Psalm 85

Proper 12 (17) - Year C


Psalm 85 or Psalm 135

Obviously G*D is not controllable. Angers arise, wave-like, against a background of steadfast love. In fact, we call G*D to account, to change. We expect G*D to change, except in our creeds.

Even with the ability of G*D to change there is also a sense in which that which will ultimately be unchanged are such G*D actions as speaking peace, giving what is good, and following where righteousness leads.

This last image is particularly intriguing. What is this righteousness that goes before G*D and makes a path for G*D to follow? While we can imagine that as an aura of some sort emanating from G*D, there is also a separate reality sense to it as well.

If we can image evil happening separately from G*D, can we also image good happening separately. If both of these, what then is the role of G*D in creation and your life and mine? Might there be some management (or other presence) of the circumstances of life, rather than their initiator?

- - -

in the red corner
faithfulness springs from the ground

in the blue corner
righteousness leaps from the sky

in the center
a referee calls out the rule of engagement

thou shalt cooperate
for the increase of good

the sound of one cymbal is as nothing
but the sound of two, ahh, the sound

opening a way by garnering attention
for revival's time of rejoicing

a bell sounds, cymbals crash
peace is spoken, love is shown

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html


 

Psalm 85 or Psalm 138

The Lord's Prayer
(paraphrase from the Open Door Community, Atlanta, GA, used in worship at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA, 5/22/03, during the 2003 Festival of Homiletics Conference)

Interlined with Psalm 85 (NIV-UK)

Our Beloved Friend, who is outside the system,
May your Holy Name be honored by the way we live our lives.

[You showed favour to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.]

Your Beloved Community come, your way be done
inside the system as it is outside the system.

[Restore us again, O God our Saviour, and put away your displeasure towards us. Will you be angry with us for ever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?]

Give us this day everything we need.

[Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.]

Forgive our wrongs as we forgive those who have wronged us.

[I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints--but let them not return to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. ]

Do not bring us to the time of Testing,
but keep us safe from the Evil One.

[Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.]

For yours is the Beloved Community,

[The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.]

the power and the glory forever and ever.

[Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.]

Amen.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/july2004.html

 


 

In Hosea we hear of G*D running out of mercy.
Here we hear of G*D's anger to generations.

Look around. There is good warrant for those perspectives.

Look around again. What is an antidote to a lack of mercy and an abundance of anger? The Psalmist suggests it is steadfastness. The generalized particular is a steadfastness of love. I suspect that any steadfastness might do and that we might need to model this for G*D.

Here is an extended quote from Wikipedia that synopsizes the conclusion of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony Number 3 - Kaddish that pushes in the direction of Nikos Kazantzakis' Savior's of God and the role children have in waking sleeping parents.

III : Scherzo - Kaddish 3 - Finale. Fugue-Tutti

The scherzo is a fast-tempo dream sequence. God has fallen asleep and the narrator paints a dream. God is no longer in control and the narrator has full power to bring God on this journey through his own imagination. The speaker begins by painting what God has made:

This is Your Kingdom of Heaven, Father,
Just as You planned it.
Every immortal cliché intact.
Lambs frisk. Wheat ripples.
Sunbeams dance. Something is wrong.
The light: flat. The air: sterile.
Do You know what is wrong?
There is nothing to dream.
Nowhere to go. Nothing to know.

The narrator then proceeds to show God that he is in control of this dream.

Now behold my Kingdom of Earth!
Real-life marvels! Genuine wonders!
Dazzling miracles! ...
Look, a Burning Bush
Look, a Fiery Wheel!
A Ram! A Rock! Shall I smite it? There!
It gushes! It gushes! And I did it!
I am creating this dream!
Now will You believe?

A burning bush and gushing rock refer to some of the miracles described in the Old Testament. The narrator next places a rainbow in the sky, in parallel to the story of Noah, when God placed a rainbow in the sky to institute a new covenant with man. In loud triumph and anger, the speaker declares:

Look at it, Father: Believe! Believe!
Look at my rainbow and say after me:
MAGNIFIED ... AND SANCTIFIED ...
BE THE GREAT NAME OF MAN!

After showing God the problems in the world, he helps God believe in the new arrangement. The music builds to an amazing climax, crowned with the entrance of a boy's choir singing the phrase "Magnified and sanctified be His great name, Amen" in Hebrew.

The pace of the music slows down, as the narrator has finished his dream. He wakes God and God then confronts the reality of the image. The narrator, satisfied that God has seen His errors, beams:

Good morning, Father. We can still be immortal,
You and I, bound by our rainbow.
That is our covenant, and to honor it
Is our honor ... not quite the covenant
We bargained for, so long ago.

The narration ends with a commitment from both sides, God and Human, to "Suffer and recreate each other."

Though there is a resolution to the struggle, the music does not end triumphant and grand. Instead, it ends in a final kaddish by the choir and the final chord is dissonant, suggesting that all is still not right and more work must be done.

- - - - - - -

Steadfast love is not easy work. G*D tires of it and retracts mercy and indulges in anger. Yet, it is our birthright and the image of our creation. Great imagination and deep community is needed for those times when steadfast love falters. May steadfast love be shown you when yours stumbles. May your steadfast love support another in their time of drought. As Red Green has been heard to say, "Remember, I'm pulling for ya. We're all in this together!"

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/07/psalm-85.html