Psalm Meditation 1181 ¶Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany ¶February 5, 2023 ¶Psalm 41 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+41&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶Have you ever gone to visit someone as a sympathetic listener only to go out and tell everyone all that you have just heard in confidence? Or have you ever had someone act as the sympathetic listener for you so that they can spread that information to their network? If both have happened I will hazard a guess that you remember the second as more deeply painful than the first. We can justify the breaking of received confidences with the most trivial of rationalizations. However, having our own secrets scattered about like feathers in the wind is quite memorable. ¶God is called upon to forgive the psalmist, who is very aware of the need to be forgiven. In a time in which illness is equated with sinfulness, it seems obvious that the psalmist is in need of forgiveness in order to bring about healing. There are those waiting impatiently for the psalmist’s death. They may be waiting for some kind of inheritance, or they could be waiting for the satisfaction of knowing that they have outlived an enemy. Either way, the psalmist is hoping to recover to spite those enemies at the very least. ¶Gossip, at its worst, is telling stories, that may or may not be true, in order to put someone in a bad light among the hearers. The psalmist has been the object of this kind of gossip and has grown weary of it. Owing to the ongoing and ever improving health, it is obvious that the psalmist has found favor with God and is not likely to die as quickly as so many seem to hope. To be in the presence of God helps us to rise above this worst type of gossip as object or perpetrator of these tales. ¶January 30, 2023 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1180 ¶Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany ¶January 29, 2023 ¶Psalm 34 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+34&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶We like to think that it is God’s job to save us from everything unpleasant about life in this world. We want to be saved from sitting next to people we don’t like, especially when everyone is in close quarters. We want to be protected from people who are scary to us, folks we are afraid will do us some kind of lasting harm. It may not occur to us that some of those people are praying to be protected from us, and whatever it is about us that fills them with fear and dread. ¶God is not going to save us from every scary person, event, or situation. God may even push, prod, and cajole us into some of those as teachable moments. The salvation that will come to us in fearful situations is the reminder that God is with us in this and every time and place. Even if we are injured or die, the presence of the God is there to hold us in every circumstance. We may not even be aware of the ways that God is present among us. It could be a person, a breeze, a spark of imagination, and any number of other ways of being present. ¶God is far beyond our ability to imagine and comprehend. Just as God can be all places at once, so can God be with folks on every side of a fearful situation. God loves us beyond measure and redeems us from all manner of trouble. It may not be the way we would expect or appreciate being loved and redeemed, however God is with us as a loving presence in every time and place. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.” ¶January 23, 2023 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1179 ¶Third Sunday After the Epiphany ¶January 22, 2023 ¶Psalm 63 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+63&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶The first line of this psalm has been my prayer phrase for most of my adult life. Sometimes it is a statement of fact, I am currently seeking God so that I can come closer to serving God with my whole heart and life. Other times it is and aspirational statement. When I feel as if I have wandered away, it is a reminder to reconnect to God. In dark times it serves as a challenge. I want God to be my God, and I want to seek God, however I feel so far away that it is a nearly impossible task. ¶The rest of the psalm fills in the spaces of my attitude and energy. I find reason to praise God, to feel as if I am the guest at a rich feast of delicious, sweet and savory things that fill me to contentment. I may be close to or far away from my host, however I am present at the banquet. Other times I feel as if I am being chased down for destruction by adversaries and enemies. At those times I call on God to turn the tables on my pursuers so that they are the prey in God’s hunt. Even then, I am reminded in some way that God does not feed my enemies to the jackals, any more than I am fed to the jackals to satisfy them. The love of God is steadfast, not just for me and people like me, the steadfast love of God is for each of us. ¶God is good, and God is with us. When we seek God as a source of love, comfort, and inspiration to do and be our best God is there. When we wander off in pursuit of our own way God is present, inviting us into the way of life, love, and wholeness. God is with us when we know it and when we don’t. God is with us when we like it and when we don’t. God is with us when we believe it and when we don’t. “O God, you are my God; I seek you.” ¶January 16, 2023 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1178 ¶Second Sunday after the Epiphany ¶January 15, 2023 ¶Psalm 56 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+56&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶When we are the object of the animosity of a person group of powerful people, that is all we can feel. It is a constant barrage of pressure and attacks on us that flood every one of our senses. There may be people around us, supporting us, loving and caring for us, but we have no room to let them in. It is devastating and draining. Even when there is no active attack, we feel the pressure that has been exerted on us. It feels as if there is no relief in sight, and we will be crushed under the weight of those who are out to get us. ¶The psalmist wants us to remember to turn to God in those times. If we can, when we can, we find ourselves able to lift our heads enough to see that we are not alone. If no one else is present, we can feel the presence of God. If others are present, we can begin to feel their support as well. With the support we feel we can move from despair to anger. The anger will move us to call on God to destroy our adversaries, leaving no trace of their existence. From anger we move to a more merciful place and a deeper trust in the ways of God. ¶Rising above anger and resentment is not an easy or instant process. As we rediscover the grace and mercy of God, we discover a deeper peace in every part of life. Yes, people will continue to set themselves against us, with or without justification. In God we will find the wherewithal to face those challenges and continue to “walk before God in the light of life.” ¶January 9, 2023 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1177 ¶First Sunday After the Epiphany ¶January 8, 2023 ¶Psalm 49 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+49&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶It seems that those who brag most loudly about their abilities and accomplishments are the ones who are least likely to be accurate in their self assessment. Any number of performers who are top in their field are humble about their craft. Yep, there are exceptions, people who are the best and will say so at any opportunity. For the most part though, the folks who brag the loudest are deluded about their abilities, want to delude others, or a combination of the two. ¶The psalmist knows that those who make a big deal about themselves are not going to last long in the public sphere. There is no reason to be afraid of those folks, except those who have hitched their star to the braggart’s wagon. Those folks will fall just as hard. The rest of us do not need to be afraid of any of them. They will not be remembered for very long at all, except perhaps as a bad example. There are examples of the kind of folk the psalmist deals with in many realms from athletes, to pastors, to politicians, and performers. No endeavor is exempt from those who want to intimidate through braggadocio. ¶When we are tempted to brag about ourselves and our deeds, we do well to consider this psalm and its reminder that greatness is not in bragging and bravado; greatness is in humility and service. A bit of sincere humility is much better than convincing ourselves and others that we are something we are not. Learn to lean on God, who will redeem us from the slings and arrows of our lives and set us on a path to joy and peace. ¶January 4, 2023 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1176 ¶First Sunday After Christmas ¶January 1, 2023 ¶Psalm 42 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+42&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶Sometimes we think we are hungry for something but we don’t quite know what it is. We are aware that our bodies are in need of something and we reach for a snack to meet the need. After eating one thing we realize that was not what we were craving, so we eat something else, and something else until we are stuffed to the gills, and we are still not satisfied. In these cases, the need was not for food, it was for water. Instead of slaking our thirst, we satisfy a non existent hunger. ¶We act in similar fashion in our spiritual lives. We are aware of an emptiness, while having no idea what that emptiness is. We try filling that space with money, with objects, with power. Each of those things satisfies for a moment, and then we crave more, and more, and more. We haven’t really filled our emptiness, we have covered it up. Sometimes we even convince ourselves that all of the stuff in our lives is what we wanted all along. We may not even know that we continue to have an emptiness. ¶The psalmist addresses the emptiness within and offers the exhortation to hope in God. Know that though there is an empty feeling now, God is ready, willing, and able to fill the void with a holy presence. Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and religious philosopher, said, “There is a God-shaped emptiness in the heart of each one of us which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God.” This psalm calls on God to slake the thirst, and satisfy the hunger by filling us with that which only God can fill us. ¶December 29, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1175 ¶Christmas ¶December 25, 2022 ¶Psalm 35 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+35&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶We don’t get involved in conflicts knowing that we are wrong and defending our point of view anyway. Even when we play devil’s advocate to someone else’s argument, it is because we believe another side has to be heard. So we know that the psalmist believes in the cause on this side of the armed conflict. Since I am right, that must mean that the folks who oppose me are wrong. Because that is the case, it is only fair for God to help me beat these others into submission. ¶Since we don’t go to battle of any kind knowing that we are wrong, it must be true of the folks on the other side as well. From our point of view, ‘those people’ are wrong to the point of being on the side of evil. It is also the case that ‘those people’ see us as wrong and evil. So, who is right? It depends on the perspective of those in the conflict. Our starting assumptions determine which direction we take our arguments. When ‘those people’ choose different priorities they will come to different conclusions. There will be enough truth on each side to convince us of the need to cross swords in the defense of our truth. ¶Rather than choosing the way of the psalmist, “My side is right and all the other sides are wrong.” we can choose the way of understanding. Listen to the opposing arguments and the assumptions behind them. We can still disagree even if we totally understand the opposing viewpoint. We can continue to defend our point of view without calling on God to destroy those who disagree. This would be especially handy if it turns out that we are the ones who are mostly in the wrong. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” ¶December 19, 2022 ¶LCM