Showing posts with label Psalm 138. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 138. Show all posts
Monday, September 23, 2024
Psalm Meditation 1267
¶Proper 21
¶September 29, 2024
¶Psalm 138
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+138&version=NRSVUE
(NRSVUE)
¶The psalmist begins with a word of thanks and praise. As a part of that, the psalmist mentions the gods. The psalmist was aware that surrounding cultures had divine beings of their own. While these groups might argue over which group was watched over and protected by the best divinities they did not argue over the need to worship mine over yours. It was as if each area was watched and protected by a particular set of beings within a geographic area. There was no overlap or interference from one region to another.
¶Israel was the first to recognize that their God, YHWH, served as guardian and guide wherever they went. When Abram and the rest of the family sojourned, it was in the presence of God. When the people cried out from exile in Egypt, it was YHWH who heard them and led them back into the land from which they had gone in search of food. In all of their journeys as a people and as individuals, they knew that they travelled in the presence of YHWH.
¶While there will always be people willing to point out all the scary and treacherous parts of the world around us, we can rest assured that we are in the presence of YHWH. As long as we keep ourselves humble in each part of our lives we know that YHWH is keeping a close watch over us. Even if we get a little too full of ourselves, thinking we deserve all sorts of special treatment because of who we are, we can be sure that YHWH has an eye on us even if it is from a place that leans toward humility, steadfast love, and mercy.
¶September 23, 2024
¶LCM
Monday, September 21, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1058
Proper 21
September 27, 2020
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
We like to think of ourselves as people of God, the ones God loves and cares for; and so we are. God cares for and cares about each one of us. God does have this preference for the poor and needy, those for whom there is no help except from God. While we like to think of ourselves as special, even exceptional in the eyes of God, are we really as helpless as the psalmist seems to be?
What if we are not among those who can identify with the psalmist? What if our very thoughts of exceptionalism are the haughtiness that God “perceives from far away(?)” If that were the case, we would do well to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord rather than assume that we are already among those who are gathered close to God.
When we feel put upon by life’s circumstances, in need of the loving, helping hand of God, we do well to examine ourselves even as we ask for help from God. Am I one who needs God’s help to overcome an adversary, or do I need to see that other as the one who is being helped by God to receive some of what I have always seen as mine? Do I need to be helped by God, or am I in a position to be God’s helper by giving up some of what I have for the benefit of others?
September 21, 2020
LCM
Monday, July 16, 2018
Psalm Meditation 944
Proper 11
July 22, 2018
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
‘Thank you’ seems to be so easy to say until it comes to actually saying it. The words do come trippingly off the tongue of some folks, and they obviously mean it when they say, “thank you.” The rest of us feel the weight of the baggage that these two little words carry. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges that I am beholden to you in some way. You have given me something in the way of time, effort, energy, goods, or services. To say ‘thank you’ means that I am not the rugged individual so highly prized in the world in which we live. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges our dependence on each other.
The psalmist pauses to give thanks for a rich variety of ways that God is active among us. In this psalm the thanks are for loving us, being faithful to us, and providing us the spiritual resources to meet the challenges and opportunities of our lives. Sometimes we take all this for granted so it is a good reminder to pause In the middle of whatever is going on in our lives to give thanks for all that God does among us. Giving thanks to God is a good habit to form. If we get to the point in which our habit becomes going through the motions and saying the words without the meaning, it is good to break free of the habit and give thanks from our hearts.
Givng thanks is hard. It is hard to thank the people around us and it is hard to thank God. Every exercise is hard at first. Lifting weights, taking first steps, writing the first paragraph, initiating a conversation each take effort and energy. Each of these activities get easier the more we do them. It is a good idea to step back from our habits to make sure we are using proper form, that we are making progress toward a goal rather than being stuck at a comfortable pace. Giving thanks to God, saying ‘thank you’ to the people around us is good exercise. To give thanks with our whole hearts is great exercise.
July 16, 2018
LCM
Proper 11
July 22, 2018
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
‘Thank you’ seems to be so easy to say until it comes to actually saying it. The words do come trippingly off the tongue of some folks, and they obviously mean it when they say, “thank you.” The rest of us feel the weight of the baggage that these two little words carry. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges that I am beholden to you in some way. You have given me something in the way of time, effort, energy, goods, or services. To say ‘thank you’ means that I am not the rugged individual so highly prized in the world in which we live. To say ‘thank you’ acknowledges our dependence on each other.
The psalmist pauses to give thanks for a rich variety of ways that God is active among us. In this psalm the thanks are for loving us, being faithful to us, and providing us the spiritual resources to meet the challenges and opportunities of our lives. Sometimes we take all this for granted so it is a good reminder to pause In the middle of whatever is going on in our lives to give thanks for all that God does among us. Giving thanks to God is a good habit to form. If we get to the point in which our habit becomes going through the motions and saying the words without the meaning, it is good to break free of the habit and give thanks from our hearts.
Givng thanks is hard. It is hard to thank the people around us and it is hard to thank God. Every exercise is hard at first. Lifting weights, taking first steps, writing the first paragraph, initiating a conversation each take effort and energy. Each of these activities get easier the more we do them. It is a good idea to step back from our habits to make sure we are using proper form, that we are making progress toward a goal rather than being stuck at a comfortable pace. Giving thanks to God, saying ‘thank you’ to the people around us is good exercise. To give thanks with our whole hearts is great exercise.
July 16, 2018
LCM
Monday, December 29, 2014
Psalm Meditation 759
Second Sunday After Christmas
January 4, 2015
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
At our best, we are overwhelmed with thankfulness and it spills out of us. We may have a list of things for which we are grateful; all the ways we have noticed God being good to us. We may become aware that there is so much good going on in and around us that we can’t possibly list it all, so we lift up a ‘thank you’ knowing that it is does not come near to expressing the depth of our gratitude for all that God does and is for us.
In one of those ‘two kinds of people’ distinctions, there are folks who want to be thanked for what they do and folks who want to be thanked for who they are. If you thank them for something in the other category they feel less appreciated than if they are thanked in the area that touches them. God is equally touched by both types of thanks. It may be that God is especially glad when we can move beyond our own comfort zone and thank God for something in the other category.
However we go about it, it is good to make the time to give God thanks. We can present God with a list of things for which we are grateful, we can thank God for being present in our lives or we can mix the two together. Some folks say that God does not need anything from us. While that may be true, God does appreciate our thanks, our praise, our desire to spend time in the presence of God whether we are alone or carry God’s presence with us in every part of our day.
December 29, 2014
LCM
Second Sunday After Christmas
January 4, 2015
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
At our best, we are overwhelmed with thankfulness and it spills out of us. We may have a list of things for which we are grateful; all the ways we have noticed God being good to us. We may become aware that there is so much good going on in and around us that we can’t possibly list it all, so we lift up a ‘thank you’ knowing that it is does not come near to expressing the depth of our gratitude for all that God does and is for us.
In one of those ‘two kinds of people’ distinctions, there are folks who want to be thanked for what they do and folks who want to be thanked for who they are. If you thank them for something in the other category they feel less appreciated than if they are thanked in the area that touches them. God is equally touched by both types of thanks. It may be that God is especially glad when we can move beyond our own comfort zone and thank God for something in the other category.
However we go about it, it is good to make the time to give God thanks. We can present God with a list of things for which we are grateful, we can thank God for being present in our lives or we can mix the two together. Some folks say that God does not need anything from us. While that may be true, God does appreciate our thanks, our praise, our desire to spend time in the presence of God whether we are alone or carry God’s presence with us in every part of our day.
December 29, 2014
LCM
Monday, May 7, 2012
Psalm Meditation 621
Sixth Sunday of Easter/Mother’s Day
May 13, 2012
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
Most other thoughts are pushed out of my head as we continue to celebrate the birth of our granddaughter. The first verse sums it up pretty well, I give thanks with my whole heart and I sing praises to God. It is an interesting thing to ponder; there are babies born every day and they are usually outside our circle of awareness. I was recently in a hospital setting, surrounded by healthcare folks, and a lullaby came over the public address system. As far as I know, no one else even paused in what they were doing to welcome this new little life. I was probably only aware because I knew that it would not be long before we would be welcoming a new little life into our family circle. That we don’t notice does not mean that these other children are not miracles and treasures, it simply makes us aware that not all miracles are received in a similar fashion by everyone. For us this birth was a miracle. For the other folks in the waiting area the same event was simply an interruption in their waiting.
Some things that leave me breathless and overjoyed are non-events in the lives of others. Some things that are worthy of a victory celebration in my mind are cause for moaning and crying for someone else. For some, part of the joy of a decisive victory in a sporting event is being able to celebrate that victory in the face of someone who is a fan of the other team. Somehow, the dejection of the losers makes the victory even sweeter for some. In joy and sorrow, in victory and defeat, in all the times and places in between God is present with us in some way.
If we stop to think about it we could be overwhelmed by the number and variety of dangers that continually surround us. In one sense, it is amazing that any of us survive any given day. Storms, accidents, illness and purposeful violence surround us wherever we are. When we dwell on the hard parts of life we can become rough and cynical. When we are more inclined to see the good parts of life and the presence of God in all parts of life we live in hope for the present and the future. Though we walk in the midst of trouble God is with us and that is reason for hope.
© May 7, 2012
Sixth Sunday of Easter/Mother’s Day
May 13, 2012
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
Most other thoughts are pushed out of my head as we continue to celebrate the birth of our granddaughter. The first verse sums it up pretty well, I give thanks with my whole heart and I sing praises to God. It is an interesting thing to ponder; there are babies born every day and they are usually outside our circle of awareness. I was recently in a hospital setting, surrounded by healthcare folks, and a lullaby came over the public address system. As far as I know, no one else even paused in what they were doing to welcome this new little life. I was probably only aware because I knew that it would not be long before we would be welcoming a new little life into our family circle. That we don’t notice does not mean that these other children are not miracles and treasures, it simply makes us aware that not all miracles are received in a similar fashion by everyone. For us this birth was a miracle. For the other folks in the waiting area the same event was simply an interruption in their waiting.
Some things that leave me breathless and overjoyed are non-events in the lives of others. Some things that are worthy of a victory celebration in my mind are cause for moaning and crying for someone else. For some, part of the joy of a decisive victory in a sporting event is being able to celebrate that victory in the face of someone who is a fan of the other team. Somehow, the dejection of the losers makes the victory even sweeter for some. In joy and sorrow, in victory and defeat, in all the times and places in between God is present with us in some way.
If we stop to think about it we could be overwhelmed by the number and variety of dangers that continually surround us. In one sense, it is amazing that any of us survive any given day. Storms, accidents, illness and purposeful violence surround us wherever we are. When we dwell on the hard parts of life we can become rough and cynical. When we are more inclined to see the good parts of life and the presence of God in all parts of life we live in hope for the present and the future. Though we walk in the midst of trouble God is with us and that is reason for hope.
© May 7, 2012
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