Psalm 8

     1  God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.
     2  Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs
 that drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble.
  3-4  I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, why do you bother with us?  Why take a second look our way?
  5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden's dawn light. You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge,  made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild, birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps.
     9  God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world.

Week of April 5 Psalm 8

This ancient Psalm is a great hymn of God’s glory, in praise of creation. Just enjoy the poetry as you read it again. Think about spring. What would you add to the list in verses 7 and 8?
A second theme that runs through Psalm 8 is the relationship of humanity to the rest of creation. A clue to this relationship is found in verse 6. What does “dominion” mean to you and what responsibilities does it suggest toward the world and its creatures? Verse 9 is a good prayer thought to finish your reflection.

April 12, 2009

   Bill Stillman grew up with a mild form of autism.  As a child, he often felt like a “non-entity.”
   He writes,
    In adolescence, I was an easy target for abuse for my peers, and for years I endured physical harassment, verbal lacerations, and public humiliation.  It was a dark era in my life – one that fueled hopelessness, deep depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  It wasn’t until I was a young adult that I rediscovered the spirituality I had blocked because I resented God for not rescuing me.
   During this reawakening, I had a powerful dream.  In the dream, all of my adversaries were seated at a very long table.  They were seated, but I – interestingly enough – was standing.  I walked behind them and, one by one, leaned downed to kiss each on the cheek in an act of forgiveness.  After that dream, I was healed.  I was never again plagued by nightmares of abuse.  I awakened to a full understanding of the power, the beauty, and the importance of forgiveness in our lives.
   Psalm 7 is about God’s judgment and forgiveness.  On Easter, we now know that our forgiveness has been secured, once and for all in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ!  Alleluia!

PSALM 7

 1-2  God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild. If they catch me, I'm finished: ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions, dragged into the forest and left unlooked for, unremembered.
 3-5  God, if I've done what they say— betrayed my friends, ripped off my enemies— If my hands are really that dirty, let them get me, walk all over me, leave me flat on my face in the dirt.
 6-8  Stand up, God; pit your holy fury against my furious enemies. Wake up, God. My accusers have packed the courtroom; it's judgment time. Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel, throw out the false charges against me.
I'm ready, confident in your verdict: "Innocent."
9-11  Close the book on Evil, God, but publish your mandate for us. You get us ready for life: you probe for our soft spots, you knock off our rough edges.   And I'm feeling so fit, so safe: made right, kept right. God in solemn honor does things right, but his nerves are sandpapered raw.
CONTINUE READING VERSES 11-17

Week of April 12 Psalm 7

This Psalm, like many others, is a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies. After a cry for help (1 and 2), the writer begins to protest his innocence (3–5). Then what? What image of God does the psalmist have? See verses 8 and 11.
Would you appeal, in threatening times, to some other, more New-Testament-like image of God? What happens in verse 17? How do you pay back God for mercy? For Easter?

April 26, 2009

     Psalm 5 was written by someone who was not ashamed to talk to and about God.  Dorothy Day was a journalist and an activist on behalf of the poor.  When she came to believe in Jesus and to believe the words of Jesus mattered, she was not content to return quietly to church for Sunday duties.  Instead, she worked even harder on behalf of the poor – this time in the name of Jesus.
     Day worked with the poorest of the poor in the worst of neighborhoods.  She founded the Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933 to spread the word of Jesus’ concern for society.  She was jailed several times for many causes: for women’s right to vote, against war, for civil rights, and for farm workers.  There were those who thought of her as crazy.  But she countered, saying, “If I have achieved anything in my life, it is because I have not been embarrassed to talk about God.

Psalm 5

  1-3  Listen, God! Please, pay attention! Can you make sense of these ramblings, my groans and cries? King-God, I need your help. Every morning you'll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.
  4-6  You don't socialize with Wicked, or invite Evil over as your houseguest.
Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you; you shake your head over Mischief-Maker. God destroys Lie-Speaker; Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you.
  7-8  And here I am, your invited guest— it's  incredible! I enter your house; here I am, prostrate in your inner sanctum, waiting for directions to get me safely through enemy lines.
 9-10  Every word they speak is a land mine; their lungs breathe out poison gas.
Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mudslides.  Pile on the guilt, God! Let their so-called wisdom wreck them.  Kick them out! They've had their chance.
11-12  But you'll welcome us with open arms when we run for cover to you.  Let the party last all night! Stand guard over our celebration. You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers, for decking us out in delight.

Week of April 26  Psalm 5

Here is a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies. In our day, we may find it more useful to apply this to the evil, greed, and wickedness of our society. What specific things come to your mind?
The focus on evil is balanced by pledges of righteous living. God calls us to do likewise. (See verses 7–8, 11–12.) Perhaps the best antidote for evil is righteousness. What does that imply for your life?