Showing posts with label Psalm 97. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 97. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Psalm Meditation 1225
¶Second Sunday of Advent
¶December 10, 2023
¶Psalm 97 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+97&version=NRSVUE
(NRSV)
¶There are folks who long for the day of YHWH, knowing that on that day all the people who have ever annoyed them for any reason will suddenly cease to be. The judgement of God will come and destroy all who have stood against God, and we will finally be free of those evil doers. It will be a glorious day for us when we are finally free of all those who have harassed and tempted us throughout our lives. We will be able to relax and enjoy the presence of God in the fullness of glory.
¶Except that, each of us has had a time in which our faithfulness has been questionable, and we have made ourselves as liable to judgment as anyone else. Through our lives we have made someone or something the top priority in our lives, turning it into an idol. We have made ourselves guilty of the very thing for which we have wished God’s judgment on others. Even though we can justify our actions, we are still guilty. If the day of YHWH comes as we have hoped, we will be swept away in the same judgment we have wished on others.
¶The good thing is that God is not as vindictive as we can be. Though we long for fire, flood, and famine for all of ‘those’ people, God is loving and patient with them and with us. The love of God keeps calling us into a relationship, not only with God, with all people everywhere. God loves the people who have hurt us, who hate us, who ignore us because we mean so little to them. God loves us even though we have hurt people, hate people, and ignore people either purposely or carelessly. God loves us, simple as that.
¶December 6, 2023
¶LCM
Monday, September 6, 2021
Psalm Meditation 1108
Proper 19
September 12, 2021
Psalm 97
1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
(NRSV)
¶Verse 10 has an alternate translation in the notes, “You who love the Lord hate evil.” It is the two sides of one coin. God’s love is showered on those who hate evil, and those who love God also hate evil. God’s love comes first. It is our whole reason for being. We are born out of God’s love to give it a focus and object. The loneliness of God from the creation story in Genesis rises out of the desire of God to have a focus for all of the love that God has to offer.
¶The alternate reading puts some responsibility on each of us. We can hold opposing views, even loves, in our lives, though we do have to choose a priority that will shift and change from time to time. When we find ourselves loving God, we find that we are opposed to evil. When we turn to evil we either have to redefine God in our image or turn away all together. With either reading the psalmist points us to the love of God as more lasting than the love of and participation in evil.
¶‘The Lord loves those who hate evil,’ can be seen as a limit to God’s love. I believe that God loves each and all of us, so this statement is not a limit on God as much as a limit on our ability/willingness to experience God’s love in our lives. When our hearts turn to evil, God gets crowded out and ignored rather than hated. No matter what, God loves us. “The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.”
September 6, 2021
LCM
Monday, July 25, 2016
Psalm Meditation 841
Proper 13
July 31, 2016
Psalm 97
1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
(NRSV)
The psalmist calls us to rejoice in the presence of God. For some people that means wearing the biggest smile anyone has ever seen on that particular face. For others it means a body shaking laugh with a bit of shouting thrown in. For still others it means dancing and singing that employs all the person’s energy and takes up all the space available for the celebration. That we each rejoice in different ways does not mean that one is more joyful than the other so much as it means that we express our joy quite differently.
As we express our joy in different ways, we also express our joy for a variety of reasons. This psalm could be a celebration of a victory over an adversary at the hand of God or awe at a natural phenomenon witnessed by the psalmist. Any one of us who rejoices will do so for a variety of reasons. We may revel in the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. We may celebrate the joy of new birth or another milestone in the life of a loved one.
For a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways we rejoice in the presence and in the activity of God in the world in and around us. As we rejoice in God’s activity we find ourselves drawn closer to God and the people of God. As we draw closer we find new and deeper reasons to rejoice in God’s presence as well as a desire to be ever more fully in the presence of God surrounded by God’s people.
July 25, 2016
LCM
Proper 13
July 31, 2016
Psalm 97
1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
(NRSV)
The psalmist calls us to rejoice in the presence of God. For some people that means wearing the biggest smile anyone has ever seen on that particular face. For others it means a body shaking laugh with a bit of shouting thrown in. For still others it means dancing and singing that employs all the person’s energy and takes up all the space available for the celebration. That we each rejoice in different ways does not mean that one is more joyful than the other so much as it means that we express our joy quite differently.
As we express our joy in different ways, we also express our joy for a variety of reasons. This psalm could be a celebration of a victory over an adversary at the hand of God or awe at a natural phenomenon witnessed by the psalmist. Any one of us who rejoices will do so for a variety of reasons. We may revel in the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. We may celebrate the joy of new birth or another milestone in the life of a loved one.
For a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways we rejoice in the presence and in the activity of God in the world in and around us. As we rejoice in God’s activity we find ourselves drawn closer to God and the people of God. As we draw closer we find new and deeper reasons to rejoice in God’s presence as well as a desire to be ever more fully in the presence of God surrounded by God’s people.
July 25, 2016
LCM
Monday, November 18, 2013
Psalm Meditation 701
Reign of Christ Sunday
November 24, 2013
Psalm 97
1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
(NRSV)
In the midst of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, I remember what a shock it was to hear that the Soviet Union was geographically larger than the US. How could the best country in the world not also be the biggest. Through the years I have discovered that the biggest is not always the best and mine is not always better than that of another. Sometimes that other is better, sometimes worse and sometimes simply different.
When it comes to God I have also had a change of heart and mind. The older I get the more radical becomes my monotheism. Rather than worrying about whether one or another religious faith worships the same God I worship, I am inclined to believe that there is only one God who is experienced and interpreted differently from person to person and faith to faith. So, for me, the worshippers of other gods have chosen to split attributes of God into multiple parts to make God more comprehensible.
I would like to think that our conception of God is the most complete and comprehensive. At the very least it is the one most meaningful to me. So whether there is a nation that is larger than my own, this is home for me. It is the one best suited to my current set of needs, wants and wishes. Whether there is one God or a panoply, the one God of the Bible, Yahweh, is the one in whom I will rejoice and the one to whom I will give thanks.
November 18, 2013
Reign of Christ Sunday
November 24, 2013
Psalm 97
1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
(NRSV)
In the midst of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, I remember what a shock it was to hear that the Soviet Union was geographically larger than the US. How could the best country in the world not also be the biggest. Through the years I have discovered that the biggest is not always the best and mine is not always better than that of another. Sometimes that other is better, sometimes worse and sometimes simply different.
When it comes to God I have also had a change of heart and mind. The older I get the more radical becomes my monotheism. Rather than worrying about whether one or another religious faith worships the same God I worship, I am inclined to believe that there is only one God who is experienced and interpreted differently from person to person and faith to faith. So, for me, the worshippers of other gods have chosen to split attributes of God into multiple parts to make God more comprehensible.
I would like to think that our conception of God is the most complete and comprehensive. At the very least it is the one most meaningful to me. So whether there is a nation that is larger than my own, this is home for me. It is the one best suited to my current set of needs, wants and wishes. Whether there is one God or a panoply, the one God of the Bible, Yahweh, is the one in whom I will rejoice and the one to whom I will give thanks.
November 18, 2013
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