2025 ¶LCM