Web Theologian

>19 He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal awayand lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his workand to his labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!In wisdom have you made them all;the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,which teems with creatures innumerable,living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
27 These all look to you,to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;when you take away their breath, they dieand return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;may the Lord rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,and let the wicked be no more!Bless the Lord, O my soul!Praise the Lord!

In worship we give God credit for everything. Since the Psalms are a song book for worship it is no wonder that they continually talk about all that God has done. Seasons, sun, moon, darkness, night it all becomes a laundry list for the poet. And in it is us. We are the ones going out into all that God has put together and working in it, playing in it, loving in it.

We get to be a part of this entire story. The image we are given in nature are powerful for the original readers. It seems these images only become powerful for us when a hurricane hits, a earthquake happens, or something awful happens. Most of the time we pretend we have it in control. One good things about the psalms it reminds us of when we weren’t so in control (or pretended to be), and that is one way to lead us to worship. This morning as I sit in Top Pot Donut I wonder what imagry would be fitting for us now.

>

104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

The first way you describe a celebrity these days is how they dress. Just think of the red carpet events and how much time, energy and money is spent on them. No when the Psalmist here is praising God and talks about he is dressed he says he is clothed in splendor, not his clothes or splendid. He is clothed in majesty, not his clothes are majestic. The are the truest form of these not a mere reflection of them.

His surrounding sounds pretty science fiction. Beams that stand on water (how about the physics of that), clouds his chariot, the winds provide his locomotion. With some research I am sure that it would be found that some of this imagery is borrow from other worship in the region at the time this Psalm was writen and the Psalmist is saying, yeah you might have good poetry but our God is better.

Then after talking about his power, we look at his provision. He cares for everything. Each animal in his creation is important to him. The trees have enough water. Even the rock badger is taken care of.

>15 As for man, his days are like grass;he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenantand remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,you mighty ones who do his word,obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,in all places of his dominion.Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Nothing more humbling then really thinking about how much our lives add up to. There is no reason to be fatalist about it, but we really get through all this quickly. Hopefully we leave a mark. That is one of the appeals of spirituality to people, it makes them and their lives feel special and full of purpose. Christianity says that God has adopted us as children, that is pretty special, and for many it brings meaning to our lives. Some my critize that, calling it weak minded, I fall more into the camp of saying it just is what it is. We need purpose, and I found it in this area of my life. Thank God.

One blog I read regularly the writer seems to be shifting into lining up his life on this purpose of a greater meaning, “In my Facebook Hotel anyone who just attacks me would be deleted. So, if that’s your idea of fun, hang out somewhere else cause I’m starting to delete comments from people who don’t add any value here. Get your own blog if all you want to do is attack me.” One collegue of mine here in Seattle and friend who happens to be a Muslim said to me the first time we met, “I do wish more people in our business believed and acted on their faith in God.” He had read my blog, and I really appreciated that. With my broad background as a pastor I often wonder if that isn’t a disadvantage, yet if my spirituality means anything it will change the way I act for the good. That means in my entire life, including my work. Let’s keep searching and asking the questions, we blades of grass.

>

103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

Bless the Lord. That is a funny phrase. To think that I can give something to God, for me is hard. Isn’t the nature of God that he doesn’t need anything, yet he can be blessed by me? Well, yes. When my heart is in line with who he is and what he is doing, we call that worship, he is blessed. There are good reasons for doing this: 1. he forgives our iniquity, 2. he heals our disease, 3. he redeems our lives from death, 4. crowns us with love and mercy, 5. Satisfies us with good, and 6. he renews our youth.

The list continues to go on, but shift into what he does and what he has done. 7. Works righteousness, 8. justices for oppressed, 9. made known his way to Moses. 8. merciful and gracious abounding in steadfast love. This is one that I like to camp out on. That God does not give us what we deserve, but gives us blessing and that blessing is his love. Knowing that you are loved is one of the most important things in this life. If the love is perverse and calls you to do crazy things, okay, that’s bad. But then that isn’t love it is manipulation. Love is the key. Everything in this list and the rest of it is based on God’s love for us. He knows who we are, where we come from, and he is loving and gentle with such fragile frames like ours.

>

>

102:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
2 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!

3 For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
7 I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8 All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9 For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
10 because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11 My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the Lord builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
17 he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

It is hard to keep believing when God is silent. Silent areas of my life are where they become the most questions. While those questions can be good, and lead us to deeper faith, it doesn’t feel good. What feels good is having a response. Answer quickly, when I call. Karin and I went for years without cell phones, and we had many frustrated friends who wanted us to respond immediately!

Even with such great demands being asked of God, the Psalmist doesn’t forget his position in the world. It’s not very high. Really what is being created each day that will last? How many of the people who make headlines today will be remembered in 100 years, much less 50, much less 10. We are not even them, just normal people doing normal things. We feel the entire spectrum of emotion. And our days are like an evening shadow (you know during the best light), or withering like a blade of grass.

Then we look to God. Amazing. He has been there and seen it all. Sort of the way we think of vampires living throughout so many generations, experiencing all sorts of sights and sounds. That is God. Yet he does not feed upon people like prey, but rather cares for them. He is reaching out to them when they cry and offering them hope.

>

>

>