Today's Psalm - Identifying the Landowner

The first line of this psalm is known to many - "The earth is the Lord's and all that it is in it." That doesn't mean we always act like it. From abuse of the earth through pollution to acting as though we can do anything we want cause, "it's mine and I earned it and my neighbors, government, (insert favorite figure you love to hate) can just go stuff it."

It is interesting after just being reminded that God owns it all the psalmist turns to a discussion about clean hands and pure hearts. Intent seems to matter to God. Falsehood and deceit get a very, very bad review in the scriptures. Lying to God is just not a good idea.

The fact that many of the psalms were actually poetry and likely may have been sung can be seen in the final verses where we get a call/response set of lines. Imagine two choirs (likely all male, sorry ladies but this was definitely a sexist world) singing this back and forth. Wonder if anybody who had been less than honest thought that week suddenly remembered they might have forgotten to tie up the donkey and slipped out?

Today's Psalm - David's Number One Hit

It's still playing on the Jerusalem top 40. Thousands of years and it has maintained it's number one spot. That's right. It's Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd, etc. All of us have days when we want someone to take care of us. How many of us as adults when were we sick have voiced, "I want my mommy!" Well this psalm is about wanting/expecting/believing in God's care when we need it the most. Those dark valleys are scary places and knowing the Big Guy is with us with a rod and staff is a good thing.

Oh, do keep in mind that the rod and staff are there to help us along as well. The shepherds crook was in use for grabbing long before Vaudeville discovered it as a tool to pull people off stage. Where you think they got the idea? So with the care comes direction and guidance. With the table full comes some reminders about who we need to listen to. Remember it's a relationship where we need to listen, listen, listen.

And now back to a week full of meetings. Sometimes those have dark valleys. Time to reread the psalm.

Today's Psalm - It's Good to be the King

Psalm 21 is one of those sometimes called a royal psalm. The psalm is a conversation with God about the king. And it's pretty good to be the king. (Which coincidentally is a line from a Mel Brooks move, History of the World, Part I, I believe. But don't take this as a recommendation for the movie -- not particularly spiritually edifying :-) and also not one of Mel's bests.)

With all the riches and the line about the king being given his heart's desire, Solomon springs to mind as a possible king that the writer has in mind. Solomon asked for wisdom and got much more because he was wise.

There is a vengeful note to the song. God's enemies will be discovered and destroyed. It fits with the times -- the world was and often still is a violent place. One challenging consideration in anytime is just who are God's enemies. We often think we can easily identify them, but perhaps we should be think carefully and wonder if some days we don't make ourselves God's enemies.

History has proven that kings for all their good intentions are often corrupted by money and power. One of the politically charged pieces of news from both the Old and New Testament is there is only one ultimate king and one ruler who we can trust. No wonder the Romans hated the Christians and the Jews. Earthly powers are secondary and don't command our ultimate allegiance. Only God deserves that loyalty. Even the king can be God's enemies and then it isn't so good to be the king!

Today's Psalm - I told you so!

Remember the last two day's of psalms have David at a low point. Surrounded by the deceitful and really wondering if God was ever going to listen. But it would appear a new day has dawned.

David is gloating. "The fool says in his heart there is no God. I know better. I know there is one. And I know he sees all those who folks who deny the existence of God. And God will judge, yes God will judge."

Might seem like a rather petty prayer. Might not always fit with the loving attitude we see displayed in other passages. But remember, the psalms are prayers. They are absolutely overflowing with human emotions and all that this entails. There are rants. There are cries of desperation. There is anger. There is bitter weeping. And some days you just feel deep down like saying, "All you fools who don't believe in God, just wait! God will judge."

And just so you don't think that David was completely self centered. Over and over his psalms speak out on behalf of the poor. While he was on the run, he may have been poor, but even after he became king, he seemed to always remember that his leadership was a trust from God that involved responsibility for those less fortunate.

So if you want to rejoice with David about the fools of the world who say there is no God remember it comes with a caveat. God doesn't appreciate those who say they believe in him and then act like they don't. Justice will be exacted at some point. Sobering words.

Today's Psalm - From Bad to Worse

Yesterday, David spoke of being surrounded by the deceitful. He felt alone. In today's psalm (Psalm 13) he asks, how long will God forget about David's plea? Will it be forever.

Each psalm was likely written independently. However at some point later an editor (or several editors) arranged the psalms into a particular order. Most scholars believe it was not a casual or accidental arrangement.

The progression from yesterday's psalm "Help things are bad" to today's "God you must have forgotten about me" is a not an unusual struggle we all share. I'm all alone and I wonder if God even cares is the middle of the night heartache feeling most of us have experienced.

But the psalmist remains faithful. He will still proclaim God's love and trusts that he will experience God's salvation and so he sings. Faith at its strongest is faith when life is toughest.

Tomorrow - "I told you so!"

Today's Psalm - Help I am surrounded

In Psalm 12 David laments the world is filled with deceitful, godless people who are just interested in flattery but not honesty. Hmm, anyone remember junior high? Many of the psalms carry the theme that everyone else is against me. Remember, psalms are prayers and there are times in most of our lives when we might feel like most of the good people have dropped of the face of the earth.

One could easily see this is an emotion David felt during his days of persecution. It's also possible that he encountered a subject coming and asking for justice. David could have heard a story of betrayal and lies and decided he would compose an psalm based on this person's experience.

The conclusion of the psalm is a proclamation of God's trustworthiness. Faith in the midst of adversity? Maybe reminding God he had better come through? If I say this enough I will believe it myself? Any and everyone of these are possible when it comes to a heartfelt cry to God. Help, I am surrounded by deceivers. Who can I trust God? Can I tust you? Help!

YOB - Where Is God When You Need Help?

October 8, 2009
Job 23:1-9, 16, 17

Job is having a bad day, week, month, year. Read the first couple of chapters of the book if you forgot the story. And he is angry. For good reason. His life has been beset by calamities not of his own doing. My mother likes to remind her children, life happens to everyone. Well life is certainly happening in a very harsh way to Job.

Some friends show up to comfort him, but they are no help. They tell him he must be a sinner. His wife tells him to curse God and die. Harsh! Harsh!

Job wants to know why God is allowing him to suffer. Good question Job! And Job can't seem to find God's presence anywhere either! Another good point. I think the book of Job is in the Bible because Job says all those things that we say/think when we suffer. God does seem far away at times. There are times when we don't think we are getting a fair shake in life. We want God to know and we want to hear an explanation from God.

I know there are folks who will tell you the Bible has all the answers you need. If they mean by that there is a simple formula waiting to solve all of life's woes, then I don't agree! The answers in the Bible are often the kinds of answers that Job received -- life is mystery and is often filled with pain. What God offers in those kinds of moments is presence and comfort and the strength to grow when life happens. The Bible's answers are honest and not simplistic or stupid.

And thankfully most of us can find much better friends that Job had. I have found some who stood by me when times were dark and helped me. I pray you can do the same when you have those Job like moments.

Today's Psalm - Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Psalm 8

Hmm, once again some funny words in the prescript - "Gittith." Sounds like something from the King James times. "If you sinneth, you will gittith some judgment." The Bible dictionary is rather clueless although it tries to cover that up. "An instrument, or else a tune invented in Gath. . . Others take it from garb, "a winepress," being used on occassions of joy like the vintage." Are we back to yesterday's post?

Moving onto to the text. It is a joyous psalm and the source of one of the most often quoted passages even if people don't realize it. "(Psa 8:2 NRS) Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger." God has used the weakest to foil the plots of the enemy.

We are nothing in God's sight and yet God has given us so much -- a world to care for and a relationship with God almighty. Blows the mind! On days when we don't feel like much, when life presses down, remember the God who made everything, loves humans and wants us to rejoice!

Today's Psalm - 99 Wineskins on the Wall

Okay, I haven't even made it past the prescript of the psalm and run across something interesting that sent me surfing the Web.

Psalm 7 indicates it is a "Shiggaion" of David. What the ???? So I pop the dictionary up on Bibleworks and find that it is from the verb "to wander" and that it's like a Greek dithyramb. Been too long since I studied Greek culture so I head for the Web and find reference to dithyrambs being associated with Dionysus. Without even starting to read the page my brain can recall enough about Greek mythology to remember that Dionysus was the Greek God of wine -- real party animal.

(The image is from a company called Impression Games from a presskit of theirs.)

So back to some more search on the web on "shiggaion" and I find a little more honest Bible dictionary. The word is actually from a verb that means to wander around under the influence of drink.

Now the "official" explanation given is that it can refer to a song/poem that is influenced by strong emotion. So to the text to see what it says.

David is feeling persecuted by enemies. (Certainly could have caused him to drink.) He says early on, if I have done anything wrong, God, then you judge me! (Daring God to find wrong with you is not the action of a sober or sane person!) The psalm continues in calling for God to establish the righteous and seek revenge on those who are evil.

Now I will grant you strong emotion (fear, anger, etc) could have been the cause, but is it possible that David also composed this psalm (as well as a few others) with some fruit of the vine in his veins? I think so. No matter what my Baptist friends told me when I was growing up I know Jesus drank and so did almost all his fellow Jews save for a few like John the Baptist who opted to teetotal.

There is one other "shiggiaon" in the Bible. Habakkuk 3. Seems a little less extreme in emotion but you can read at home and make your own judgment.

Caveat: It's been a while since Hebrew so I don't claim scholarship on this post. I do recall when taking Hebrew that there were often disagreements about the roots of words. So I might really be barking up the wrong tree. Pass the wineskin!

Additonal Caveat: Don't show up Sunday with your flask in your pocket and tell folks I inspired you! I will confiscate all such items and empty them before returning them. Don't worry, I will find a good home for what you bring. And no, I don't drink when I write the sermons, although some will no doubt suggest it may improve them.

YOB - The Light's in My Eyes

October 7, 2009
John 12:44-50

Jesus came to shine as a light in the darkness. Light to see in the dark is good. Light to keep from smacking our shines or tumbling into a hole in the ground is good. The ancient world was not bathed in ever present light like we are.

At left is a satellite image of a blackout in 2003 (courtesy of the Earth Institute at Columbia). Note how dark Long Island is. Must have been pretty spooky in the big city that night.

Sudden bright light in a dark room can also be very irritating. Jesus must have seemed at times like an overly bright light shining in the eyes of people. Even his popularity among the common folks was brittle. They didn't care for his talk about sacrifice and crosses.

Some days I feel like the light's in my eyes and some days it's on the path ahead of me. Probably depends on what I am most in need of that day.

YOB - The Inner Struggle

October 6, 2009
Romans 7:9-21

Paul opens up and in so doing reminds us all of the inner battle. We know what's right. But we do what's wrong. Sometimes we even like doing what's wrong. Sometimes we see wrong coming from a mile and way and instead of heading in the other direction, we run headlong for it.

It isn't the law that's the problem. There is a standard of behavior that we know we ought to follow. But doing what benefits us in the short term is so much more enticing and even at times fun!

And with perspective we can often see the choices were not only wrong but self destructive. Most sin has some pretty bad consequences down the road waiting for us somewhere.

Verse 25 reminds us that Christ is the only hope for us sinners. Grace saves and continues to transfer us who would be hopeless otherwise. God is always ready to forgive and heal and help us put our lives back together. Thanks be to God!

Psalm of the Day - Tough Guy Flute Section

Today's psalm is Psalm 5. The prescript says it is a psalm of David written for the flutes. We think flutes and by and large we think light and airy and fun. Sunshine dancing across the hills and Disney animated satyrs.

I suspect ancient flute sections were a tougher breed. This psalm is a cry for help from enemies and a call for God to destroy liars and evildoers. God will bless the righteous but God is going to destroy the liars.

So think more Jethro Tull than the lighter parts of Fantasia. David Carradine always seems to show up with a bamboo flute in his portrayals of Kung Fu masters. He would calmly play it and then peacefully bludgeon someone to death. (I can just see the wheels turn in Ed's mind right now reaching for some rather obvious comments on Carradine.)

I suspect most of the music in biblical times (and we really have little idea what it sounded like) was strong and earthy and passionate. It would have matched the faith of the people.

Psalm of the Day - God is laughing and angry!

I had a Facebook chat recently with a friend about humor and laughter. I cited Psalm 2 when the issue of God arose. In Psalm 2 God is laughing and angry at the same time. It says God laughs in derision or scoffs at the rulers of the world who think they are in charge. The psalmist goes onto to say that the rulers had better kiss God's feet or else!

Now I am sure some commentators would like to see this as a psalm where the writer paints God in altogether too human a form. Surely, God must not scoff at us humans! But why not? We do some pretty stupid stuff. Why wouldn't God scoff at our efforts to control our lives when we do so pridefully and without a hint of humility and acknowledgment that just maybe we might need some help from outside ourselves?

My congregation completed a congregational life survey this spring. One of the questions was about emotions experienced in worship. Do you feel joy, boredom, inspiration, etc? Presbyterians (and our congregation) were fairly low on the awe scale. That's wrapped up with the fear of the Lord cited so often in the Old Testament. Part of the burden for that has to fall to us worship leaders. Maybe we don't do enough to remind people God is in charge and we really, really, really need to kiss his feet in a completely respectful, we love you with all we have sort of way.

Today's YOB - Big Claims!

Our congregation gave our members and friends a booklet at the beginning of the year with passages for every day of the year -- "Year with the Bible." That got renamed in my mind to Year of the Bible because we used something by that name a couple of years ago and I am getting old and confusing things. Just to add laziness to the picture I sometimes refer to it as YOB.

Our church has a Facebook group where I post comments 3 or so times a week about a reading. So why not get double duty

Today's YOB - Psalm 26

October 2, 2009
Psalm 26

This is another psalm of David. He claims he walked with integrity and has always trusted God. He has been faithful. Hmm, David couldn't have always said this. He didn't always walk with integrity and faithfulness. There is the whole Bathsheba cycle and some serious mistakes as a father. Perhaps he wrote this psalm before those incidents. Or perhaps he wrote them afterward and really understands how God forgiveness works. Once you have confessed and received God's grace and practiced true repentance -- asked God for helping in fixing the mess and following God's guidance, then you really truly are forgiven. No need to beat yourself up again. Now you can stand before God and I say, "I am faithful."

Whose Sneeking Up Behind Me?

The psalmists understood paranoid thinking. One might say they even wrote the book on it. (Yes, bad joke.) Take Psalm 31. It is credited to David. David spent several years on the run from various powerful people. His father-in-law Saul wanted to kill him. So he bolted to an enemy country to try to live there. Claimed he had gone over to the other side. Made a habit of raiding villages of that very country and being sure to not leave any witnesses. (Yes, it's bloody and horrible but that was the world David lived in.) Course those kinds of secrets don't stay secret for ever so he had to take his men and run again. In one king's court he feigned madness to give everyone a laugh and to avoid being thrust through by a sword or spear.

So when David writes a song and says, "For I hear the whispering of many -- terror all around! -- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life," it's for good reason. Paranoid thinking became a survival instinct.

Some still live in that kind of fear -- victims of domestic violence, those in warn torn areas. And sometimes that kind of fear speaks to a fear of the demons that lurk on the inside. For some they are overwhelming strong and they need plenty of outside help.

The good news in the psalms is that deliverance in one form or another always comes. So take heart when it seems the enemies surround. Get help if you need it. Get out of your current circumstance if need be. And be sure you will find a lament in the psalms that matches your mood. God doesn't mind the prays of fearful and even paranoid.