“Response-ability”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, September 7, 2023
Psalm 37:1-17 (Forward, p. 40) CEV p. 576
It is something that can probably be stated with some certainty within the realm of human relations and human dynamics that what really matters is not the original deed or word but rather how one reacts or responds to it. This word or deed may, to all intents and purposes, be nasty or demeaning or hurtful, but if one shakes it off ‘like water off a duck’s back’ (to use an old expression) and refuses to let it ‘take hold’, then that word or deed will have much less impact in our lives. Now, that is not to say that this will be easy, or that we will be immune from its destructive effects—no way—but certainly they will be minimized.
It is this sort of thing that today’s psalm touches on. In the psalmist’s world sin and sinners abound, and much to his disgust and dismay, they seem to go unpunished. Everything seems to go well for them. And, what is worse, is that this isn’t just ordinary ‘garden-variety’ sin: some of what is going on is really quite nasty:
“Merciless people make plots against good people and snarl like animals” (verse 12);
“The wicked kill with swords and shoot arrows to murder the poor and needy and all who do right” (verse 14);
Given all this, it would be so easy to be annoyed or envy them (verse 1), to let all this bother you (verse 7) or to be angry and furious over it (verse 8). However, the psalmist counsels us to none of the above. Instead, he tells us to:
-trust in the Lord and live right (verse 3);
-do what the Lord wants (verse 4);
-let the Lord lead you and trust him to help (verse 5);
-be patient and trust the Lord (verse 7)
And the outcome of all this? “They [the wrongdoers] will soon disappear like grass without rain” (verse 2). “The land will be yours and you will be safe” (verse 3b). “He [God] will give you your heart’s desire” (verse 4b). “Sinners will soon disappear, never to be found, but the poor will take the
land and enjoy a big harvest” (verses 10-11). “The Lord laughs and knows that their time [the merciless people who make plots] is coming soon” (verse 13). “They [the wicked in verse 14] will be killed by their own swords, and their arrows will be broken” (verse 15). “The wicked will lose all of their power, but the Lord gives strength to everyone who is good” (verse 17).
The bottom line is that God is just and will set everything to right. The wicked will meet their just fate and the righteous will be rewarded. However, there is just one catch to all this. The righteous must not take all this nastiness to heart, nor let it sully them or drag them down. (It would be so easy to lapse in depression or resentment, or to figure ‘what’s the use’ of trying to do what is right. It would be so easy to say to oneself, “I might as well just give in and do what everyone else is doing for what it is doing me trying to be above all this.”) But, according to our psalmist this isn’t the best response, the best way to be response-able. No, they are to simply trust God and continue doing what they know to be God’s will.
Forward notes: “For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land” (verse 10).
“For most of my life, I’ve viewed the message of Psalm 37 as a mash-up of the tortoise and the hare fable and David versus Goliath: the underdog’s faithfulness and righteousness will eventually triumph over mighty wickedness. As we face a global climate-crisis, however, this psalm strikes a different chord for me.
“Five times the psalmist predicts that certain people ‘shall possess the land.’ But what does possessing the land mean when human beings have devastated so much on this planet? What do we do with a psalm that celebrates land as a hopeful gift in an ecological emergency?
“in her book Biblical Prophecy, Ellen Davis argues that God’s relationship with the Israelites also involves the land as a third participant. If loving God and neighbour also requires loving the land, as Davis suggests, then this psalm’s advocacy of justice and generosity among people lights a path for practicing the same with the earth.”
Moving Forward: “Consider one tangible way that you can ‘possess the land.’ Implement that loving action today.”