It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Praise, Trust, and Gratitude, a Reflection on Psalm 138

I'm looking for the reason that the lectionary response to the passage from Isaiah is this psalm. Isaiah focuses on his call--or did it? After all, Isaiah does express his vision of the appearance of the Lord, along with those hexalar (I just made up this word) seraphs.


And, of course, that vision was in the temple. And in Psalm 138, the psalmist (David?) is in the temple.

There he praises God. "You were there for me when I needed you. All the powerful people will praise you and recognize how powerful you are."

But the powerful are not the only ones to notice God. The psalmist continues, "Although you are high above us, you still pay attention to the lowly."

The Lord protects those in danger, and the Lord is the one to settle accounts. Yet, we don't sit idly by. We are supposed to participate in God's work.

The ending verse is a good model prayer for us: O Lord, Your steadfast love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

And we need to do some work. We still have low points--emotional and economic. We still have enemies--literal and metaphoric. And we still need to remember to praise the Lord for our deliverance and our support.

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