September 16, 2023 — Psalm 138

“I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD. For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies.”  Psalm 138 is a song of thanksgiving even when we are in the midst of trouble. It begins with the basic plea of thanks: “I give you thanks, Lord with my whole heart” while we learn that the singer has little to give thanks for. Rather than complain, the singer offers this song after bowing down in worship toward the temple, holy because it is the place of the Presence of G-d.

Psalm 138 is then, a reminder that we not only give G-d thanks in the midst of good, but we also, like Job, thank G-d when we are in trouble, when we are in sorrow, and when we are struggling. It reminds us that salvation comes to us not only as individuals but also in community, a community of believers who are also seeking G-d’s presence, in times of good and times of struggle.  

For those who truly know that “The LORD will fulfill his purpose…; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever”, the reality of the promise of salvation requires a life of trust and prayer. Life with all its dangers, trials and temptations will continue for the redeemed; G-d’s salvation gives us reason to hope that what G-d has begun, through Jesus Christ, will surely be brought to completion.

Let us Pray:

Compassionate God, you look with favor upon the lowly. Keep us safe in the midst of trouble, make known your love in our words and deeds, and bring us to new life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Pastor Dave

September 15, 2023 — Psalm 137

“By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How could we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!” O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!”

The writer of Psalm 137 begins by remembering his people being taken away from their home. Jerusalem had been attacked and conquered—the temple destroyed. The ruler of Babylon needed to dismantle the power base in Israel so that the people could not rebuild—so they rounded up all of their leaders, their religious leaders, the power brokers of the day, and took them to Babylon. This is what we know today as the Babylonian exile. Defeated, with the knowledge that their country had been ravaged, their homes ransacked and looted, and that many of their family members and friends had died during the struggle— the people were now being “carried”—”taken against their will”  to what was, to them, a completely godless place. 

The psalmist writes how they had stopped on the journey, probably to rest by one of the canals of Babylon. And as they sat down, the Israelites began to cry; they were weeping for all they had lost, for their homeland, and also for the loss of their…G-d— the One who lived in the temple—G-d’s dwelling place, the temple was destroyed. And it seemed more than they could bear. As they rested, maybe to pass the time, maybe to show their power, or maybe just for sport, the Babylonian captors begin to poke fun at their prisoners — to taunt them at the core of their pain…  Mockingly they ask: “Sing us one of those songs of Zion”. What they meant was for the Israelites to sing one of the songs they used to sing in Jerusalem, in the temple, in worship—a song about and for G-d.

There will come a day where the Babylonians will be defeated, and they too shall have to endure seeing their “little ones dashed against the rock!” G-d will avenge G-d’s people — a new day will come where they will once again be able to worship in Jerusalem. But for now, it shall be the “remembrance” of those days that will need to carry them through.

The day is coming, and perhaps soon, where G-d’s people shall once again worship the Lord in his eternal Temple, in the Kingdom of G-d. Until then we cannot lose hope – for the Lord will triumph.

Let us Pray:

God of courage and compassion, comfort the exiled and oppressed, strengthen the faith of your people, and bring us all to our true home, the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Pastor Dave