Proper 17 / Pentecost 15 / Ordinary Time 22
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
I would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.
-- Psalm 81:16
This psalm reminds us of a central feature of Israel's faith that has been preserved in the Christian faith as well. The center of both Israel's life and that of Christians is worship. It is in worship that we reaffirm our central identity. Psalm 81 is a call to praise by the entire worshiping community. "Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob." It is in worship that we reaffirm our allegiance to God who has called us forth as a people. A principle way that we do that is by a liturgy that engages us in remembering the history of God who has repeatedly heard the cry of the people (vv. 5-7a). It is also in worship that we hear God appealing to us afresh (v. 8) and reminding us of the misplaced priorities that have become gods for us (v. 9). It is by remembering how God has been faithful to God's people and to us as individuals that we are given courage to face the future. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it." It is also by the memory rehearsed in worship that we are reminded of the consequence of our failure to listen to God in our past (vv. 11-12). Out of that memory comes an appeal to renewed faithfulness. "O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!"
Without regular worship, which re-members us as a community with God and each other, we quickly forget and succumb to a world that resists God. The final line of this prayer reminds us of the desire of God to care for us. "I would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." The proleptic image of this messianic banquet in the future is preserved for us in the communion meal, which is also a living memory.
-- Psalm 81:16
This psalm reminds us of a central feature of Israel's faith that has been preserved in the Christian faith as well. The center of both Israel's life and that of Christians is worship. It is in worship that we reaffirm our central identity. Psalm 81 is a call to praise by the entire worshiping community. "Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob." It is in worship that we reaffirm our allegiance to God who has called us forth as a people. A principle way that we do that is by a liturgy that engages us in remembering the history of God who has repeatedly heard the cry of the people (vv. 5-7a). It is also in worship that we hear God appealing to us afresh (v. 8) and reminding us of the misplaced priorities that have become gods for us (v. 9). It is by remembering how God has been faithful to God's people and to us as individuals that we are given courage to face the future. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it." It is also by the memory rehearsed in worship that we are reminded of the consequence of our failure to listen to God in our past (vv. 11-12). Out of that memory comes an appeal to renewed faithfulness. "O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!"
Without regular worship, which re-members us as a community with God and each other, we quickly forget and succumb to a world that resists God. The final line of this prayer reminds us of the desire of God to care for us. "I would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." The proleptic image of this messianic banquet in the future is preserved for us in the communion meal, which is also a living memory.
