Psalm 146

The Pursuit of Happiness

Posted on by Betsy

Today we will dive into Psalm 146, the assigned lectionary passage for this week. As soon as I read the first sentence, it began to sound a lot like the preamble to the American Declaration of Independence. The phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” appears in the preamble, which describes the fundamental rights that governments are created to secure. While Jefferson’s words were aspirational, they did not carry the full weight and force of the law. However, the Constitution has such authority, and both the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments address this, guaranteeing equal protection of “life, liberty, or property with the due process of law.”

Surely our country’s founders understood what it takes to live a prosperous life. Constitutional guarantees were designed to protect those things with the backing of the law. When a nation turns its back on the law, everyone suffers.

The psalmist in today’s passage lived in a time when Israel had turned its back on the Law. In the midst of national suffering, he penned these hopeful words of praise, directing the people back to the true source of happiness. This is the first of the last five psalms, a collection known as the Praise Psalms.

Psalm 146 (New Revised Standard)
The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
    the person whose hope rests on the Lord their God—
    is truly happy!
6 God: the maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
7     who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
    who gives bread to people who are starving!

We have seen all throughout history that governments will deny rights to their own people in pursuit of personal agendas. The rich get richer and the poor deeply suffer. Only God can bring justice to our land. People will fail us miserably and spectacularly.

The Lord: who frees prisoners.
8     The Lord: who makes the blind see.
    The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low.
    The Lord: who loves the righteous.
9     The Lord: who protects immigrants,
        who helps orphans and widows,
        but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!

10 The Lord will rule forever!
    Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!

We, including those in power, should straighten up those who are bent low, protect immigrants, help orphans and widows, give justice to the oppressed, and give bread to the starving. It’s right there in black and white.

What can you do in your community today to live up to this? Can you bring happiness to someone in the name of the Lord?

Lord, help us to help others. Then we can be truly happy.

Winter Berries by Kathy Schumacher

Election Angst

Posted on by Betsy

I had a conversation with a church member who is facing a lot of personal challenges right now. On multiple levels she is dealing with life changing events in her family and her stress level is high. As we talked about each one, trying to find possible solutions, I began to realize that we were both affected by another kind of pressure: Election angst. These last few months have taken a terrible toll on all of us. The vitriol, the false claims, the lying, the accusations, the intense fear of what is to come … whatever pressures you are going through in your work/life situation, there is an overwhelming dark cloud of “what ifs” that has affected us all. In some ways I can’t wait for it to be over but in other ways, I am terrified at what comes next.

This morning I was reflecting on all of this, and guess what God had to say about it? “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.”

Psalm 146 (New International Version)

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Blessed are we when we put our hope for help squarely on God’s shoulders. God created the universes and told the stars and moons where to be! Even in the darkest moments of anguish over the future of our country, we must remember this. God remains faithful forever.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.

We may feel like the bowed down right now as we await the results that will shape the course of our future together, but God still and always reigns forever. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it is unbelievable to be in such a place at this point in our lives. But even still, God watches over us.

9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

So lift up your head to the Lord today and give up all your fears and worries. In the end, it is the Lord who reigns forever.

10 The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Consider the Flowers of the Field by Kathy Schumacher

Rule Forever

Posted on by Betsy

Several years ago I was blessed to travel to Israel. I will never forget this trip of a lifetime. Some of my wonderful memories include watching the sun set over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and riding a camel. By the way, camels are mean! I also remember watching faithful Jews praying at the Western Wall. This historic location is the site of the temples in Jerusalem up through Jesus’ time. It is a space that is shared by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. All three of these religions have significant history there.

On the Jewish side, there is access to the wall itself, and visitors are invited to place rolled up prayer requests between the ancient stones and pray there. We watched as Jewish families prayed, with men and women separated by a thick curtain. One striking feature of the prayers was how people stood as they prayed. They bowed continuously from the waist with hands clasped and heads lowered, murmuring their prayers in a low, harmonic hum. As I stood there placing the prayers that I had carried from my church in the mortar cracks, I closed my eyes and listened to all of the many languages that were being lifted up. I had a strong conviction that this is what heaven sounds like. Watching the faithful Jews lined up and facing the wall as they bobbed and weaved was a marvelous sight. The sound was even better.

The origin of this practice is found in an interpretation of Psalm 146, which encourages us to praise the Lord with our ”whole being.” So rather than sit in a passive attitude thinking their prayers, these men and women gathered at the wall were engaging their ”whole being” in a physical expression of moving through the prayer.

Psalm 146 (Common English Bible)

    Let my whole being praise the Lord!
2 I will praise the Lord with all my life;
    I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

Now pay attention to this next part, and remember that it was written thousands of years ago in a much different political environment than the one we live in today:

3 Don’t trust leaders;
    don’t trust any human beings—
    there’s no saving help with them!
4 Their breath leaves them,
    then they go back to the ground.
    On that very same day, their plans die too.

So maybe the political environment thousands of years ago was not that much different than today! Truth is truth. God’s truth will always abide … the rest is just fleeting breath and temporary manmade plans. The only way to find help is through God. The only way to find happiness is by resting your hope on the Lord. Human beings will let you down all the time, but God gives justice to the oppressed, bread to the starving, and freedom to the prisoners.

5 The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
    the person whose hope rests on the Lord their God—
    is truly happy!
6 God: the maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
7     who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
    who gives bread to people who are starving!
The Lord: who frees prisoners.
8     The Lord: who makes the blind see.
    The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low.
    The Lord: who loves the righteous.
9     The Lord: who protects immigrants,
        who helps orphans and widows,
        but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!

10 The Lord will rule forever!
    Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!

Today, make your prayers active prayers. Move around, take a walk, pray out loud. Let your WHOLE being praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Maker of Heaven and Earth by Beverly Mineo