Psalm 91
A
month or so ago the first service choir began working on a piece of music based
on the 91st Psalm. Being
brash and full of myself, I volunteered to preach a sermon on Psalm 91 on the
Sunday they wanted to perform the piece. I figured, give me a scripture and I
can preach on it. So for the past month the choir’s version of Psalm 91 has
been going through my head.
You who live in
the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say
to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
The
early church theologian Athanasius wrote, “If you desire to know what
confidence in God is, recite the 91st Psalm.” I must say, for the
better part of a week, I completely agreed with Athanasius…………but then my mind
began to wrap itself around the words.
Because you
have made the Lord your refuge, no evil shall befall you; no scourge will come
near your tent. God will command angels to guard you in all your ways. They
will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
If
you have not noticed, there is a bit of a skeptic in me. Sometimes I read or
hear something that leaves me shaking my head. Is this Psalm suggesting if I
daily call on the name of the Lord, I will always be protected? Or perhaps if I
wear the Psalm around my neck like a cross, all harm and illness will be warded
off. Quoting James Weldon Johnson, “I know my arms
are too short to box with God”, and yet confusions clouds my brain when I
consider these words. Actually confusion is not strong enough. I am alarmed by
this kind of blind allegiance. It begins
with a gesture on a football field giving God the glory after a touchdown is
scored. Did the guy who missed the tackle forget to pray before the game? It
moves to someone winning a lottery ticket and giving God the glory. Do we
really believe Las Vegas
is actually heaven? On a more serious note I have sat with folks in a hospital
and someone has had the audacity to say, “Your father is going to be fine. I
prayed for his complete recovery.” Then when the father dies the same person
says to me, “His faith must not have been that strong.”
How
often have family members, or neighbors, or folks from a different part of the
county, or even different country, gone to war with each other completely
convinced they are doing the will of God and therefore are protected by God
from misfortune falling upon them. I saw a picture taken at the Battle of the Bulge where
two young combatants literally died in each other’s arms. One was German, the
other American. The belt buckle of the German read, “In God we Trust”. The same
phrase was etched on the helmet cover of the young American.
I
am well aware of theologians such as Calvin who go so far as to say the
purposes of God can be advanced through evil and suffering. But my short arms
and small brain find it difficult to make the case that God’s purpose can be
furthered through murder or discrimination or exploitation or even poor
religious practices. I know we live in a dangerous world in which horrible
things happen. I am equally aware sometimes people hide behind their faith as a
way of ignoring the sinfulness of their actions. And I find that disturbing.
I
believe with all my heart that God damns war and hate and hypocrisy and lies
and tyranny and exploitation and murder.
I
believe with all my heart that God blesses peace and honesty and truth and
freedom and cooperation and dignity.
I
believe that God works patiently and mercifully to change those things God
damns into those things God blesses.
What
I am trying to keep is my faith and my sanity while God is in the process of
working all this stuff out.
Let’s return to the
Psalm.
When you call,
I will answer. I will be with you in time of trouble.
The
song sung by the choir did not include this phrase. I wish it had because I
believe verse 15 is critical. Process theologian Burton Cooper describes God as
“boundless, yet limited.” I suspect that is not what some of you wanted to
hear. Yet I find it helpful. I believe God lives in relationship with us and our
world. At the same time I believe God
chooses to be limited in determining how particular events will end. That said,
I also believe God’s self-imposed limitations does not affect God’s presence.
Once
I was captured by verse 15, I began to see the rest of the poem differently. My
reading returned to the third verse where the Psalmist said, “My refuge, my God
in whom I trust.”
Let’s
take a quick recap of my journey. My earlier reading of the Psalm seemed to
imply that if I call on God, regardless of the danger, God will rescue me. The
skeptic in me refused to be satisfied with this relationship. Is God to be driven or motivated by my
desires, my whims, or my battles? If God does not respond, is this evidence of lack
of faith or even God’s lack of authority?
By
week three I began to focus on the idea that regardless of the circumstances of
my life, God will be with me. This revelation was inspired by one word,
“trust”.
I
suspect that trust is not something easily given. Trust has to be earned. When you say you trust someone, this trust
comes from experience. It comes from being in places that were not always
perfect. Sometimes the places were even dark but the one that you trusted was
there, regardless.
The
more I read Psalm 91 the more I want to link it with two more familiar Psalms.
Remember the words, “Even though I walk through valley of death, you are with
me.” The writer of the 23rd Psalm was not writing about something
that might happen but rather was writing from something that had already happened.
Likewise in Psalm 27 we read, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom
shall I fear?” From experience, from trust, the Psalmist ends this wonderful
poem by saying, “Wait for the Lord; let your heart have courage; wait for the
Lord!”
Neither
of these Psalms offers a direction as to how God should make the universe run
or how our problems will be solved. But both trust that in the midst of life,
in the midst of heart ache, in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of chaos,
even in the midst of death, God is there.
Last
week, as I was preparing a sermon on Jesus’ time in the Wilderness I noticed
one of the lines attributed to Satan was from Psalm 91. The devil took Jesus to
the top of the Temple
and encouraged Jesus to jump. Quoting Psalm 91 the devil said, “God will
command his angels concerning you. On their hands they will bear you up.” Jesus
responded, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
I
now believe the focus of the writer of Psalm 91 was not about testing but
rather trust. Jesus said to his adversary, “Don’t play lightly with God.” When
we call on God in prayer and speak of a loved one facing a difficult situation,
I hope we are praying for God’s presence, God’s healing in ways we might not
have imagined rather than some test to prove God’s existence.
Many
of us raised children. Before they were born we made preparations as to how we
would raise the child. Once the child was born we selected particular foods,
baby proofed the house. We made sure they couldn’t wander into the street or
stick their fingers in electrical outlets. We talked to them about right and
wrong behavior. We coached them, we pleaded with them and sometimes we even
punished them to keep them on a less harmful path. Then they reached the age of 16 and we placed
a set a keys in their hands. We warned them about the dangers of an automobile,
of speeding, of alcohol, of other drivers, but I am going to guess, without
exception, we sent them out to the one place more harm comes to teenagers than
any other place in this land. We sent them out on the American highways. We
sent them trusting they would remember our lessons. We trusted they would make
good decisions and would be better drivers than we were when we were their age.
We could not guarantee their safety, but what we could promise was, should
something happen, we could be trusted to be there for them.
God
has placed in our hands a manual for living. God has placed folks in our path
that have been examples of how God would have us live. God has even made the
ultimate sacrifice for us in the death of Jesus. Finally God promised to be
with us, regardless of the choices that might jeopardize our well being. Then
God placed the steering wheel in our hands. Sometimes we go too fast. Sometimes
we negotiate curves in ways that endanger others. Sometimes we even crash. God
does not keep that from happening. But God is always there, regardless of the
situation we or others might have created.
The
bottom line is, after a month of consternation and confrontation; after a month
of realizing my arms are too short to box with God; after of month of trying to
place a round peg in a square hole, I had to come back to this ancient text on
this side of the resurrection, and this led me to the conclusion the Psalmist
had already made:
God
was there yesterday………..God is there today ………
God will be there tomorrow.
Does
this protect me from the terror of the night? Does it guarantee me from the
arrow that flies by day? Does this justify any action I might take as Godly?
The
answer to each question is a resounding no!
All
I am left with is this. Right or wrong, justified or guilty as charged, God
will not leave me now or forever.
And
that’s enough. That’s enough. Amen.
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