Psalm Meditation 1139 ¶Easter ¶April 17, 2022 ¶Psalm 5 1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing. 2 Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. 4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you. 5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. 9 For there is no truth in their mouths; their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves; they flatter with their tongues. 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you. 12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favor as with a shield. (NRSV) ¶The problem I see in this psalm, at least this time through, is the willingness of the psalmist to make righteousness a contest. ‘I am so much better than all of those other people because I depend on your righteousness and all of those other folks depend on lies, destruction, and flattery.’ When I judge myself by my internal intentions and judge others by their actions I have set up a situation in which I win and you lose—every time. ¶That might be okay if God only listens to me and my opinions on who is evil and who is good. The difficulty is that God knows the heart of each of us, our intentions, rationalizations, and excuses for why I should have favored status with God while everyone else deserves harsh judgment. So, while I believe you deserve to be punished and I deserve leniency because my heart was right even though things didn’t work the way I wanted them to, you believe that you deserve credit for intention and I deserve punishment for my actions. ¶Perhaps each of us has missed something in the life and heart of the other. So, instead of making righteousness a contest, we each could concern ourselves with our own actions and intentions. In the event we are in a position to judge another we do well to do it with as much mercy and grace as we would hope to receive ourselves. “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favor as with a shield.” ¶April 11, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1138 ¶Palm/Passion Sunday ¶April 10, 2022 ¶Psalm 2 1 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, with trembling 12 kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him. (NRSV) ¶I remember being very upset when I learned that the United States is not the largest country in the world. Having been taught that we are the best/grandest nation, we must also be the biggest. Knowing this about myself makes me wonder how many other nations tell their citizens that their nation is the best/grandest in the world. That the psalmist knows that the rulers of the surrounding nations want to be free of the bonds and cords imposed on them by Israel leads me to believe that the indoctrination is widespread. Especially since one of my seminary professors informed us that Israel was never much of a military power. ¶Whether we are strong or weak, rich or poor, big or small it is a good plan to look to YHWH for help and direction. Though the psalmist knows that God is on our side and will crush all of our enemies, that is seeing God as one of us, one like us, with the same friends and enemies that we have. God does not choose sides in our petty squabbles over ‘stuff.’ God encourages us to love each other, to look for ways to care for one another, and to move in the direction that leads us closer to God. ¶While we are quick to find ways to justify God being on our side over against those with whom we disagree, God does not work that way. We are called and led to serve God by serving each other. Watching our enemies be broken into tiny little pieces is a great revenge/punishment fantasy, but that is all it is if we expect God to do that for us. In serving God we are called to serve those we love as well as those who seem unlovable. “Happy are all who take refuge in him.” ¶March 7, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1137 ¶Fifth Sunday in Lent ¶April 3, 2022 ¶Psalm 21 1 In your strength the king rejoices, O LORD, and in your help how greatly he exults! 2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah 3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his head. 4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him—length of days forever and ever. 5 His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. 6 You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 7 For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9 You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among humankind. 11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed. 12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows. 13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power. (NRSV) ¶Wouldn’t it be great to have connection with a powerful being who could do anything except refuse to do your bidding? This is the kind of God the psalmist wishes for the king to have, with a saying-it-makes-it-so bravado. We do have a tendency to act, think, and behave as if God is ready, willing, and able to be such a being for us. If we ask with enough faith, God will grant us whatever we ask, foolish and ill-thought out though it may be. At the very least, our prayers should be answered with the speed and accuracy we expect, with a little room for something better than we requested. ¶I hope we all know that God does not work that way. Even David did not get all for which he asked. Prayer is answered just as often with a redirection of our request and concern. The petition we lift to God may be answered with an assurance that God is with us, even though what we have asked for does not happen. God is not a genie who pops out of a bottle to grant our first three wishes. God is a loving presence whose goal and gift is to lead us in the way that leads us closer to God in our thoughts, attitudes and actions. ¶The prayers that are answered best are the ones that ask that we be pointed in the direction that leads to the love of God in all we are and do. That direction is seldom easy, it is certainly not the way of the world. It is the way that leads away from selfish desire toward a generosity of spirit. “Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.” ¶March 28, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1136 ¶Fourth Sunday in Lent ¶March 27, 2022 ¶Psalm 15 1 O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? 2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; 3 who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; 4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the LORD; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 5 who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved. (NRSV) ¶Sometimes we make promises with the expectation that we will not have to do anything to keep those promises. And if we do have to keep our side of a promise, bargain, or bet, we find a way to weasel out of it with an excuse or rationalization that clears us of the debt as far as we are concerned. It will not haunt us or keep us up at night because we have been able to erase any sense of debt on our part. ¶The psalmist tells us that we need to keep those promises or stop making them if we have any intention of being in the presence of God. Sometimes keeping our oaths and promises can be painful. Marriage vows, ordination vows, other professional oaths and promises call for sacrifices from time to time. While we would rather do things our own way and for our own benefit, we do have to do things that go against our selfish desires for the sake of honoring our vows, oaths, and promises. ¶Though we tend to make it sound difficult to end up in the presence of God, the psalmist tells us that God wants us to be good to others, to be honest with the people around us, refuse to put up with evil things from others, and take our vows, oaths, and promises seriously even if we end up getting hurt somehow because of it. All of this built on a base of wanting to be as much like God as we possibly can be. ¶March 22, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1135 ¶Third Sunday in Lent ¶March 20, 2022 ¶Psalm 10 1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—let them be caught in the schemes they have devised. 3 For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart, those greedy for gain curse and renounce the LORD. 4 In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”; all their thoughts are, “There is no God.” 5 Their ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of their sight; as for their foes, they scoff at them. 6 They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved; throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.” 7 Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongues are mischief and iniquity. 8 They sit in ambush in the villages; in hiding places they murder the innocent. Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; 9 they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net. 10 They stoop, they crouch, and the helpless fall by their might. 11 They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” 12 Rise up, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed. 13 Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, “You will not call us to account”? 14 But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers; seek out their wickedness until you find none. 16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations shall perish from his land. 17 O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear 18 to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more. (NRSV) ¶The who are poor are generally seen as an easy mark for those who want to find someone to exploit. They have enough to survive while not having enough to defend themselves from those for whom too much is not enough. They can’t hire anyone to defend them so they are ripe for exploitation. Governments, corporations, and wealthy individuals make promises and programs that look good on paper while they use bait and switch tactics to keep folks oppressed and needy. ¶Many who are poor have something that those who have more money do not have. They have a supportive community that lives with the assurance that being exploited is not the final outcome. Those who live in poverty are more likely to have faith in one who will deliver them from exploitation and oppression. The psalmist calls on YHWH to bring divine deliverance to those who are most in need, and to break the power of those who have taken advantage of them in so many ways. ¶One of my instructors in seminary told our group, “In all my years, I have never met anyone who made too much money by their own accounting.” While we are tempted to call ourselves poor so that we can more easily ask God to make us rich, we do better to look for any of the ways we exploit others directly and indirectly. “O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.” ¶March 14, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1134 ¶Second Sunday in Lent ¶March 13, 2022 ¶Psalm 6 1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. 3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O LORD—how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame. (NRSV) ¶It has been a long two years, and the stresses have not subsided; only changed faces. We have had our fearsome encounters with Covid 19, we have dealt with differing opinions and practices on how to deal with this disease. We have angered each other as we were too cautious or too cavalier to suit each other. We have been vaccinated and boosted or refused to have anything to do with a vaccine. As we have turned a corner on the disease front, we face the prospect of a war that will do no one any good in the long run, except for any lessons we may learn for the future. ¶The psalmist has reached a breaking point. Terror of body and soul leads to a leap of faith into the arms of God, depending on the steadfastness of God’s love to be the source of deliverance from all that threatens body and soul. The belief of the system is that death is final, and keeps one from being able to remember and praise God, so there is a touch of bargaining/bribery here to convince God to grant deliverance from death and Sheol. And yet, at this breaking point the psalmist knows that God has heard and accepted this prayer for deliverance. ¶We each know or know of someone who has died of Covid. We may know or know of someone with relatives or other connection to Ukraine or Russia. I believe that God does not choose sides, especially based on politics and geography. God loves each of us and stands ready to catch us when we make that leap toward deliverance. I also believe that God will catch us whether we live or die, whether we are on the right or the wrong side of history, whether we love God or not. I believe God comforts us in our times of terror out of a steadfast and abiding love for each of us. ¶March 8, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1133 ¶First Sunday in Lent ¶March 6, 2022 ¶Psalm 3 1 O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; 2 many are saying to me, “There is no help for you in God.” Selah 3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 4 I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. 6 I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. 7 Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people! Selah (NRSV) ¶I had every intention of writing about the internal foes we face on a regular basis; and then Russia invaded Ukraine. I see a people facing a formidable foe with faith, courage, and a sense of community that we don’t often see in modern war. Too often people find themselves defeated before the first shots are fired. The slow, steady build up of soldiers, armaments, and vehicles was likely meant to intimidate and discourage the Ukrainian people. It may have done the opposite, giving them time to rally their courage, resources, and resistance to any and all attacks. ¶The people of Ukraine are sustained by faith, family, and the broader solidarity that rises as a nation faces a foe with a deep sense of connection to the land, to freedom, and to each other. This is the sensibility that the psalmist lifts up with an assurance that God is with those who strive together for freedom from oppression at the hands of any who threaten neighbors, friends and family. The psalmist knows that, in some form, God is at work against those with wicked intentions. ¶Pray for those who stand against foes whose greed and selfishness would run roughshod over those who are charting their own course to the future, freedom, and self-determination. “Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people! Selah” ¶March 1, 2022 ¶LCM