October 23: Psalm 90

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men." 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-- 6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 10 The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. 12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. 17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands.

The way in…

“Don’t make me come down there.” Does anyone remember this billboard from a few years ago? It was a part of a series of ‘advertisements for God.’ Apparently, an anonymous businessman believed that God was suffering from poor publicity and what God really needed was a good marketing campaign. So, this man hired a marketing firm to come up with a series of slogans that would be posted on billboards across the country. The billboards had white words on a black background and said things like,

“That love your neighbor thing, I meant it.” - God.

“Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage.” - God.

“Keep using my name in vain, I’ll make rush hour longer.” –God

But the one I remember and seemed to see most frequently was the one that read simply, “Don’t make me come down there.” - God

What does this phrase make us think about God? If you’re like me, I think of the times when I was a kid fighting with my sister while my Dad tried to watch television. When our fighting reached the point where he couldn’t hear Dan Rather, he’d ruffle his paper and shout, “You kids quiet down. Don’t make me come in there.” Or I think about the times when we were traveling to my grandparents and we’d be whining or fighting in the backseat until we irritated my Dad enough to where he’d say something like, “You kids don’t make me pull this car over.”

No doubt you have similar phrases you could share that came from your own parents. They certainly describe our parents. But here’s the question. Do they describe God? Is God really like a Dad watching Nightline whose best attempt to ‘fix things’ is to threaten his kids with his presence? Some, such as our psalmist this morning, would say yes.

Psalm 90

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” The Psalmist starts with an affirmation of God’s provision and protection that has passed through recordable ancestry. But it doesn’t stop there, it goes all the way back ‘before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the earth and the world…’ The Psalmist affirms that God is God before and after time, ‘from everlasting to everlasting.’

Next, the psalmist moves to describe the human condition in comparison to God’s everlasting. To do so, she uses three simile’s; dust, a day and grass.

“You return men back to dust,’ she writes. We are like dust. This brings to mind the creation of humanity, ‘from dust you were formed and to dust you shall return.’ It also brings to mind Ecclesiastes, ‘vanity, vanity [dust, dust] all is vanity. It even brings to mind Psalm 1, ‘not so the wicked, they are like chaff (or dust) blown about by the wind…’ Humanity is dust. Humanity is also like a single day.

“For a thousand days in your sight are like a day that has gone by.” Our days are like sand in an hourglass, thousands to us, but just days to you. Humanity’s existence is but a moment in God’s history.

And finally, the psalmist writes, we are ‘…like the new grass of the morning, though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.”

We are like dust, a day and grass. How do such comparisons make you feel? Insignificant, small, forgotten? It appears the Psalmist felt so. What are we to do with these feelings? As we read further in the Psalm, we hear the Psalmist attempt to explain these feelings, this pain.

The wrath of God

“We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.” And what would lead to such anger? “You have set our sins before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” “All of our days (which are just a blink to you God) pass away under your wrath.” Tough 70 to 80 years seems a lot to us, it is just a blink to you and that blink is all under your wrath, all just trouble and sorrow. “Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the power due you.”

In short, God is mad! We have done something wrong. Actually, we have done many things wrong and now the Psalmist seems to be saying, God is giving us our due. Have you ever felt this way? Have things ever just gone so bad for you that in searching for a reason you landed upon the conclusion similar to the psalmist that God must be punishing me?

What are we to do with this wrath?

What are we to do with this wrath? How shall we respond? The first and simplest option is of course to ignore it. But, if it is true that God is really mad, then this might lead to some painful consequences.

So, the second equally simple, but also troublesome option is to embrace it as justified. The Psalmist does this in part indicating that God’s wrath is as great as the fear that is due him. Then requesting that God would teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom.

There is much wisdom in this verse and perhaps worthy of its own sermon. We would do well to live life in light of our mortality. Personally, I know that one of the greatest gifts I’ve been given as a pastor is the privilege of sitting with families as they say goodbye to a loved one. I say that this is a gift because in so doing, I am reminded that our days are numbered and that none of us get out of this world alive. We all, like the psalmist said, are like grass. We do return to dust. Paradoxically, facing death on a regular basis often leads me to embrace life. Very often I return from funerals to hug my wife and pay attention to my kids because I have just been reminded that these are gifts that don’t last forever. The reality of death can teach us the wisdom of embracing life. Such is a powerful lesson of the psalmist.

And yet, this does not get us off the hook, for death is a very different thing from wrath. And the Psalmist is addressing God’s anger. And so far, he seems to indicate that it is all justified. Perhaps, but the next part of the Psalm indicates otherwise. In the next verse, the Psalmist reveals that she is not so sold on this accepting a God of wrath, trouble and sorrow. No, she shouts out.

Bold prayer for something more

Ever get mad at God? Good. Because it is possible that the god you are mad at is very likely a god that the risen Lord wants us to be mad at. I remember hearing Dallas Willard who wrote The Divine Conspiracy tell of an encounter. He was talking with a person at a party and when the person learned that Dallas was not just a professor of philosophy but also a Christian he said, “I don’t believe in God.” Dallas said he paused so that he might not just react in some form of anger or frustration and then replied, “Thank you.” And then he asked, “would you mind telling me about the god you don’t believe in, because I might not believe in him either.” Such I think may be the case with the Psalmist. She has lived long with a God of rage and now he has reached his limit. Listen to the Psalmist’s rage.

“Relent, O LORD!” The Hebrew word for ‘relent’ is bWv (shuve) which is elsewhere translated as ‘repent.’ Moses asks God to do this upon Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:12). And you know what? God does it. Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning (not just with being grass) but with your steadfast love (hesed, which is covenantal everlasting love). Why? So that we can do what you created us to do “sing for joy and be glad all our days.”

This was the prayer of the Psalmist. Relent, O Lord. Show us your love, your kindness, your steadfast love that has been there since the creation of the world. Show us this love for which we long. This was the prayer of the Psalmist. And so I wonder, was it ever answered?

Romans 3. Wrath revealed as ours, not Gods.

Fast forward a few hundred years to a little man hunched over a desk. His hand clasps a quill dipped in ink which he touches to a piece of parchment. He is writing a letter to a group of Christians in the world capitol of Rome. He has already filled a large section of the paper with words that described the God which the Psalmist prayed would relent, a god of wrath. And as we watch, he pauses, touches the quill to the ink and writes with a smile the words. Nuni de, “But now…” All of that seemed to be the case before, but now.

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” Is it possible that the thing the Psalmist prayed for was given? Paul tells us that a righteousness from God, which previously was thought to only come through the law (or some might say through God’s threats of punishment and wrath) has been made known. Do you mean there is a way other than wrath? Yes, Paul says. Wanna hear about it?

Well, ‘This righteousness from God comes through faith of Jesus Christ to all who believe.’ A word about Greek grammer. Most Bibles will translate the phrase, “faith of Christ’ as ‘faith in Christ.’ This is a fair translation as it is in the genitive case and therefore can go either way. However, in this case, it makes far more sense to translate it as the ‘faith of Christ’ because the very next phrase talks about our faith, our belief. Meaning it makes more sense to point to ‘the faith of Jesus Christ.’ So, what does this mean? It means as NT Wright wrote that “Jesus offered to God the faithfulness that Israel had denied.” Jesus was faithful in all and every way. Which, as we know but often forget, can not be said of us. We are not always faithful. Paul reminds us and the Romans when he writes, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

All have sinned, God’s right to be angry

Wait a second, you might be thinking, I thought you were just saying that you didn’t think that God was really angry? Now I hear you telling us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s expectations, God’s glory? What’s the deal? Yes, I did say that I didn’t think God was angry, what I didn’t say was that he didn’t have the right to be.

Think about it this way. If what the Psalmist writes is true, if God has been our dwelling place and God brought forth the earth and the world then this means that all of us and all of this belong to God. It means that it not only belongs to God, but God created it and if you have ever created something, a painting, pottery, an essay, a garden, architectural plans or a floral arrangement then you know that some of you is in that creation. And what happens when someone harms or even worse destroys what you create? Not sure? I can tell you what happens at my house. When Will has spent 30 minutes using the Legos to build a house with a corral for the horses and a space ship to fly them around and Benjamahem comes and kicks all of it over, what do you think happens? There is shouting, there is screaming and sometimes there is even pushing. Why? Because Benjamin has destroyed something that Will created, and because Will created it, he is wounding some of Will. If such is the case with a few legos that are here today and gone tomorrow, how do you think God feels?

When we pollute the streams, how does God feel? When we curse, cut, stab and shoot one another with weapons or with words, how does god feel? When we abuse, batter and degrade ourselves, we who were created in God’s image, how does that make God feel? When you think of it that way, it makes perfect sense to think as the Psalmist did, that God was pissed and we’re getting punished for it. That, I am sure is what I most often do. But here’s the thing, as it turns out, it isn’t how God responds. How do you know this Ken?

God’s response

As it turns out, God had his own marketing campaign that didn’t involve billboards. Once again, we return to Paul who continued his writings by telling us how God responded to our harming his creation. “God presented him (you might even say, himself) as a sacrifice (an offering)...” Why did God do this? He did this to demonstrate his justice (righteousness) because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished (the actual word here is passed over.) How did God respond to all of the ways we wounded his creation? Did he respond with rage, with anger, with wrath? No, instead of retaliating, as we would, God responded with himself. Don’t miss what I’m saying. God had every right to come and ‘get us back’ for all we’d done to destroy his creation. And yet, God does not. The God who created the heavens and the earth, the streams and the trees instead of using them to punish us, allowed us to use them to punish him. What are we to do with this?

Very simply, we can stop treating others as they treat us. We can stop responded to shouting with more shouting, anger with anger, gossip with gossip and hurt with hurt. Instead, we can respond to shouts with whispers, to anger with kindness, to gossip with blessing and hurt with forgiveness. This is the way God revealed on the cross. This is the way of Jesus.

The way out…

As it turns out, perhaps that billboard was true in a different way then we first heard it. Perhaps the reason God might say, “Don’t make me come down there,” is not because he’s coming to punish us, rather because he knew that we would punish him.”

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me.” (Mat. 23:37) Such were the words of Jesus after entering Jerusalem before he was crucified. Turns out we had it wrong all along, God never wanted to punish us. Rather, God wanted to love us, but we would not let him.

How bout this morning? Will you keep running around like a little chick? Afraid, hungry, oblivious to God’s presence. Or, like a child who knows their parent loves them, will you allow yourself to be gathered in and embraced by the God who loves you.

October 16: Psalm 99

Intro

Who is in charge? Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever been asked that question? Sure, we can say who is in charge at our office or at the lodge and our government. But who is really in charge? Is it Wall Street? Is it some secret group of lobbyists? Is it another nation? Such questions are not new, the Israelites asked them as well. So, when they gathered together to worship, they were reminded of the answer. Psalm 99 is one of those answers

Psalm 99

The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. 2 Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name-- he is holy.

4 The King is mighty, he loves justice-- you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. 5 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.

9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

The way in…

Have you ever been a part of a group led by someone whose leadership you had, let us say, doubts about? According SFC Tucker, one of his old soldiers had had such doubts for a long time. He was often questioning SFC Tucker’s leadership as well as the Platoon Leader. Well, the day finally came when both the Platoon Leader and SFC Tucker were away which meant that SFC Jones was in charge. The platoon was assembled the first morning of his leadership and so he stood before them beaming with pride and gave his inaugural speech to inspire their confidence in which he said, “1^st Platoon, SFC Tucker is gone and now I’m in charge and I plan on turning this platoon around 360 degrees to get it going in the right direction…”

Who is in charge?

Who is in charge? Psalm 99 is the last in a series of royal enthronement psalms that answer that question. Each of these Psalms declare in one place or another the words that open our Psalm, “The LORD reigns.” (93:1, 96:10, 97:1, 98:6[1]).

Chew on this phrase for a minute if you will. What sort of feelings does this phrase create for you? Comfort? Joy? Pride? Security? Fear? How does it make you feel to hear the words, “The LORD reigns…”

According to the psalmist, the way you feel about this statement likely depends upon where you stand. Let’s take a look.

The nations.

“The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.” The Psalmist starts with the whole shebang, all the nations. And what is there response to the reign of God? Fear and trembling. And just so we don’t miss where God is reigning from the Psalmist tells us, “Great is the LORD in Zion (that is in Jerusalem),’ where, ‘he is exalted (that is lifted up) over all the nations.’

And what should be the appropriate response by the nations? The Psalmist tells us, “Let them praise your great and awesome (fear-inducing) name.” And then the opening stanza ends with all the people declaring, “He is holy.” The message is clear, our God rules the world and if you are smart, you will respond with praise. What about the next group?

Jacob/Israel

The Psalmist begins this stanza with a direct reference to the King declaring, “The King is mighty, he loves justice…’ The leader then likely turns back to the altar and addresses God saying, “You have established equity in Jacob (Jacob is nickname for the nation of Israel) you have done what is just and right.”

Justice is a good thing, we have a whole system established to ensure it. Righteousness is a good thing, it is the condition when all things are as they should be. God, the king, according to the Psalmist has established it in the nation of Israel. And so, what shall the people do in response? Once again the Psalmist tells us, “Exalt (that is lift up) the LORD our God (this time he adds a relationship, YHWH belongs to us, or we belong to YHWH depending on how you view it) and worship (that is bow down) at his footstool.” According to Isaiah 66:1, “Heaven is God’s throne and the earth is his footstool.” Jesus echoes this in Matthew 5:35 when he tells the people not to swear by the earth ‘for it is God’s footstool…” So, the Psalmist tells the people to lift God up, while we bow down, here on earth. Then all the people shout as before, “He is holy!”

Prophets and Priests

In the third stanza the Psalmist takes a departure from the pattern and says nothing about kings, worship or holiness. Rather, he reaches back into Israel’s history to bring out a few folks who could give testimonies regarding the goodness of the King. It is almost as if a reporter is standing next to 3 robbed figures who the audience knows to be Moses, Aaron and Samuel; three of the most revered figures in Israel’s history. Moses, the liberator; Aaron, the priest; and Samuel, the prophet one who crowned Israel’s first and second kings. The reporter asks what these figures might have to say about God as king and they reply, “Well, I can tell you this, we called on his name and you know what? He answered.” “Yep,’ interjects Moses, “in fact with me he spoke through a pillar of cloud.” “Of course,’ said Aaron, “we did keep his statutes and decrees.”

The congregation

After the interview, the Psalmist begins the final stanza by once again turning to God and declaring, “O LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.” And with that the Psalmist waves his hand and the people once again recite the chorus, “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain.’ This time the place is more specific, not just his footstool, but the mount in Jerusalem where the temple sat; this is where the people were to bow down. Then in unison all the people declared for the third time not just he but “the LORD our God is holy!”

Our response to this king

“The LORD reigns!” Let me say it again, now after a brief rehearsal of this song, how does it make you feel? Are we among the nations? Trembling and shaking. Are we amidst Israel? Assured that God has established justice and righteousness in our community, in our realm. Perhaps we identify with the three historical figures and could stand up with our own testimony about God as king. Where do we sit? Before you answer, we would do well to consider another image of the king, one to which this Psalm hints, but only guesses. I invite you to consider the coronation which Cami read in Matthew.

The peasant king (Matthew 21)

“As they approached Jerusalem…Jesus sent two disciples,’ to find a donkey. The disciples do so while the author Matthew tells us why this occurred. He quotes the prophet Zechariah who wrote, “Say to the Daughter Zion, ‘See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey…” The king is coming, yes this is a big deal, but wait, how is he coming? Gently? I would have expected rage. And riding on a donkey? I would have expected a chariot, a war horse or at least a stallion those are fit for a king, but what is this king riding? A donkey. Does this sound like the king from Psalm 99? Nevertheless, some people recognized him and what did they do in response? Did they tremble? Did they quake? No, but they did pick up a refrain, “Hosanna to the son of David! (that is the king par excel lance) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Hosanna in the highest, with their voices they lifted up this peasant king and with their branches and cloaks they lowered themselves before him. In light of this coronation, how do you feel when you hear the phrase, “The LORD reigns!”

Competing or complementary images?

When I was a kid I used to wonder how in the world the people of Jesus time didn’t recognize him as God’s son. He gave sight to the blind, cured the lepers and healed the lame. He turned water into wine and a few fish into a feast. He even raised the dead and walked on water for Pete’s sake. How could so many people have missed it? Psalm 99 offers a hint. Had you been raised on this song and others like it, songs in which the Lord caused the nations to tremble, established justice, spoke from a cloud and punished misdeeds; had you been raised on such songs, would we have recognized the poor Nazarene on the donkey as a king? Not likely. But maybe, just maybe, had you listened really closely to the songs, you might have heard as TS Eliot wrote, “the hint half guessed, the gift half-understood the incarnation.” Where in Psalm 99 are the hints that God’s reign would arrive on a donkey?

Forgiving God and Cain

Listen to the next to last verse, “O LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God…” The word for forgive is af'n" (NiSa) and it literally means ‘to lift, carry or take…’ The first place it shows up is in Genesis 4. After Cain kills Able, the Lord tells him he will now be cursed and forced to wander the earth. To this Cain replies, “My punishment is more than I can bear.” This word ‘to bear’ is the same word used to mean ‘forgive.’ What does this mean? The manner in which God, the king of Psalm 99 forgives is by ‘carrying, by bearing the faults and misdeeds of Israel.’ Are you with me? Do you hear the hint? “You,’ the Psalmist writes, “were to Israel a forgiving God.” You, the Psalmist is saying, were to Israel a God who carries the sins and faults of our people. You took them. Does this sound like another king?

Does this sound like one who was given a crown of thorns and even a sign above his head that read “King of the Jews.” And how did this king when his authority was not only questioned but mocked? The gospel of Luke tells us that he looked upon his executioners and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The way out….

I think what I’m trying to say is this; the king portrayed in Psalm 99 is true but it is not complete. Psalm 99 hints at the image of God as king, but we only discover the full truth in the crucified and still forgiving king, the one who carried the sins of the world upon his shoulders; the one who poured himself out for his subjects; the one who proclaimed that the greatest among you will be your servants. This is the king of kings and Lord of lords.

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble…but let them know that all is forgiven and all are welcome as well.

In light of the reign of Christ, perhaps the best thing we can do is just as SFC Jones declared, let’s turn this thing 360 degrees from where Christ had it and get it going in the right direction. Wherever we may be in charge, let us offer ourselves as forgiving

---

[1] Though Psalm 98 does not repeat these words it does declare, “…shout for joy before the LORD, the king

October 9: Psalm 106

Psalm 106

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? 3 Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. 4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, 5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. 6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7 When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. 8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. 14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them. 16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. 18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20 They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23 So he said he would destroy them-- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. 24 Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. 25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD. 26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert, 27 make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. 28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods; 29 they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked. 31 This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come. 32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them; 33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. 34 They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, 35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. 36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. 38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. 39 They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves. 40 Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. 41 He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them. 42 Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power. 43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.

44 But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; 45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented. 46 He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive. 47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. 48 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD.

The way in…

Have you ever felt forgotten? My mom was often late, but never this late. Football practice had ended at 5:00 after which I’d sat and watched friend after friend get picked up by their parents. Finally, it was down to Aaron Godfrey (who was almost always the last one picked up) and me. When even Aaron’s dad showed up before my mom, I began to wonder if something was wrong. Five, ten, fifteen minutes and with each passing minute my frustration grew. Finally, I decided to ‘take matters into my own hands’ and I started to walk.

Have you ever felt forgotten? If so, then you can identify with our Psalmist this morning and not only him, but his community. “Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them…” Remember me, O Lord… Why would the Psalmist feel forgotten? To find the answer to that, we have to jump all the way to the end of the Psalm where we read an echo of the opening request, “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations…” So, why did the Psalmist feel forgotten? Because he and his people were spread out, away from their home, feeling abandoned in other countries. Do you ever feel forgotten?

Leadership

I am not a person who’s too big on leadership seminars. They often seem like get rich quick schemes. However, early in my time here at Manitou I was invited to attend one at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church. I went with a fair amount of skepticism, more enticed by the free lunch than anything. And yet, for some reason, I still remember the facilitator’s definition of leadership. After having us create a list of leaders that ranged from Mother Theresa to Adolf Hitler, he stepped back and asked people what it was about these people that made them effective leaders. We named various things such as charisma, intelligence and passion. After which he offered his assessment. The brilliance of each of these people was not in getting the people to attempt to be like him or her and it was not even in getting the people to follow them through the flames and to the goal. Rather, what made these folks effective leaders was their ability to ‘help the people name and confront their collective challenge.’ Leaders help the people name and confront their challenge. Well, if such is the case, then our psalmist is a leader.

In his opening prayer we hear the challenge named, we feel forgotten because we are scattered throughout the nations. In this case, naming the challenge was the easy part, confronting it would prove a bit more difficult and that is what he spends the next 40 verses doing and wastes no time doing so.

“We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.” Alright then. You have to appreciate how the Psalmist wastes no time getting to the point. He doesn’t mince words. Okay God, I’ll just say it up front, we, like our ancestors have messed up. I’ve realized from my kids, how much time I spend avoiding saying these words. Well, you see, yes there are markings on the wall, but I was just holding the pen and I didn’t know the wall was there and… is it almost dinner time? Benjamin hasn’t yet reached this stage, he is more like the Psalmist. He fesses up right from the start. I came home yesterday and Erin encouraged me to look at the paper towels where I brand new roll had been pulled completely out. Benjamin, what happened here? Without batting his eye and no remorse he replied, “I pulled it out.” And like my youngest son, the Psalmist gets it out there from the start, “We have sinned…” But she doesn’t an interesting thing, she doesn’t stop with herself and her own people. No, she points back to her ancestors. “We have sinned, even as our fathers did.” And just how did they sin? That is what the Psalmist spends the next 30 something verses recounting, the ways Israel had messed up and oh were they many.

By the Red Sea, in the desert when they were thirsty, in the camp when they didn’t trust the leadership, at Horeb where they built the golden calf, on the edge of the Promised Land when we didn’t believe God would protect us, by the waters of Meribah and even when we entered the Promised Land our sinning did not stop. You’ve heard of greatest hits albums. Psalm 106 is like a bands “worst hits album.” Imagine trying to sell that? You know all the good songs by this band, but what about the horrible ones? Now, for only $19.95 you can too can own Israel’s worst hits. No one would buy that, yet here is the Psalmist pointing back to all of their failed moments. Why? Why is he doing this? Perhaps there is something in these failings that might help them meet their current challenge. Let’s look at the first.

By the Red Sea

‘When our Fathers were in Egypt…’ The Psalmist goes all the way back to Egypt, which is a good place to start. You may remember Egypt as the place where Joseph settled his brothers after they’d tried to sell him. This family grew and grew over the years until they became so large that the Pharaoh decided to make them slaves and that was their status for almost 400 years; slaves in Egypt. But God heard their groaning and their cries and raised up a liberator for them named Moses who, reluctantly and with the aid of his brother Aaron and a few plagues, led the people out of Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. Well, it just so happened that right behind them came the Egyptian army who’d had a change of heart. And right in front of them was this sea, for which they had no boats. Talk about challenges, this was a heck of one to start with. And what did the people do? We find the account in Exodus 14 where we read, “The people were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ’Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to sere the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” One thing I love about the Bible is its affinity for sarcasm. Can’t you just hear the people saying in a good Brooklyn accent, “Ehh, Moshea, what the graves in Egypt weren’t good enough you bring us out here to die?” Now, given their situation, water on one side, army on the other, I can’t say I blame them for their fear. But no so the Psalmist, no this is his first example of a people not facing their challenge faithfully. And what does he point to as the source of their sin? Three things.

“When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your steadfast love, and the rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.” They gave no thought to God’s miracles, what one might call impossibilities. They did not remember God’s steadfast love, his hesed and so, they rebelled. So, in short, they didn’t think and they had a poor memory. Am I alone or does this cause anyone else to be a little nervous? Let’s start with the first.

No thought to miracles

My Old Testament professor, Walter Breuggemann translated this word ‘miracles’ as ‘impossibilities.’ I like that. It gets to the core of what a miracle is, something that is not possible…according to human standards. Certainly the Israelites felt themselves to be in an impossible situation; army on one side, water on the other. What the Psalmist is saying here, is that there first mistake was in failing to think, to give thought, to have meditated upon the impossibilities God had already done. Well, what were those?

Let’s start in the beginning where there was only darkness into which God brought the impossible; light and then the heavens and then the land which produced vegetation and on and on it went. God creating the possible out of the impossible. In the great flood, God told Noah to build a boat who all mocked as ridiculous, impossible in its worth, yet it saved humanity from destruction. And to make things more personal, when Abraham and Sarah were elderly and close to death, God too Sarah and made placed a child in her ancient womb, the impossible made possible. These things and many more, God had done yet it had been so long since the people thought about them. To be fair, they had been enslaved for 400 years.

Did not remember your hesed

Not only did the people give no thought to God’s impossibilities, but they also had poor memories for ‘…they did not remember your steadfast love.’ The NIV translates this as ‘many kindnesses’ which is okay, but it loses its connection with all the other times this word is mentioned, which just so happens to be all over the place. In fact, it is right there in the first verse. “Praise the LORD, give thanks to the LORd, for he is good; and his steadfast love endures forever.” The Hebrew word here is hesed which is the word used to describe the love that God offers humanity irrespective of our behavior. God’s love remains through thick and thin, in fact as the Psalmist reminds us, it endures forever. We got a reminder of this love last week in Romans 8, do you remember that? No? Uh oh, you don’t remember God’s steadfast love from last week, you’re in good company because such was the case with the Israelites. And this is why it is so important for us to gather, so that we can remind one another of God’s steadfast love, that Paul reminded the Romans of when he asked, “What can separate us from the love of God? He goes on to list a number of things before he stops and says, “No, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor demons, things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all cration can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is when we forget this love, brothers and sisters, that we get in danger. The Israelites had forgotten, they needed to be reminded that neither army nor seas will separate us from the love of God. But, at the time they did not and so what did they do? The got bitter.

Rebellion by the Sea

Actually, the NIV says they rebelled, but I took a look at this word rebelled which is ‘marah.’ You may remember the book of Ruth, in which Naomi loses her husband and her sons to death. In grief, she changes her name to Marah, which means bitter. And this is what happens when we fail to meditate on God’s miracles and remember his love, we get bitter. You know this stage, right?

I remember my friend Gary’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Gary knew I was preparing to be a Presbyterian minister and so he introduced me to his uncle Hugh who had just retired from the ministry. Gary introduced us and informed him of my plans, to which Hugh replied, “My condolences.” At first I thought he was joking, but as it turns out, he was not. The conversation didn’t last long after which Gary sort of chuckled and said, “Yeah, I think he’s a little bitter about a few things.”

Bitterness causes everything we eat to taste sour and if our mouths aren’t cleaned out, it can ruin everything. This was the place the Israelites were, there, at the edge of the Red Sea. How about us?

Us

Where do you find yourself this morning? What challenges are before you? Do you feel as if Pharaoh’s army is behind you and the Red Sea in front of you? Do you feel forgotten in some way? Do you find yourself in what seems to be an impossible situation? There is no way out of this debt. There is no way this person will ever quit using. There is no way this marriage will ever be saved. There is no way this denomination will keep from splitting. There is just no way. Do you find yourself between an army and the Red Sea? If so, listen to what happens, think about it, remember it.

Despite their thoughts, despite their poor memory and despite their bitterness, the Psalmist writes, “…yet he saved them…he rebuked the Red Sea…he led them through…he saved them…the waters covered their adversaries…” Even when we are faithless, God is faithful. And just like that, their mouths were cleaned of all bitterness. They believed God’s promises and sang his praise.

The way out…

I walked for about a mile which wouldn’t have been too bad if not for the fact I was wearing football cleats. As I passed A&J’s gas station a large white 1975 Chevy Impala pulled up beside me. It was my mother. I got in and slammed the door and folded my arms. “Where were you?” “I’m sorry I was late, one of the kids parents didn’t come until late.” And then there was a pause. “Honey, I’m sometimes late, but you know I always show up.” And I knew in that moment that I was the one in the wrong. Mom was right, she always showed up, even if it seemed late to me. Had I only remembered this, it would’ve saved me some sweat, some blisters and a whole lot of bitterness.