Psalm Meditation 1296 ¶Easter ¶April 20, 2025 ¶Psalm 18 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2018&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶There are times in which the presence and protection of God can be seen as passive, in the same way a cleft of a rock does not actually do anything and protects us from all manner of storms by simply being there. We had to find the cleft ourselves and hide ourselves away in it. However, the cleft was there at a time and place we needed such a refuge. It is possible for some to say that it was simply serendipitous happenstance, and for others to see it as the presence of God giving us the wherewithal to find what we need in a given moment. ¶Later, verse 25, the psalmist reminds us that we find what we expect in an encounter with God. To the loyal God shows loyalty, to the blameless blamelessness, and on through the characteristics in verse 26. All to say that what we bring to God is what we see when we look to God. It is not that God is some great chameleon, rather that we approach God from the direction of our own attitude. There are folks who believe that God is angry and vengeful, at least in part because they are angry and vengeful themselves. There are folks who see God as open and loving because that is the way they are themselves. God meets us where we are in order to lead us to a deeper union with God and with the people of God. ¶God provides for us out of a rich and steadfast love for us. And yet, God does not force that providence on us. The tools and treasures are there for us, and it is up to us to pick them up and use them. Some will find those tools and treasures and be grateful that they are lucky enough to find them on their own. Others will see everything around them as gifts of love from God. The rest of us will fall somewhere in between. I believe that in each case the providence of God is at work in our lives. “The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation,” (Ps18:46) ¶April 15, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1152 ¶Proper 11 ¶July 17, 2022 ¶Psalm 18 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+18&version=NRSVUE ¶This long psalm is as good a time as any to post a link instead of the psalm. I continue to encourage you to read the psalm first. ¶I once met someone who treated me as if I were the only person in the room. As I watched him greet other people at the event, I noticed he treated each of them with the same singular focus. I saw it and still see it as an enviable people skill. As David praises God in this psalm, it seems to be for that same focus on his need for deliverance. With everything else that demands God’s attention, there is time and energy to meet David in his time of great need. ¶It is easy, in times of stress and peril, to believe that we are alone. We imagine ourselves abandoned by any source of help on which we normally lean. If we do think to call on God, it is likely that we will not include the introductory praise of this psalm. It is also possible that the ascription of praise was not how David began his prayer in his darkest hour. It was an addition put in as the psalm was written down after the fact. ¶The important thing is to cry out to God when there is a need. It does not have to be ‘right,’ it does not have to be in formal biblical language, it doesn’t need language at all. The necessary part is to call on and rely on God for presence with us, no matter what. We may get the answer we were expecting, with all the T-s crossed and I-s dotted. We may get something radically different from what we asked for and expected God to do. Either way, we know that God is with us. ¶July 11, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1085 Easter April 4, 2021 Psalm 18 (selected verses) 1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire. 13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice. 14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 16 He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. 20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. 23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. 24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me; 48 who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent. 49 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. 50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever. (NRSV) How many of us believe that we can make God do things for us because we are such good people? It is the way this psalm is written. Because we have been good subjects God is bound by honor to do good things for us. It is not about the loving goodness of God, it is about our being obedient subjects. In a sense we can guilt God into doing what we want done. How silly is that? The psalmist’s view is that of a royal subject; it is what the psalmist knows. People are ruled by despotic kings and queens who demand loyalty and obedience. These rulers can also be swayed by the loyal actions of subjects. It is a tit for tat, quid pro quo life for those involved in the ruling of a nation. As times and governments change, so too can our view of God. A current view of God is as one whose overarching love touches each one of us. God acts out of love for us, choosing the most loving course of action rather than reacting to our various acts of obedience and disobedience. The influence we have with God is the power of love at work in our lives, leading us to want the best the world has to offer for all those around us. Rather than being rewarded for our proper actions, we are loved beyond measure. March 30, 2021 LCM

Psalm Meditation 880
Third Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2017

Psalm 18 (selected verses)
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back until they were consumed.
38 I struck them down, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.
39 For you girded me with strength for the battle; you made my assailants sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples; you made me head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me;
48 who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.
49 For this I will extol you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
(NRSV)

Most of us have enemies of some sort. Some have mortal enemies made of flesh and bone. Each meeting will be a confrontation involving blows or bullets and blood. Some have enemies, also made of flesh and bone. These meetings are confrontations of words and ideas, with no hope of agreement. Some have enemies of emotional/spiritual makeup. These would be the habits, afflictions, and addictions that draw energy from us, with or without our permission. Each type of enemy, each individual enemy drains our time and energy in a variety of exhausting ways. One is not more damaging than another even though the wounds may be more visible.

The psalmist encapsulates the psalm with verse 17, “[God] delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.” By calling on and depending on God for deliverance, the psalmist is freed to serve God in righteousness. The psalmist points out, in some of the verses edited out for space, that the rewards God offers are a mirror image of the attributes we bring to the presence of God. “With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless; with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.” (25-26) Because God is so far beyond our comprehension we are able to see in God what we contribute to the relationship. God defeats our enemies, or becomes our enemy, using the characteristics we possess within ourselves in a way that leaves our common enemies powerless.

While many psalms call for the destruction of enemies through death, dismemberment, and disease that is not usually how God works among us. Some enemies are destroyed by robbing them of their power over us, some by coming to a peaceful accord between us, and some through recognition that we were never enemies to begin with. God has power over our enemies as God has power over us. When we turn to God we are better able to see the power of God at work in the lives of our enemies, ourselves, and all of creation.

April 24, 2017
LCM

Psalm Meditation 784
Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
June 28, 2015

Psalm 18:1-7,40-50
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples; you made me head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me;
48 who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.
49 For this I will extol you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
(NRSV)

Most of us do not lead nations and armies so this psalm can appear to have no meaning for us as this king confronts enemies in the presence of God. While we do not have experience leading nations and unknown peoples we do have the experience of knowing that God is with us as we face enemies, adversaries and struggles in our lives. We may even know the satisfaction of having defeated one of those opponents in such a way that we will not have to fight that battle again. The presence of God makes a difference for us.

We revel in the knowledge that this particular enemy is so soundly defeated that there is nothing left but dust. It is an exhilarating feeling to know that this battle is over and this enemy will not rise again. There is a sense of relief and freedom that fills us as we realize that this is something with which we will never have to deal again. These battles are internal battles for many of us as we face our fears and unexamined decisions of years before. The important part is not the battleground so much as it is the recognition that we could not have won this victory without the presence of God.

Even in cases in which the battle is not finally and definitively won or lost we can find strength in the presence of God. As we win, this time, we are aware that the presence of God made this partial victory possible. As each successive battle becomes easier we are aware that it is in part due to the presence of God in our lives. Win or lose, the presence of God offers us the assurance that we are not alone. God and the people of God stand with us.

June 22, 2015
LCM

Psalm Meditation 617
Second Sunday of Easter
April 15, 2012

Psalm 18 (selected verses)
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
25 With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless;
26 with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
27 For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples; you made me head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me;
48 who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.
49 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever. (NRSV)

Is God so malleable that we can make God in our image or is God so beyond our comprehension that we can see whoever we are mirrored back to us in our image of God? My guess is that we see who we are reflected back to us in our image of God. It is rare that a gentle and loving person will see God as violent and angry. It is also rare for a an angry person to see God as gentle and forgiving. It is often the case that we see ourselves reflected back to us in our relationships with God as well as with others.

Humble folks recognize their need for help from God and from those around them. Once the need is recognized, these folks will have no difficulty asking for the help they need. And since most of us are willing to help those in need we are quick to offer the help we are able to provide. Secure in the knowledge that they are not alone, humble folks seem able to do great things.

Haughty folks, on the other hand, don’t feel the need or desire to get help from anyone. They end up muddling through by force of will and they skills they possess on their own. When a personally insurmountable situation arises they have nowhere to turn and they are brought down by their insistence on doing it on their own strength. It is not that God and others are not willing and available, it is that the haughty do not recognize either their need for help or the willingness of others to offer the help they need.

God is present with us and offers us what we are willing and able to expect. It is possible and even probable that God is at work in our lives doing things of which we are not aware. It is not that God can’t act beyond our ability to ask and receive so much as it is that we can’t notice the activity of God beyond our ability to comprehend God’s presence and activity.

© April 9, 2012