Psalm 40:1-12
I waited and waited and waited for God.
At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to God.
Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,
turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”
ignore what the world worships;
The world’s a huge stockpile
of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
comes close to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know,
and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words
account for you.
Doing something for you, bringing something to you--
that’s not what you’re after.
Being religious, acting pious--
that’s not what you’re asking for.
You’ve opened my ears so I can listen.
So I answered, “I’m coming.
I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I’m coming to the party
you’re throwing for me.”
That’s when God’s Word entered my life,
became part of my very being.
I’ve preached you to the whole congregation,
I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that.
I didn’t keep the news of your ways
a secret, didn’t keep it to myself.
I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.
I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth
For myself alone -- I told it all.
Now God, don’t hold out on me,
don’t hold back your passion.
Your love and truth
are all that keeps me together.
Psalm 40 is a song of praise and thanksgiving. Though it was written 3000 years ago, like most psalms it still reads true in our lives today. In some psalms, the writer laments and mourns – and we all recognize ourselves there. In others, the psalmist flat out asks God to provide nasty punishments for his or her enemies – we might like to think that’s not us, but I suspect we have each had moments of thinking this way, too.
The Psalms immediately before Psalm 40 are prayers for deliverance and for healing – you get the impression that things haven’t been going well for the psalmist. But this is a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance given and grace received.
I say grace received because while there has been deliverance from a particular pit of despair, there is also grace given by God – and, finally -- received by the psalmist. Here the psalmist has heard God’s invitation and has – as this translation puts it – entered the mystery. He or she has finally gotten it that doing deeds for God is not what God wants. Bringing offerings to God is not what God wants.
God has invited the psalmist to a grand party and God simply wants him/her to accept, to “give themselves over – to turn their backs on the world’s “sure thing,” and ignore what the world worships” – and simply join in the God-song – and come to the party.
God has given the writer ears to hear – and he or she finally does hear – what God has been asking all along. One of the commentaries I studied this week on this psalm puts it this way:
The Psalms immediately before Psalm 40 are prayers for deliverance and for healing – you get the impression that things haven’t been going well for the psalmist. But this is a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance given and grace received.
I say grace received because while there has been deliverance from a particular pit of despair, there is also grace given by God – and, finally -- received by the psalmist. Here the psalmist has heard God’s invitation and has – as this translation puts it – entered the mystery. He or she has finally gotten it that doing deeds for God is not what God wants. Bringing offerings to God is not what God wants.
God has invited the psalmist to a grand party and God simply wants him/her to accept, to “give themselves over – to turn their backs on the world’s “sure thing,” and ignore what the world worships” – and simply join in the God-song – and come to the party.
God has given the writer ears to hear – and he or she finally does hear – what God has been asking all along. One of the commentaries I studied this week on this psalm puts it this way:
[Prayer and service are] an offering of praise for salvation, and what is even more important, it is the confession of a transformation of the self worked by salvation. Where human desire and will are conformed to divine pleasure and instruction, the purpose of praise through sacrifice and song has been incorporated into the very process of the self. The true thanksgiving for salvation is witness, and will.
That’s kind of wordy and academic – but it pretty much says what I’ve been trying to say for several weeks now.
God does not demand works from us – they are not a requirement – something we have to do to get God’s attention. God invites us into the kingdom. God invites us to allow God to love us – and, hopefully – to love God in return. And then, works and offerings will flow quite naturally out of our love and gratitude.
Now - does this mean that, like Mary, we just plunk ourselves at Jesus’ feet and let some Martha somewhere do all the work? I doubt it. That’s not how it works in the real world. I’ve always maintained that we are required to create some sort of balance between Mary and Martha in our Christian lives – (our lives in general). And even while we are Martha-ing, to keep those open ears which are our gift from God – those ears God opened so we can listen – and to always know ourselves in and with God at all times – in God’s world, in God’s kingdom.
We used to do something in past years and we kind of drifted away from it, but I want to revive it. We used to share occasions of grace -- people acting for God in the world – things we’d notice during the week that remind us that all kinds of people are out there doing good things – maybe consciously doing them for God – maybe just doing it because good things are good things ... Here’s a couple of examples. I wasn’t looking for them, I just heard one while watching the evening news and one on my car radio while driving home:
1. 5 year anniversary of Miracle on the Hudson - Dave Sanderson, last passenger off the plane, while rescued focused on the Red Cross blankets everyone was wrapped in – and was so moved that he has spent past 5 yrs raising money for Red Cross – more than $7 million – in his spare time.
2. Beth Heckel - went to Uganda to visit daughter, discovered people dying there of malaria - heard about bed nets - $5 - easy for us, impossible for those living there. Came home, founded Think Humanity and so far has distributed more than 30,000 bed nets, grown to dig wells and build health clinics.
People doing good things -- not for praise or wealth, but just because they are needful to be done. As the UCC sermon site offers this week in this quote from author Stephen King: "If God gives you something you can do, why in God's name wouldn't you do it?"
God does not demand works from us – they are not a requirement – something we have to do to get God’s attention. God invites us into the kingdom. God invites us to allow God to love us – and, hopefully – to love God in return. And then, works and offerings will flow quite naturally out of our love and gratitude.
Now - does this mean that, like Mary, we just plunk ourselves at Jesus’ feet and let some Martha somewhere do all the work? I doubt it. That’s not how it works in the real world. I’ve always maintained that we are required to create some sort of balance between Mary and Martha in our Christian lives – (our lives in general). And even while we are Martha-ing, to keep those open ears which are our gift from God – those ears God opened so we can listen – and to always know ourselves in and with God at all times – in God’s world, in God’s kingdom.
We used to do something in past years and we kind of drifted away from it, but I want to revive it. We used to share occasions of grace -- people acting for God in the world – things we’d notice during the week that remind us that all kinds of people are out there doing good things – maybe consciously doing them for God – maybe just doing it because good things are good things ... Here’s a couple of examples. I wasn’t looking for them, I just heard one while watching the evening news and one on my car radio while driving home:
1. 5 year anniversary of Miracle on the Hudson - Dave Sanderson, last passenger off the plane, while rescued focused on the Red Cross blankets everyone was wrapped in – and was so moved that he has spent past 5 yrs raising money for Red Cross – more than $7 million – in his spare time.
2. Beth Heckel - went to Uganda to visit daughter, discovered people dying there of malaria - heard about bed nets - $5 - easy for us, impossible for those living there. Came home, founded Think Humanity and so far has distributed more than 30,000 bed nets, grown to dig wells and build health clinics.
People doing good things -- not for praise or wealth, but just because they are needful to be done. As the UCC sermon site offers this week in this quote from author Stephen King: "If God gives you something you can do, why in God's name wouldn't you do it?"
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