August 4 — Psalm 95

O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.” Therefore in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.”

In Christian liturgies, Psalm 95 has been used as an invitatory, an invitation to worship — and the Lutheran church is no exception. Psalm 95 is used in our Service of Morning Prayer as a summons to a worshipful day. The Psalm, or hymn identifies G-d as sovereign of all and as shepherd of the church, and then teaches that true worship is the devotion of life, trust, and obedience to our One G-d.

Now, it sounds like the Psalmist is stating the obvious — the Lord is a Great G-d — in his hands are the depths of the earth. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” I realize those of you reading this devotion would say “Of course our G-d is all of these things” — but it is good to remind ourselves of this reality every morning.

We all have raised obstacles against G-d and maintained some resistance to our obedience. Yet G-d’s love has kept after us and won us. There is not one of us who has not fought against G-d at some time in our lives. Therefore we have nothing to praise in ourselves. We have not added anything to our salvation. We are all like stubborn sheep who go according to their own ways. As Isaiah accurately puts it, “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

Too often we begin a day without the encouragement of the words that G-d has given to us — Old or New Testament — the Psalms or the words of Jesus. The Psalmist pleads with the people to listen to the words of our G-d — just as I plead with people today to do just the same.

Let us pray:

God our maker, you guide us as the sheep of your fold. When we stray into rebellion and unbelief, bring us back and restore us, that we may follow your ways and listen to the voice of our shepherd who gives us eternal life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

August 3 — Psalm 94

O LORD, you God of vengeance, you God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up, O judge of the earth; give to the proud what they deserve! O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the stranger, they murder the orphan, and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” Understand, O dullest of the people; fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who disciplines the nations, he who teaches knowledge to humankind, does he not chastise? The LORD knows our thoughts, that they are but an empty breath. Happy are those whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law, giving them respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. (Verses 1-15)

Vengeance is a real concern — an age-old problem. It appears to me that we are living in a society that wants to seek vengeance before it wants to seek reconciliation. What we forget is that one of these is in G-d’s purview, and one is in ours.

Vengeance sounds nice, on the surface — it sounds good in our heads. When someone does us wrong, our first impulse is to “get back at them”. But, how often I have felt the need for vengeance, and once it comes, I find it does not make me feel better for long, if at all. This is one of the reasons I like to read the Psalms, for they often remind us about what belongs to G-d, and what belongs to humanity. Thus, we see the Psalmist reminding us that vengeance belongs to G-d — but the Psalmist is also reminding G-d of the same.

There are always going to be righteous people being oppressed by the evil of this world, just as there will be others being oppressed in this world. Evil holds no regard for the righteous or the unrighteous. Here the Psalmist is asking G-d to go ahead and do something that will stop the oppression of those deemed righteous in G-d’s eyes.

Someday we will understand why our world functions the way it does, why what has happened throughout the ages has happened, and why G-d delayed in doing something about it. We do know and trust that G-d has the long-view of this world, while we see only in part. And, we also profess that G-d is long-suffering. Perhaps like the parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, G-d is giving all people the chance to produce good fruit and the time to repent.

Let us Pray:

Lord, you are a merciful and jealous God. Convert your enemies and draw to you those that are going astray; but restrain the persecutors of your Church and the corrupters of your truth. Build your Church and make it a city upon a hill that brings salvation to all.

Amen