Showing posts with label Psalm 110. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 110. Show all posts
Monday, January 22, 2024
Psalm Meditation 1232
¶Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
¶January 28, 2024
¶Psalm 110
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+110&version=NRSVUE
(NRSV)
¶It is easy to write this off as a fantasy, the words of a sycophant, a toady, a suck-up. It is just as easy to take it as a work of imagination, what could be if God did things the way that we want them done. Yet, in a sense, it is not too far off from reality. We don’t remember the names of the rulers David battled through his life and reign, however we do remember David. Being remembered as one who was faithful to God as much as anything is a victory in itself. Not all of the people remembered fondly by history were celebrated in their own lifetimes.
¶Imagination gives us the chutzpah to act on our dreams, perhaps even to realize some of them. That the psalmist imagined a great victory for David and the nation may have been the word that David needed to lead the people to any victory they may have achieved. Knowing that God was with them through the conflicts and battles would certainly empower and encourage folks to brave the trials that met them on the way. The presence of God makes a tremendous difference to those who take it seriously.
¶Imagining something does not mean that it will happen the way we want it to happen, it plants a seed that may grow and bear fruit in a way we did not see. Acting on our imagination may show us that this idea does not work, and that can be an important piece of information as well. A misstep or mistake can lead us to one of the ways that does work. If the psalmist was mistaken about God wiping out every enemy in sight this time, I know that there is no mistake about God being with us every time and everywhere.
¶January 22, 2024
¶LCM
Monday, May 4, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1038
Fifth of Sunday Easter
May 10, 2020
Psalm 110
1 The Lord says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
Most of us have no experience with crowning a new ruler, and if you consider royalty who hold absolute power over subjects, we have even less. This enthronement psalm wishes all the best to a new ruler ascending the throne. The rulers of Israel were seen as agents of and on a footing with God. While God made the enemies of the monarch a footstool for the ruler, the ruler led the people out to war. Since we have so little experience with coronation, let alone being rulers ourselves, what does this psalm have to do with us?
Sometimes God willingly takes the lead in our lives, preparing us and those around us for the next big thing. Amazing things go on all around us and we have no control and no say in what is happening. We simply stand awestruck and watch as the world changes all around us. Other times God steps back so that we can use the gifts and skills we have at our disposal to make the world a better place. We give it our all, freely offering ourselves to the task that lies before us. While it may seem that God is doing nothing, God is watching, supervising, standing by as a loving parent, allowing us to do our best and ready to step in if necessary.
None of us is going to be crowned ruler of anything any time soon. That does not mean that God is absent. God continues to love us, to act on our behalf sometimes and to encourage our actions at others. We have been known to rush in to help God out when it is not needed and we have been guilty of sitting on the sidelines when it is our turn to shine. It can be hard to know which time is which. The important thing to know is that God is with us and is actively working for good in our lives.
May 4, 2020
LCM
Fifth of Sunday Easter
May 10, 2020
Psalm 110
1 The Lord says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
Most of us have no experience with crowning a new ruler, and if you consider royalty who hold absolute power over subjects, we have even less. This enthronement psalm wishes all the best to a new ruler ascending the throne. The rulers of Israel were seen as agents of and on a footing with God. While God made the enemies of the monarch a footstool for the ruler, the ruler led the people out to war. Since we have so little experience with coronation, let alone being rulers ourselves, what does this psalm have to do with us?
Sometimes God willingly takes the lead in our lives, preparing us and those around us for the next big thing. Amazing things go on all around us and we have no control and no say in what is happening. We simply stand awestruck and watch as the world changes all around us. Other times God steps back so that we can use the gifts and skills we have at our disposal to make the world a better place. We give it our all, freely offering ourselves to the task that lies before us. While it may seem that God is doing nothing, God is watching, supervising, standing by as a loving parent, allowing us to do our best and ready to step in if necessary.
None of us is going to be crowned ruler of anything any time soon. That does not mean that God is absent. God continues to love us, to act on our behalf sometimes and to encourage our actions at others. We have been known to rush in to help God out when it is not needed and we have been guilty of sitting on the sidelines when it is our turn to shine. It can be hard to know which time is which. The important thing to know is that God is with us and is actively working for good in our lives.
May 4, 2020
LCM
Monday, December 5, 2016
Psalm Meditation 860
Third Sunday of Advent
December 11, 2016
Psalm 110
1 The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses;
he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
As with many peoples of the biblical time and place God and king were so intimately tied together as to be one. If the king goes out at God’s direction he will be victorious beyond the skill and numbers of the army itself. In fact, if the king goes out as the agent of God the people of the army will go to battle willing to sacrifice their lives for God and king. God directs the battle and fights in it to assure that our side wins so decisively that there will be no question as to who is the winner and who is the loser.
These days the commanders of armies no longer go out into the battle, and rulers of nations do not go out onto the battlefield. Skilled strategists direct the action from a distance and rulers make decisions from places other than the heat of battle. Going to battle led by a king or other ruler is a foreign concept to us, making this psalm a difficult one to connect with. It is easy to believe that God is as distant from our day to day battles as commanders and rulers are from war zones and battlegrounds.
However, God is with us. In the heat of our daily battles, in the joy of our daily victories, and in the give and take of a normal day. No matter what we face in a given moment of a day we have the psalmist’s assurance that God is present with us. When things are going well, God is there. When things are going badly, God is there. When things are going as we expect a normal day to progress, God is there. God may or may not be the direct cause of the events of the day, however God is with us.
December 5, 2016
LCM
Third Sunday of Advent
December 11, 2016
Psalm 110
1 The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses;
he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
As with many peoples of the biblical time and place God and king were so intimately tied together as to be one. If the king goes out at God’s direction he will be victorious beyond the skill and numbers of the army itself. In fact, if the king goes out as the agent of God the people of the army will go to battle willing to sacrifice their lives for God and king. God directs the battle and fights in it to assure that our side wins so decisively that there will be no question as to who is the winner and who is the loser.
These days the commanders of armies no longer go out into the battle, and rulers of nations do not go out onto the battlefield. Skilled strategists direct the action from a distance and rulers make decisions from places other than the heat of battle. Going to battle led by a king or other ruler is a foreign concept to us, making this psalm a difficult one to connect with. It is easy to believe that God is as distant from our day to day battles as commanders and rulers are from war zones and battlegrounds.
However, God is with us. In the heat of our daily battles, in the joy of our daily victories, and in the give and take of a normal day. No matter what we face in a given moment of a day we have the psalmist’s assurance that God is present with us. When things are going well, God is there. When things are going badly, God is there. When things are going as we expect a normal day to progress, God is there. God may or may not be the direct cause of the events of the day, however God is with us.
December 5, 2016
LCM
Monday, August 11, 2014
Psalm Meditation 739
Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 17, 2014
Psalm 110
1 The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
Knowing that God is willing and able to fight our battles for us can be a great source of comfort. To be able to sit back and watch the battle rage, knowing that victory is assured, can be pretty thrilling. The difficulty comes when we begin to believe that our enemies are also The enemies of God. In that case we see God as under our command, one we can send out to do our bidding no matter what the conflict. We then become arrogant and nasty as we know that we are unstoppable and unbeatable. Our giant can crush the heads of any and all who stand against us.
Fortunately, God is willing to stand with us when we oppressed, downtrodden and in the right. God is not at our beck and call so much as on the side of justice and righteousness. God is not a celestial bully or mercenary who fights on the side of the highest bidder. When God fights with us it continues to be a struggle for us as the opposing forces are strong, entrenched and convinced of the rightness of their position. My guess is that in most conflicts God has a place on each side. Most arguments, conflicts, battles and wars are made by folks who have a kernel of truth, justice and righteousness surrounded by self-justification, pettiness, scarcity thinking, arrogance and lust for power. God supports the justice and righteousness and joins the battle against the rest.
On every side of a conflict there are voices raised in a call for justice and righteousness. We want to ignore those voices since they fly in the face of our other reasons for this battle. Those voices call us to see and appreciate the personhood of those with whom we disagree. Those voices call us to move toward justice and righteousness even, and especially, when it means we do well to repent of the thoughts, words and actions that lead away from the justice and righteousness we claim to seek. Those voices call to turn to God.
August 11, 2014
LCM manifold@lightbound.com
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 17, 2014
Psalm 110
1 The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
Knowing that God is willing and able to fight our battles for us can be a great source of comfort. To be able to sit back and watch the battle rage, knowing that victory is assured, can be pretty thrilling. The difficulty comes when we begin to believe that our enemies are also The enemies of God. In that case we see God as under our command, one we can send out to do our bidding no matter what the conflict. We then become arrogant and nasty as we know that we are unstoppable and unbeatable. Our giant can crush the heads of any and all who stand against us.
Fortunately, God is willing to stand with us when we oppressed, downtrodden and in the right. God is not at our beck and call so much as on the side of justice and righteousness. God is not a celestial bully or mercenary who fights on the side of the highest bidder. When God fights with us it continues to be a struggle for us as the opposing forces are strong, entrenched and convinced of the rightness of their position. My guess is that in most conflicts God has a place on each side. Most arguments, conflicts, battles and wars are made by folks who have a kernel of truth, justice and righteousness surrounded by self-justification, pettiness, scarcity thinking, arrogance and lust for power. God supports the justice and righteousness and joins the battle against the rest.
On every side of a conflict there are voices raised in a call for justice and righteousness. We want to ignore those voices since they fly in the face of our other reasons for this battle. Those voices call us to see and appreciate the personhood of those with whom we disagree. Those voices call us to move toward justice and righteousness even, and especially, when it means we do well to repent of the thoughts, words and actions that lead away from the justice and righteousness we claim to seek. Those voices call to turn to God.
August 11, 2014
LCM manifold@lightbound.com
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Monday, July 9, 2012
Psalm Meditation 630
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 15, 2012
Psalm 110
1 The Lord says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
2 The Lord sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
It is easy to be brave before a battle begins, and easier still when one will not be directly involved in the fighting. That seems to be the case here. There is no mention of ‘I’ or ‘we’ going out to battle, willingly offering our lives for the sake of the realm. While there may be no lack of soldiers going out behind those leading into battle, it does not seem that the psalmist will be one of them.
We can be quick to send others out to fight our battles. We tell our side of the story to the right person or group in just the right way that they take up arms in some form to rescue us from the evil that lies before us. We have been known to leave out parts of the story that would make us look a little less innocent or the other a little more guilty, so that others will become irate enough to charge into battle to defend our rights and honor. I know it has happened on an individual scale as well as on an international scale. We have each likely gone to battle without thinking at least once in our lives.
This does not mean that God is not with us as we go into battle. It may mean that God is not with us in the way we imagine. God may be the one who is attempting to talk us out of this battle until the moment it is joined and continually offering us ways to get out through the whole course of the conflict. In some form or another God is with us. We do well to find where and how it is that God is with us before we join so that we can be on the side and in the place where God is best found.
July 9, 2012
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 15, 2012
Psalm 110
1 The Lord says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
2 The Lord sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.
(NRSV)
It is easy to be brave before a battle begins, and easier still when one will not be directly involved in the fighting. That seems to be the case here. There is no mention of ‘I’ or ‘we’ going out to battle, willingly offering our lives for the sake of the realm. While there may be no lack of soldiers going out behind those leading into battle, it does not seem that the psalmist will be one of them.
We can be quick to send others out to fight our battles. We tell our side of the story to the right person or group in just the right way that they take up arms in some form to rescue us from the evil that lies before us. We have been known to leave out parts of the story that would make us look a little less innocent or the other a little more guilty, so that others will become irate enough to charge into battle to defend our rights and honor. I know it has happened on an individual scale as well as on an international scale. We have each likely gone to battle without thinking at least once in our lives.
This does not mean that God is not with us as we go into battle. It may mean that God is not with us in the way we imagine. God may be the one who is attempting to talk us out of this battle until the moment it is joined and continually offering us ways to get out through the whole course of the conflict. In some form or another God is with us. We do well to find where and how it is that God is with us before we join so that we can be on the side and in the place where God is best found.
July 9, 2012
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