Showing posts with label Psalm 143. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 143. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Psalm Meditation 1268
¶Proper 22
¶October 6, 2024
¶Psalm 143
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+143&version=NRSVUE
(NRSVUE)
¶A time of trial, even desperation, is a fitting time to contemplate our relationship with God. When our spirits are at the lowest point, we can take time to consider whether or not we trust, or even need, a higher power of some kind. Some will decide that there is no God, and if there is, that God has no concern for us in this trial or any other time. At the other extreme, some will discover that God is in charge, we have no place to question God’s activity, or anyone else’s in our lives since God has every part of our lives scripted to the smallest detail and we are simply along for the ride. In the middle is where most of us find ourselves.
¶In the middle we find that God has given each of us the gift of free will. That means we not only live with the consequences of our own actions, we also live with the consequences of the actions of others. In times of trial, we turn to God for answers, for relief, to pluck us out of our current trouble, and to be present with us. God has chosen to allow us to make our own choices, and to live with the results for good or ill. Through it all, God also chooses to be with us no matter what.
¶The psalmist looks to God in desperation, asking for relief and deliverance. More importantly, the psalmist is asking God for help, moving in the direction of God, and being willing to accept whatever relief, comfort, and deliverance to presence of God has to offer in this particular situation. As is the case with most of us, the psalmist has some definite ideas of what kind of help God might offer, however, there is also a willingness to accept all that God has to offer. “Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.”
¶October 1, 2024
¶LCM
Monday, April 19, 2021
Psalm Meditation 1088
Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 25, 2021
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O Lord, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
Each of us has a few people whose opinions matter to us. No matter what anyone else has to say, one of those trusted voices will be the deciding vote in our opinion of our work. This is the person who brings light into a room with them as far as we are concerned. It is important to know who these folks are in our lives, so we know where to turn our attention when we need an outside opinion.
The psalmist turns to God when the need for help and support arises. It is in the presence of God that the psalmist finds refuge, fresh knowledge, steadfast and unconditional love, and wisdom in the face of trials and troubles. Because of turning to God the psalmist can make in verse 12, what I read as a manipulative, ‘If you loved me, you would destroy all the people who are mean to me.’
Though there is no mention of a community, the psalmist would not have written without a community in mind. A lively, diverse community gives us a richness of voices that lead by a variety of paths into the presence of God. As part of a community we can say with the psalmist, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.”
April 19, 2021
LCM
Monday, October 3, 2016
Psalm Meditation 851
Proper 23
October 9, 2016
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land .Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
When I first read this it seemed that the psalmist was bargaining with God for a favor, as if God could somehow owe us one. Most of us have attempted to strike a deal with God along the lines of, if you do this for me then I will do that for you. “If you get me out of this ditch, I will go to church every week for a year.” If we do get out of that ditch, and we do go to church every week for a year, we will feel as if we have somehow done our good deed and God is paid in full for getting us out of the mess in which we found ourselves. That was my thinking after the first reading.
After multiple readings I noticed that the psalmist is making these pleas in the name of God’s righteousness and faithfulness. There is full awareness on the psalmist’s part that “no one living is righteous before you.” We can’t do enough to qualify for any reciprocity on God’s part. There is not enough time, space or energy for any of us to be able to earn any favors from God. Like the psalmist, we are left to depend on the faithfulness and righteousness of God. The psalmist is not asking for deliverance from the crushing weight of an enemy or the judgment of God based on deserving it but on the basis of God’s promise and example of what is right and just.
Those who ask for God’s help and presence as a part of a reciprocal bargain, I do this, you do that, will get God’s help and presence. Those who ask for help and presence in dependence of God’s righteous and faithfulness will all receive help and presence. In both cases our help will come from the depths of God’s love for us. God does not and will not owe us any favors. No matter what deals we make, they will not be honored because we have fulfilled our side. God’s favor comes to us as an act of righteousness and faithfulness rising out of God’s steadfast love for us.
October 3, 2016
LCM
Proper 23
October 9, 2016
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land .Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
When I first read this it seemed that the psalmist was bargaining with God for a favor, as if God could somehow owe us one. Most of us have attempted to strike a deal with God along the lines of, if you do this for me then I will do that for you. “If you get me out of this ditch, I will go to church every week for a year.” If we do get out of that ditch, and we do go to church every week for a year, we will feel as if we have somehow done our good deed and God is paid in full for getting us out of the mess in which we found ourselves. That was my thinking after the first reading.
After multiple readings I noticed that the psalmist is making these pleas in the name of God’s righteousness and faithfulness. There is full awareness on the psalmist’s part that “no one living is righteous before you.” We can’t do enough to qualify for any reciprocity on God’s part. There is not enough time, space or energy for any of us to be able to earn any favors from God. Like the psalmist, we are left to depend on the faithfulness and righteousness of God. The psalmist is not asking for deliverance from the crushing weight of an enemy or the judgment of God based on deserving it but on the basis of God’s promise and example of what is right and just.
Those who ask for God’s help and presence as a part of a reciprocal bargain, I do this, you do that, will get God’s help and presence. Those who ask for help and presence in dependence of God’s righteous and faithfulness will all receive help and presence. In both cases our help will come from the depths of God’s love for us. God does not and will not owe us any favors. No matter what deals we make, they will not be honored because we have fulfilled our side. God’s favor comes to us as an act of righteousness and faithfulness rising out of God’s steadfast love for us.
October 3, 2016
LCM
Monday, June 2, 2014
Psalm Meditation 729
Pentecost
June 8, 2014
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
In the midst of energy draining, soul crushing situations it is hard to gather the strength for something as simple as asking for help. The psalmist is aware that things are getting dire enough to siphon off the very last ounce of energy and turns to God for help. Was there no one else available to ask earlier, did this come on suddenly leaving no time to ask another, or was this a situation so desperate that only God could intervene successfully? The psalmist lived in a culture much more community oriented than our American culture of the rugged individual. Asking the community to help held no shame and would have been expected.
There can be a lot of baggage in asking another for help. Since we are not as altruistic as we might like, there are favors to be done in return for the help others give. It may have been more or less pronounced in the time of the psalmist, however there would have been some price to pay for the help of another person. As we fear we may not even have the energy to pull ourselves out, let alone repay the kindness of others, it is good to be able to turn to God. The goodness of God has already outshone anything we might be able to do in return that we can ask for help with the awareness of God’s steadfast love for us in spite of our inability to even come close to being able to repay God’s favor in our lives.
Yes, it would be wonderful to be able to ask for and receive help from others without a sense of obligation to them. It would be nice if we could give help without leaving the other person feeling obligated. In some relationships there is that steadfast love that doesn’t keep score, however those are rare and precious and exist because we don’t take advantage of them or take them for granted. The steadfast love of God, chesed in Hebrew, agape’ in Greek, is available to us in any and every situation of our lives. God simply loves us. God is grateful when we return that love to the best of our ability, and mostly God loves us beyond our ability to understand.
June 1, 2014
Pentecost
June 8, 2014
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
In the midst of energy draining, soul crushing situations it is hard to gather the strength for something as simple as asking for help. The psalmist is aware that things are getting dire enough to siphon off the very last ounce of energy and turns to God for help. Was there no one else available to ask earlier, did this come on suddenly leaving no time to ask another, or was this a situation so desperate that only God could intervene successfully? The psalmist lived in a culture much more community oriented than our American culture of the rugged individual. Asking the community to help held no shame and would have been expected.
There can be a lot of baggage in asking another for help. Since we are not as altruistic as we might like, there are favors to be done in return for the help others give. It may have been more or less pronounced in the time of the psalmist, however there would have been some price to pay for the help of another person. As we fear we may not even have the energy to pull ourselves out, let alone repay the kindness of others, it is good to be able to turn to God. The goodness of God has already outshone anything we might be able to do in return that we can ask for help with the awareness of God’s steadfast love for us in spite of our inability to even come close to being able to repay God’s favor in our lives.
Yes, it would be wonderful to be able to ask for and receive help from others without a sense of obligation to them. It would be nice if we could give help without leaving the other person feeling obligated. In some relationships there is that steadfast love that doesn’t keep score, however those are rare and precious and exist because we don’t take advantage of them or take them for granted. The steadfast love of God, chesed in Hebrew, agape’ in Greek, is available to us in any and every situation of our lives. God simply loves us. God is grateful when we return that love to the best of our ability, and mostly God loves us beyond our ability to understand.
June 1, 2014
Monday, October 29, 2012
Psalm Meditation 646
Twenty third Sunday of Ordinary Time All Saints Sunday
November 4, 2012
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. (Selah)
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
For those who are held as hostages or prisoners, one of the important distinctions between them is the sense of hope or meaning they are able to maintain during their captivity. The folks who hold onto something fare much better than those who lapse into a sense of helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness. The psalmist begins to feel the crushing weight of this situation and cries out to God for deliverance. The awareness that there is one on whom we can lean, lightens the burden considerably. When we can call on one who is both outside the current situation and bigger than the current situation we have found a source of comfort and deliverance.
The comfort comes in knowing that we are not alone. When forced by circumstance to bear a burden alone, the solitariness adds to the weight as negative thoughts compound on each other. Sharing a burden makes it lighter. Having a companion as we bear a burden makes the whole situation brighter as we bear it together. As we work together the better we are able to solve the problems that come with our burdens. The crushing weight is eased by the presence of another.
The deliverance comes from knowing that we are not wholly defined by what is going on around us. We are more than our problems and difficulties. We are more than the burdens we bear. We are more than the negatives heaped on us by the people and events that would weigh us down. In the presence of God we remember that we are people of sacred worth, loved by God and by those whose lives are intertwined with ours. We are higher and deeper and broader than any momentary affliction that weighs us down.
The psalmist is burdened by the weight of an adversary and calls on God for comfort. We are reminded that we are not the first to face enemies and adversities and will not likely be the last. We do well to join the psalmist in putting ourselves into the hands of God for companionship and deliverance.
October 29, 2012
Twenty third Sunday of Ordinary Time All Saints Sunday
November 4, 2012
Psalm 143
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. (Selah)
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
(NRSV)
For those who are held as hostages or prisoners, one of the important distinctions between them is the sense of hope or meaning they are able to maintain during their captivity. The folks who hold onto something fare much better than those who lapse into a sense of helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness. The psalmist begins to feel the crushing weight of this situation and cries out to God for deliverance. The awareness that there is one on whom we can lean, lightens the burden considerably. When we can call on one who is both outside the current situation and bigger than the current situation we have found a source of comfort and deliverance.
The comfort comes in knowing that we are not alone. When forced by circumstance to bear a burden alone, the solitariness adds to the weight as negative thoughts compound on each other. Sharing a burden makes it lighter. Having a companion as we bear a burden makes the whole situation brighter as we bear it together. As we work together the better we are able to solve the problems that come with our burdens. The crushing weight is eased by the presence of another.
The deliverance comes from knowing that we are not wholly defined by what is going on around us. We are more than our problems and difficulties. We are more than the burdens we bear. We are more than the negatives heaped on us by the people and events that would weigh us down. In the presence of God we remember that we are people of sacred worth, loved by God and by those whose lives are intertwined with ours. We are higher and deeper and broader than any momentary affliction that weighs us down.
The psalmist is burdened by the weight of an adversary and calls on God for comfort. We are reminded that we are not the first to face enemies and adversities and will not likely be the last. We do well to join the psalmist in putting ourselves into the hands of God for companionship and deliverance.
October 29, 2012
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