Psalm 9:9-20
Proper 7 (12) - Year B
It seems the very snare we set for others is the one we ourselves get caught in. The very pride we have in something well-done becomes our downfall, minimally as a trap to keep on doing the same thing over and over again.
The very desire to go away with Jesus ends up in a storm. Goliath's reliance upon violence returns violence. Again and again we are our own worst enemy.
Our challenge is to not let this rest in an arena of judgment, but to find a way or two, no matter how teensy, twisty, or hidden, to what we experience as deliverance – becoming our own best friend.
A hint here is that of singing praise. This is an expansive praise launched from creation and extended beyond the miracle of the present into an anticipation of hope forever. This is not the kind of praise that expects a return, is obligatory or a hedge against judgment.
With large praise we are opened to see small avenues of opportunity that open to a larger picture. In a Wisconsin United Methodist Federation for Social Action meeting tonight we heard about community organizing from folks in ESTHER in Appleton who are doing social justice work and growing in it. Their training, expertise, relationship building, passion, persistence, and celebration each adds a shine to the work of living and exemplifying G*D's presence and deeds among people and deep within the environment.
Social Justice is praise solidified into action, is joy set free.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html
"The nations have sunk in the pit that they made...." by "forgetting the needy and thwarting the hope of the poor," time after time. (vss 15 & 18)
When these verses can be brought together, rather than simply turning to G*D or talking about Sheol, we again hear the prophetic within the psalmist.
This is the judgment that continues to stand in front of us. When will enough people hear it and respond? Before we, too, get our reminder about the mortality of institutions as well as that of individuals?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/june2003.html
Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 133 or Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
Individual or nations can get caught in storms. At first they seem lifted to the heavens with the rush of excitement and then it becomes apparent that the blowback of their presuppositions catches up with them and they are headed to Davy Jones' Locker.
Think about storms for a moment and our theories of pressure fronts. Storms are generated at the edges of highs and lows. If this were to stand for the wars between individuals and nations it might be posited that Psalm 133 is what stands between the other two. Psalm 133 is about living in unity. Note that this is not uniformity, but unity between the differences without having to fight.
And then it must be noted that storms do bring the rain that brings the flowers. Aargh! If only one image would stand still long enough to hold all the meaning in the world. Well, until then, do what you can to live in a creative unity that allows enough rain to nourish without escalating into a storm that devastates.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/june2006.html
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Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 or Job 38:1-11
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
Open wide your heart, let's go to the other side where we will be in the presence of mystery and openly challenge impossible situations. In so doing, praises will be sung and thanks given.
- - -
open wide your heart
let's go to the other side
in the presence of mystery
open challenge will be given
to impossible situations
in so doing
praises will be sung
thanks given.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
If we were to take the “poor me” approach out of this psalm we would still be left with the perennial problem of classes. The class of power (oppressor) versus the class of the powerless (oppressed); the class of the fortunate (holy) versus the class of the sick or unfortunate (sinner); the class of the “caring for” versus the class of the “cared for”.
We might look to verse 18 as a key verse - “The needy shall not always be forgotten, ignored, or taken advantage of.” At some point the disjuncture between their hope and their reality will become clear enough that they will stand up for one another. Then structures that have seemed so safe, a teaching boat, will become threatened, a storm-tossed barque.
“Everyone with enough earthly possessions must seriously ask if they are not responsible, to some degree and in some way, for injustices and oppressions. We know, from the book of Exodus, that G*D’s judgment can fall over the oppressors in a tremendous way. We also know that authentic love, the source of justice, can change the face of the earth.” [modified comment from The Christian Community Bible.]
Rise up, O Lord! Throw off chains of captivity to the power of social norms sanctioned by the powerful. You have nothing to lose, period. You have everything to gain, period.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/06/psalm-99-20.html