Easter 7
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land.
-- Psalm 68:6
The context from which you listen to a psalm can completely alter your response to it. If you hear this psalm from a position of comfort in the world, there seems to be a certain vindictiveness to its celebration. "As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy." If you hear this psalm from a condition of poverty and powerlessness, having felt the sting of injustice many times, there is an anticipation of a reversal in fortune that has scarcely been dreamed of. "God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land." This image of God who caused a reversal of fortunes in the world was consistent with Israel's memory of how they began as a people when they were slaves in Egypt. At that time, God met every enemy and protected his people. "O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel ... your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy."
For Christians, this psalm recalls the Magnificat in which Mary welcomed the coming birth of Jesus. "He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty." Perhaps both passages remind us that God is not pleased with the way the world deals with the needy and that we endanger our soul when we become too comfortable with the way things are.
-- Psalm 68:6
The context from which you listen to a psalm can completely alter your response to it. If you hear this psalm from a position of comfort in the world, there seems to be a certain vindictiveness to its celebration. "As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy." If you hear this psalm from a condition of poverty and powerlessness, having felt the sting of injustice many times, there is an anticipation of a reversal in fortune that has scarcely been dreamed of. "God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land." This image of God who caused a reversal of fortunes in the world was consistent with Israel's memory of how they began as a people when they were slaves in Egypt. At that time, God met every enemy and protected his people. "O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel ... your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy."
For Christians, this psalm recalls the Magnificat in which Mary welcomed the coming birth of Jesus. "He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty." Perhaps both passages remind us that God is not pleased with the way the world deals with the needy and that we endanger our soul when we become too comfortable with the way things are.
