Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Psalm 22

This Psalm is quoted all throughout the New Testament. The opening is one of Jesus' last words on the cross. The description of David's persecution matches frame-for-frame the crucifixion, so much so that the Gospels quote this Psalm yet again in describing the crucifixion scene. Hebrews will quote from the latter portion of the psalm in describing the wonder and uniqueness of Jesus. And while this psalm connects with Jesus so much, it also connects with us as well. Anyone who knows the pain of depression or anxiety knows the feeling David is talking about. The physical and emotional pain, and the collapse of hope. Toward the end, we get a glimpse of hope that David has for the future, and we can certainly see how that connects with Jesus' story of resurrection.

It seems to me that this psalm is a remarkable instance where the story of Jesus collides with my story (and your story). When we are in our darkest moments, and this psalm makes too much sense, we can know that Jesus entered into this mess and went through his own dark moments. Jesus stands by us in our dark moments, and Jesus will not leave between dark moments. The Kingdom of God is not for fake happy faces, the Kingdom of God is described by Jesus as a place for the sick- where we can all receive care.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Psalm 21

Kings aren't very popular in a democracy. In fact, the idea of the king is distasteful at best in the minds of most USAmericans. After all, as we are celebrating the 4th of July this coming weekend, isn't kingship what the Revolutionary War was all about? While on vacation, Heather and I went to a park and found a monument of an ever-burning flame to those who died in the Revolution. Indeed, kingship is not cool. So in the States, we hold on to passages in which God does not approve of monarchy for Israel, believing that things may have gone differently if Israel was a republic.

All of that being said, if we cannot identify with kingship, we miss some major portions of God's story. Certainly, monarchy can promote some of the worst in the human heart/society- marriage of church and state, so-called "holy war," misogyny, prejudice, oppression, injustice, just to name a few. Yet it would seem that these are perversions of power that humans have twisted from our own lust for more. It would not seem that these come from the way God views power.

God's power is a power that serves. Jesus' power came not from violent conquer, but radical servanthood. This psalm celebrates the glory that comes through victory- Jesus' victory was the cross (and the resurrection that followed). Jesus' glory bears the scars of crucifixion. What is our victory?

Maybe this passage will help us along (Philippians 3:10-11): I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Psalm 20

I wasn't expecting this psalm this morning, yet in the moments I have read it I have been re-awakened to an important part of life following God- blessing people. This entire psalm is a blessing not only to the king, but a psalm that can be used to bless people.

In important part of community is our ability to celebrate with one another. We recognize the need to be close when times are hard, and we recognize the need to celebrate together (Psalm 20:5). God called Abram and created a nation so that they would be a blessing to all nations. And now God's people are numbered in every nation on earth to do the same thing. Be a blessing.

I pray that, as we go throughout our day today, that these words would be on our lips and that we would be a blessing to whomever we meet. In the name of the King Jesus, Amen.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Psalm 19

This is a great psalm, a psalm of God's encounter with the world.

It begins with the world and creation's voice echoing to all people, and ends with the God-encounter in the hearts of human beings. This psalm goes to great length to remind us that there is no boundary between God's space and not-God's space. God is not restricted to certain sites or times, God is not limited in any of those respects. Yet God does choose to encounter the world in particular ways.

The most important way is through the Word- Jesus Christ. Now, what do we mean when we say that Jesus is the Word? The meaning goes back to John 1, and sometimes we mistakenly say that Jesus is the embodiment of all God said to do (which just lends itself to talk about Jesus' sinless life). Yet John seems to be talking about something much deeper. In this Psalm, David encounters God through the written word of God. Therefore Jesus as the Word is the living encounter with God. Wherever Jesus steps, there is encounter with God. I hope to see that in my life today, and I pray the same for you.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Psalm 18

What a fierce picture of God! Thunderclouds, lightning, a warrior. This psalm has all the makings of a war god within it. In fact, it is a psalm that could lead people to feel uncomfortable. After all, it's 50 verses of God's thunder. Yet I wonder if it is people's interpretation of this psalm that is scary, rather than what the psalm actually says.

We see God as a warrior in this passage, certainly. But what we do not see is God as an arbitrary killer who is a hired gun for whoever can pray the loudest. God is not a weapon to be used- Israel learned that lesson often. When we read of God in the Old (and New) Testament as a warrior, it is God serving as a rescuer, not a bloodthirsty imperialist who will always help "us" beat "them." David clearly sees God as a rescuer in this psalm.

So when I think of these fierce images of God, I think of a fierce love that rescues those in trouble and proclaims release to the captive. After all, it's that fierce love that rescued me, right?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Psalm 17

There's a lot in this psalm that I could turn to and unpack, but I find myself drawn to the last verse of this psalm "And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness."

I'm honestly not quite sure that I can imagine what it will be like to see the face of God. But I like the God who I can be satisfied looking at. Like two lovers who can say a world of words in a simple gaze, I can be complete sitting on the ground looking up at God and I can know perfect love as God looks at me.

This is not the God many of us know. The God many of us know is someone we should be terrified of looking at. For we know that this God will look at us disapprovingly, this God will have a glare that humbles us.

Psychologists have let us know that we learn a lot about people just from the face (especially as children). We learn very early what facial expressions reveal happiness and sadness, and we also learn what it means to be gazed at. The gaze can be one of approval, such as a young man entranced by the beauty of a young woman. The gaze can be one of disapproval, such as a parent locking eyes with a child who is acting out in public. But the gaze is important to us- and it's possible that we were built to seek out God's face. It's possible that we were born to seek out the loving gaze of God. May we be satisfied in our hunt to see God's face and loving gaze today.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Psalm 16

David was surrounded by an interesting assortment of religions in his day, and one of them was Baalism- the worship of Ba'al and his consort Asherah. There are many accounts of how Baalism worked- and it was usually through prostitution and violence. Proper worship of Ba'al and Asherah often happened at the local brothel-temple. And the religion itself was steeped in violence. Ba'al and Asherah defeat death through a vicious slaughter, and Ba'al is described as a violent warrior god whose bloodlust is only second to Asherah's. In fact, Baalist priests would harm themselves to arouse the interest of their gods. Incantations and other magic words were common in trying to control the gods to do your bidding. This is why David laments that he doesn't want to pour out "libations of blood" for these other gods, and he doesn't want to learn the names of these gods for his incantations. This religion is a self-destructive pathway that denies the goodness and love of God.

Instead, David praises God who continues to speak to him and give him guidance, even as he sleeps at night. God's care for us never ends. We do not need to shock God back to paying attention to us, we do not need to learn the magic phrases to earn God's time. Instead, our faith is based on who God is and what God has done for us (not the other way around). And God is the one who promises life and resurrection and true freedom- not obsession with control and self-destruction. May God's love shine down and heal these self-inflicted scars.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Psalm 15

This Psalm helps me be thankful for Jesus. I want to dwell with God. I want to be on the holy hill. Yet I know that my walk is not blameless. I do not do what is righteous all the time. These standards are high. And I don't want to say that because I cannot attain them, that they aren't important. Every time my walk moves into the realm of "blame," my walk is hurting someone else. Even when it's hurting just me (if that were possible), none of God's creatures, none of God's children, deserve that kind of treatment.

So how does this Psalm make me thankful for Jesus? Because Jesus did all of those things. And in doing these things, offers to me an inheritance of life on this holy hill. And he offers you the same inheritance. Not an inheritance that frees us from recognizing the consequences of our actions, for that would be a license to harm other people. The inheritance of life is the possibility of restoration and that we might be restored to one another and to God. And at the foot of the cross, that restoration is possible.

So let's remember today that this psalm was sung by a worshipping community that not only wanted to live in the dwelling place of the Lord, but also wanted to live there with their community.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Psalm 14

Every April 1, a friend of mine sends out an e-mail with the header "Happy Atheist Day," since Psalm 14:1 says "The fool says in his heart, 'there is no god.'" Thus, he equates fools with atheists and... well, you get the joke. And I can always appreciate a good joke, especially a good religious joke. Yet when I read this passage, I don't think of atheists. After all, there were virtually no atheists in the Ancient Near East. I read this and it calls me to self-examination. After all, the heart is the center of the will. Do I live like there's a god, especially the God of the Bible? Do I live like Jesus is Lord? Do I trust that there God is in control?

CS Lewis (I think) described the perfect tragic villain as the one who was not a person doing evil things, but trying to do good things with villainous methods. In other words, the villain is seeking something good but is doing so in a way that does not think of others. An example of this is Ethan Hawke's character in "Brooklyn's Finest." He (a police officer) is tempted to take money from the evidence locker from a drug raid to help support his family. Stealing, wrong. Objective, good. The problem is that when we get too carried away in "ends justify the means," the world falls apart a little bit. Then it falls apart a lot. We have a Psalm 14 world.

On the other hand, we have this deep longing for God's salvation coming at the end of this psalm. In this longing, we see a desire for God to draw near and lift up the people broken by this inhuman ethic. In Jesus Christ, we see this salvation. We see God working around us and within us and even through us. I pray that you see the salvation of God today and this week.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Psalm 13

This is the story of depression- a true dark night of the soul. Anyone who knows the pain of depression can instantly find truth in these words- the wrestling with thoughts, the deep sorrow from morning till night, and the constant feeling of defeat. This is the experience of more people than we (meaning the American public) are willing to admit. At any given moment, more than one out of every twenty adults in our country are battling depression. The median age for someone in depression is 32. Many of these cases go untreated (all statistics from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml).

What is the Christian view on depression? Is it human weakness, or sin? Is it a condition brought on by demonic attack? Or is it a condition of the mind, body and spirit which brings people into their darkest days? I would believe that depression can best be defined by the latter. And the acknowledgment of darkness within us is an important part of our spirituality. After all, this psalm written by David became a part of the worship life in Israel.

It would be easy to read the end of this psalm as "times may be tough, but just smile through it and pull yourself up and keep going!" Yet that flies in the face of what the psalm says. What the psalm really says is that the worshipper, although in deep darkness, is going to rest on God and God's salvation. The word that is often used for salvation in the Bible rests between a meaning of rescue and healing, both things that people going through depression long for. And we have a solid hope in a rescuing, healing God. That's why the worshipper can still sing of what the Lord has done for him or her. Not out of false happiness, but out of true hope.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Psalm 12

This psalm intrigues me. It is another psalm lamenting the loss of righteousness in the world- that is, people have grown unjust toward one another (justice and righteousness are often interchangeable in the Bible). People lie, people steal, people oppress. It seems to be the same song, different verse as many of the psalms and passages of the Bible. I think we got it last time... or did we?

Since reading the other psalms about injustice (and prophets about injustice), has my life become any more just? Do I stand by the side of the oppressed who cry out to God, or do I stand by those who gain by their misery? Or worse, do I just prefer to stand off to the sides and let injustice sort itself out? Far too often, I find myself in the latter categories.

I want to stand by the side of the oppressed, but that means I might be oppressed too. Choosing the side of God is rarely easy and always involves cost. Lord, help me to count the cost of discipleship. Let me follow you in ways that risk. For the risk I face is nothing compared to your strength and protection. Amen.