Proper 9
Worship
Aids To The Psalms
Give ear to my words, O Lord;
give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry.
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.
The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house,
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
Alternate Image
The Singer's sophisticated cousin comes for a visit. He tells story after story about his clever exploits. He tells the Singer about how he bamboozled a business competitor in a lucrative land deal. He brags about how he manipulates his taxes so he has very little to pay and at the same time how he connives to use government money for business and personal gain. The cousin boasts about his many affairs and how his wife has never had a hint of his peccadilloes. He laughs at the charity worker who came to his home for a donation and who he conned into giving money to him for a fictitious charity. He crows about the tenement houses he has profited by collecting rents while making no improvements in years and then how he kicked the tenants out and demolished them to create expensive condominiums. Tale follows tale about his exploitation of the land and the people. The cousin turns proudly to the Singer and says, "Won't God be proud of me for my cunning, my skill, my self-sufficiency, my craftiness and my exploits?" The Singer looks at him and replies, "No!"
Reflection
There are times when we delight in putting one over on somebody, when we made a real "deal." Children are often elated when they tell of some mischief of theirs that has gone undetected. In sports we praise the player who successfully breaks the rules but doesn't get caught. At times, we idealize outlaws in stories and movies. We tend to measure success by the ends and forget the means. Who do we impress with this behavior? Certainly not God. These are the things that remove us from God's presence, that separate us from God. These are the things that destroy us. The greatest victims of exploitation are the exploiters. Because God loves us, God does not want us involved in such destructive behavior but calls us to faithfulness. God hates sinners and so God sent us the Christ to eradicate our sin in order that God might love us. That is something to brag about.
give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry.
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.
The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house,
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
Alternate Image
The Singer's sophisticated cousin comes for a visit. He tells story after story about his clever exploits. He tells the Singer about how he bamboozled a business competitor in a lucrative land deal. He brags about how he manipulates his taxes so he has very little to pay and at the same time how he connives to use government money for business and personal gain. The cousin boasts about his many affairs and how his wife has never had a hint of his peccadilloes. He laughs at the charity worker who came to his home for a donation and who he conned into giving money to him for a fictitious charity. He crows about the tenement houses he has profited by collecting rents while making no improvements in years and then how he kicked the tenants out and demolished them to create expensive condominiums. Tale follows tale about his exploitation of the land and the people. The cousin turns proudly to the Singer and says, "Won't God be proud of me for my cunning, my skill, my self-sufficiency, my craftiness and my exploits?" The Singer looks at him and replies, "No!"
Reflection
There are times when we delight in putting one over on somebody, when we made a real "deal." Children are often elated when they tell of some mischief of theirs that has gone undetected. In sports we praise the player who successfully breaks the rules but doesn't get caught. At times, we idealize outlaws in stories and movies. We tend to measure success by the ends and forget the means. Who do we impress with this behavior? Certainly not God. These are the things that remove us from God's presence, that separate us from God. These are the things that destroy us. The greatest victims of exploitation are the exploiters. Because God loves us, God does not want us involved in such destructive behavior but calls us to faithfulness. God hates sinners and so God sent us the Christ to eradicate our sin in order that God might love us. That is something to brag about.
