Showing posts with label Psalm 12. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 12. Show all posts
Monday, March 3, 2025
Psalm Meditation 1290
¶First Sunday in Lent
¶March 9, 2025
¶Psalm 12
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2012&version=NRSVUE
(NRSVUE)
¶It is a lot easier to fall into despair than it is to make our way to hope. Despair is feeling beat down and giving up on ourselves and everyone else, past, present, and future. We block all the entrances to our souls and psyches, and wonder why no one comes to buoy us up and give us the hope we so desperately want and need. It must be because there are no good people left, our lives have been overtaken by the fear mongers, the haters, and all the other folks who can ruin the day, and beyond for us.
¶Hope, though, takes work. We have to claw our way through the gruesome parts of life in the world, in order to see that it is the folks who live in the depths and refuse to despair who are the real source of hope. The unicorns and rainbows crowd are not the source of hope, they often don’t have space in their lives for people who suffer and ache. For them, those who suffer deserve it. The rainbows and unicorns are reserved only for those, like them, who have been served up life on a platter of deliciousness and ease.
¶Those who live in hope have had their dreams broken to pieces, fallen into despair and climbed back out with the help of God and God’s people. They know that even if we never achieve our dreams, we are in the presence of God, who is the source of the good things that restore us in ways that all the ‘stuff’ of life simply cannot. People of God probably won’t be rich in the materialistic sense, however they will have a wealth of memories, of friends, families, and deep, abiding relationships that last beyond all the ‘stuff’ the world has to offer.
¶March 3, 2025
¶LCM
Monday, July 4, 2022
Psalm Meditation 1151
¶Proper 10
¶July 10, 2022
¶Psalm 12
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a deceitful heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
¶I take a cold comfort in realizing that this psalm is thousands of years old, and we have yet to be overrun by evil people, even when it feels as if we have been. I have a strong memory of my dad, in one of his sermons, quoting Socrates, “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” Both of these remind us that, though we feel as if we are living in the worst of times, we probably are not.
¶We do need to take evil seriously as it continually sprouts and festers among us, including in each one of us. People continue to lie, flatter, and say and do things for personal advantage with no thought to those outside the personal ‘in group.’ And while it is easy and tempting to see, to judge, the evil in others, we really can’t change their behavior. The ones we can change are ourselves. Rather than judging others from the outside, we do well to deal with ourselves from the inside.
¶In all of this, God will always be on the side of the poor and needy, the oppressed and downtrodden. While we like to put ourselves in that position, so that we have favored status with God, the truth is that many reading, and certainly the one writing, this are guilty of despoiling the poor, keeping the needy in want, and participating in the oppression of others. Because God looks out for those who cannot take care of themselves, we do well to be ready to receive discipline, to learn new ways of living in the world, so that we can join God in keeping folks safe, and free, from oppression.
¶July 4, 2022
¶LCM
Monday, July 20, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1049
Proper 12
July 26, 2020
Psalm 12
1 Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
It is probably tempting in every age to believe that godly folks have disappeared from the earth. Those who are most vocal about their faith are the ones who have taken some aspect of faith, twisted it to fit their particular agenda, and announced it from the mountaintops that this is the way to live out the faith. Oh, and if anyone disagrees with their way of thinking, acting, and talking they are going to hell so there is no need to pay attention to them at all.
However, the folks who are faithful to God are working with the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed. They have no desire to be applauded, their desire is to serve. And every age makes some progress in the care of the outcast as folks rise up to “place them in the safety for which they long“ for the glory of God. They are not making gobs of money telling people what they want to hear, they are making sacrifices and doing to hard work to make it possible for people to live in the world.
People will continue to see themselves as faithful as they splash the words of God in big, noisy, public places. They will miss that the words are taken out of context so that they lead to personal gain for themselves and some of their followers. Damage will be done to the reputation of God, but it will not last. Folks will eventually swing back to seeing the servants, whose lives are lived quietly and faithfully for the glory of God.
July 20, 2020
LCM
Proper 12
July 26, 2020
Psalm 12
1 Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
It is probably tempting in every age to believe that godly folks have disappeared from the earth. Those who are most vocal about their faith are the ones who have taken some aspect of faith, twisted it to fit their particular agenda, and announced it from the mountaintops that this is the way to live out the faith. Oh, and if anyone disagrees with their way of thinking, acting, and talking they are going to hell so there is no need to pay attention to them at all.
However, the folks who are faithful to God are working with the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed. They have no desire to be applauded, their desire is to serve. And every age makes some progress in the care of the outcast as folks rise up to “place them in the safety for which they long“ for the glory of God. They are not making gobs of money telling people what they want to hear, they are making sacrifices and doing to hard work to make it possible for people to live in the world.
People will continue to see themselves as faithful as they splash the words of God in big, noisy, public places. They will miss that the words are taken out of context so that they lead to personal gain for themselves and some of their followers. Damage will be done to the reputation of God, but it will not last. Folks will eventually swing back to seeing the servants, whose lives are lived quietly and faithfully for the glory of God.
July 20, 2020
LCM
Monday, December 19, 2016
Psalm Meditation 862
Christmas Day
December 25, 2016
Psalm 12
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
When the announcement is made that a skilled athlete is to become the highest paid player in the league, in the sport or in the world there is a hue and cry from folks that no one is worth that kind of money. When a CEO is given a salary package in the millions of dollars there is the same hue and cry about that. There are also rationalizations for that kind of money being paid in those arenas. The important part is that some person or group is willing to pay that amount for the skills and expertise of the recipient.
When it is discovered that there are folks who cannot get by on the money they are being paid there is a hue and cry about that from folks as well. There is also the rationalization that these folks have done something to deserve this kind of wage. We come up with the same kinds of reasons we use to explain the salaries of athletes and CEOs. It is the fault/responsibility of the poor person. These folks deserve to be poor for personal rather than systemic reasons.
The psalmist reminds us that God is one who complains about the wages of the poor, and about the systems that keep folks in poverty no matter what the reason. God looks on the plight of the poor and stands in judgment against those of us who do not think of the poor and the ways we can bring justice to the economic system in which we all live and work.
December 19, 2016
LCM
Christmas Day
December 25, 2016
Psalm 12
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
When the announcement is made that a skilled athlete is to become the highest paid player in the league, in the sport or in the world there is a hue and cry from folks that no one is worth that kind of money. When a CEO is given a salary package in the millions of dollars there is the same hue and cry about that. There are also rationalizations for that kind of money being paid in those arenas. The important part is that some person or group is willing to pay that amount for the skills and expertise of the recipient.
When it is discovered that there are folks who cannot get by on the money they are being paid there is a hue and cry about that from folks as well. There is also the rationalization that these folks have done something to deserve this kind of wage. We come up with the same kinds of reasons we use to explain the salaries of athletes and CEOs. It is the fault/responsibility of the poor person. These folks deserve to be poor for personal rather than systemic reasons.
The psalmist reminds us that God is one who complains about the wages of the poor, and about the systems that keep folks in poverty no matter what the reason. God looks on the plight of the poor and stands in judgment against those of us who do not think of the poor and the ways we can bring justice to the economic system in which we all live and work.
December 19, 2016
LCM
Monday, October 13, 2014
Psalm Meditation 748
Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 19, 2014
Psalm 12
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
I take some comfort in knowing that folks have been voicing these complaints for generations. We bemoan the loss of faith, the loss of godliness, the loss of humility and the ignoring of the poor by those who have the power to do something to change these issues. It serves as a reminder that while God loves those with money, power and influence, the primary sphere of concern is among those who are left out of the upper echelons of society. Those who have money, power and influence have no need of an advocate; they are able to care for themselves and meet their own needs. It is those who are left out, pushed out and marginalized who need God.
God does work among the rich and powerful. God works by reminding each of us that just because we can take advantage of another doesn’t mean it is a good idea to do it. God pokes and prods us to look at life from the vantage point of the one we would otherwise dismiss as unworthy of our care and attention. We don’t always get it right as we look to the needs of others, however it is good to consider the other so that one day we think to meet one of ‘those’ people, build a relationship with them and ask how we might better meet each other’s needs.
God continues to work among us, even when we are tempted to use any power and influence we may have to our own advantage over those who have less. God continues to give hope and help and worth to those who would not otherwise have any and works among the powerful as a reminder to care for those in need despite the temptation to leave them behind as unnecessary and burdensome. The presence of God among serves to protect us from the vileness that tempts us on every side.
October 13, 2014
LCM
Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 19, 2014
Psalm 12
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the LORD; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)
I take some comfort in knowing that folks have been voicing these complaints for generations. We bemoan the loss of faith, the loss of godliness, the loss of humility and the ignoring of the poor by those who have the power to do something to change these issues. It serves as a reminder that while God loves those with money, power and influence, the primary sphere of concern is among those who are left out of the upper echelons of society. Those who have money, power and influence have no need of an advocate; they are able to care for themselves and meet their own needs. It is those who are left out, pushed out and marginalized who need God.
God does work among the rich and powerful. God works by reminding each of us that just because we can take advantage of another doesn’t mean it is a good idea to do it. God pokes and prods us to look at life from the vantage point of the one we would otherwise dismiss as unworthy of our care and attention. We don’t always get it right as we look to the needs of others, however it is good to consider the other so that one day we think to meet one of ‘those’ people, build a relationship with them and ask how we might better meet each other’s needs.
God continues to work among us, even when we are tempted to use any power and influence we may have to our own advantage over those who have less. God continues to give hope and help and worth to those who would not otherwise have any and works among the powerful as a reminder to care for those in need despite the temptation to leave them behind as unnecessary and burdensome. The presence of God among serves to protect us from the vileness that tempts us on every side.
October 13, 2014
LCM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)