Showing posts with label Psalm 127. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 127. Show all posts
Monday, July 1, 2024
Psalm Meditation 1255
¶Proper 9
¶July 7, 2024
¶Psalm 127
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+127&version=NRSVUE
(NRSVUE)
¶This psalm seems to deal with three different topics, as if it is a group of adages concerning good things that God provides for each of us. God watches over those who build houses and communities with an eye for safety and wholesomeness. God watches over those who do the best work they are able on a given day and go home to rest and recreate with a clear conscience. God watches over men, and women, who have sons, and daughters, of whom they are proud. It is certainly not an exhaustive list, simply a few of the ways God is active in the life of a community.
¶The psalmist wants us to see that God is actively involved in a number of pieces that make up a community. The bricks and mortar part of the community are important to God. Use quality material for every structure, watch over each other as people of sacred worth. The relationships of a community are important to God. Spend quality time at your work, and then go home in peace for rest and restoration in the company of loved ones. The family relationships of a community are important to God. Look with pride on each member of the family as a gift from God.
¶Our times are different from those of the psalmist. The details of what it means to be a community have changed for better and for worse. The important part for us is to see God at work in every part of our lives and the lives of those around us. We can still take the main points of the psalm for our day to day dealings: use quality materials every time, do our best work every time, feel and express our pride in the people who make up our various families—by birth and affinity.
¶July 1, 2024
¶LCM
Monday, June 17, 2019
Psalm Meditation 992
Proper 7
June 23, 2019
Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(NRSV)
Marriage used to be for two reasons; family alliances, and heirs. The couple marrying had little to say about their partner, it was all arranged for the sake of the wider family circles. Since the family name was passed on from the male side of the relationship, sons were more desirable than daughters. Females were considered property, passed from one family to another as breeding stock and domestic help. Not the most humane way to treat a daughter or a spouse. Things have changed in a lot of places.
People get married for love, with children as an added benefit. Couples choose to marry for supportive companionship. Couples choose to raise their children together without getting married. A variety of single, couple, and family arrangements exist with and without the support of the broader family. Is each one of these arrangements fulfilling? It certainly can be. There are a variety of definitions of what makes a family, and there is not universal agreement on those definitions. It is possible to be happy and to feel blessed in a family that is outside the one described by the psalmist.
The psalmist starts with the importance of the presence of God in all we do. That is more important than how we define what it means to be a family. When God is present in and around our lives, we have something special to hold onto and to offer to others. The acknowledgment of the presence of God in our lives is a gift we give to everyone around us.
June 17, 2019
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Proper 7
June 23, 2019
Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(NRSV)
Marriage used to be for two reasons; family alliances, and heirs. The couple marrying had little to say about their partner, it was all arranged for the sake of the wider family circles. Since the family name was passed on from the male side of the relationship, sons were more desirable than daughters. Females were considered property, passed from one family to another as breeding stock and domestic help. Not the most humane way to treat a daughter or a spouse. Things have changed in a lot of places.
People get married for love, with children as an added benefit. Couples choose to marry for supportive companionship. Couples choose to raise their children together without getting married. A variety of single, couple, and family arrangements exist with and without the support of the broader family. Is each one of these arrangements fulfilling? It certainly can be. There are a variety of definitions of what makes a family, and there is not universal agreement on those definitions. It is possible to be happy and to feel blessed in a family that is outside the one described by the psalmist.
The psalmist starts with the importance of the presence of God in all we do. That is more important than how we define what it means to be a family. When God is present in and around our lives, we have something special to hold onto and to offer to others. The acknowledgment of the presence of God in our lives is a gift we give to everyone around us.
June 17, 2019
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Monday, September 4, 2017
Psalm Meditation 899
Proper 18
September 10, 2017
Psalm 127
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(NRSV)
When the concept of immortality is based in being remembered by children, and having a legacy passed on is about having lots of sons to carry on one’s name, lots of children is important. When child mortality is a greater possibility than having children reach adulthood, lots of children is important. When the best way to get work done in the family business is to have a lot of children, lots of children is important — and necessary.
For many families the idea is to have “one or two [or three] precious children.” to make up the family unit. It is seen as good stewardship of the resources God has given us to keep from overburdening the earth and its resources by limiting the number of children a couple brings into the world. These smaller families also trust God to “build the house,” “guard the city,” and “give “sleep to his beloved.”
There are a lot of ways to trust God. There are a lot of ways to fail to trust God. Tempting as it is to see our own ways as the only ways to live out our trust in God, it does a great disservice to those around us as well as to God to judge others by our own standards. Yes, we will disagree. Yes, we will be wrong sometimes and right others. Yes, we will find ways and make ways to justify our actions through Scripture, among others. Yes, times change, and we are not always willing to change with them, which is sometimes good, sometimes not. The important thing is to trust God to the best of our ability, whether that means standing firm or moving on.
September 4, 2017
LCM
Proper 18
September 10, 2017
Psalm 127
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(NRSV)
When the concept of immortality is based in being remembered by children, and having a legacy passed on is about having lots of sons to carry on one’s name, lots of children is important. When child mortality is a greater possibility than having children reach adulthood, lots of children is important. When the best way to get work done in the family business is to have a lot of children, lots of children is important — and necessary.
For many families the idea is to have “one or two [or three] precious children.” to make up the family unit. It is seen as good stewardship of the resources God has given us to keep from overburdening the earth and its resources by limiting the number of children a couple brings into the world. These smaller families also trust God to “build the house,” “guard the city,” and “give “sleep to his beloved.”
There are a lot of ways to trust God. There are a lot of ways to fail to trust God. Tempting as it is to see our own ways as the only ways to live out our trust in God, it does a great disservice to those around us as well as to God to judge others by our own standards. Yes, we will disagree. Yes, we will be wrong sometimes and right others. Yes, we will find ways and make ways to justify our actions through Scripture, among others. Yes, times change, and we are not always willing to change with them, which is sometimes good, sometimes not. The important thing is to trust God to the best of our ability, whether that means standing firm or moving on.
September 4, 2017
LCM
Monday, April 4, 2016
Psalm Meditation 825
Third Sunday of Easter
April 10, 2016
Psalm 127
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(NRSV)
From what I know about myself and the people around me, we spend a lot of time worrying about things over which we have no control. We worry about what other people are doing, what they are saying and what they might be thinking. We worry about what is going on around us. We want to believe that we can exert some control over people and events in our area. The psalmist reminds us that we don’t. We can worry and fret about what is happening whether we are active in the situation or not. Recognizing the active presence of God in our lives has a lot to do with how we deal with all that is going on in our lives.
One of our current worries is that the world around us in changing. Those of us who have been in the majority are losing that status as the state of the world changes. Some of the changes are the ordinary pendulum swings of taste as well as shifts of the moral compass as one generation leaves the running of the world to the next. We can fight the changes, and some of them are important to dispute, we can accept them with a shrug of the shoulders or we can accept them as appropriate changes in the way of the world, and there are some of those too. Through it all some will struggle to find God at work in the world while others will see more easily where God is at work.
In the midst of our anxiety we do well to recognize that we do not own the world. It is given to us in trust by a God who loves us. We are caring for the world as stewards; holding it as responsible care takers for God and builders and improvers for the next generations. Tempting as it may be to suck all the resources out of the world, the creation, for our own benefit, we do well to leave a good bit of this trust for the sake of those who come after us. For some it will be for our own children, for each of us it will be for the children of God.
April 4, 2016
LCM
Third Sunday of Easter
April 10, 2016
Psalm 127
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(NRSV)
From what I know about myself and the people around me, we spend a lot of time worrying about things over which we have no control. We worry about what other people are doing, what they are saying and what they might be thinking. We worry about what is going on around us. We want to believe that we can exert some control over people and events in our area. The psalmist reminds us that we don’t. We can worry and fret about what is happening whether we are active in the situation or not. Recognizing the active presence of God in our lives has a lot to do with how we deal with all that is going on in our lives.
One of our current worries is that the world around us in changing. Those of us who have been in the majority are losing that status as the state of the world changes. Some of the changes are the ordinary pendulum swings of taste as well as shifts of the moral compass as one generation leaves the running of the world to the next. We can fight the changes, and some of them are important to dispute, we can accept them with a shrug of the shoulders or we can accept them as appropriate changes in the way of the world, and there are some of those too. Through it all some will struggle to find God at work in the world while others will see more easily where God is at work.
In the midst of our anxiety we do well to recognize that we do not own the world. It is given to us in trust by a God who loves us. We are caring for the world as stewards; holding it as responsible care takers for God and builders and improvers for the next generations. Tempting as it may be to suck all the resources out of the world, the creation, for our own benefit, we do well to leave a good bit of this trust for the sake of those who come after us. For some it will be for our own children, for each of us it will be for the children of God.
April 4, 2016
LCM
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