“Telling it like it is”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Psalm 92 (Forward, p. 60) CEV p. 612
Noted American actor Jack Nicholson famously said, in the 1992 movie, ‘A Few Good Men’: “Truth, you can’t handle the truth.” I have the sense that sometimes the designers of the lectionary readings have the same idea, in that they have often edited out what parts of Scripture readings will be set forth for a particular Sunday. Thus, the designers of the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer deleted from the Psalter those sections that were judged to be too negative or too violent. I notice that those responsible for the American Book of Common Prayer (xxx) have done the same thing, choosing only verses 1-4 and 11-15 as the psalm reading for today. (The omitted verses, verses 5-10, are included as ‘optional.’)
The psalm, when looked at in its entirety, does ‘tell it like it is.’ As Jack Nicholson points out, it gives us the truth, whether we can handle it or not. There are, in our world, dullards and ignorant folks who simply will never know or understand. And yes, there are certainly those that we might describe as ‘the wicked’ or ‘workers of iniquity’, people that, for a short time anyway, seem to sprout and grow up and flourish like weeds. That is a sad truth, a sad truth about the reality of the world in which we live. That is ‘telling it like it is.’
But, as the psalm also tells us, this is not the whole story. These people have a ‘short shelf life’, in spite of how things may seem at this present instance. These folks will perish and God’s people will be exalted. They will prosper like psalm trees planted by water courses or like the famous cedars of Lebanon. Like these trees, they will remain healthy and fruitful even in their old age. And why is that? It is in order to show how upright God is and how faithful He is in protecting and caring for His people. That is the truth behind even the studied nastiness and hardship that we often find all too abundant in our world. God can be trusted, even in the midst of all this. That is ‘telling it like it is.’ Amen.
Forward notes: “For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands” (verse 4).
“Sometimes, when I am not in the healthiest space, I want to list and receive recognition for all my hard work. Guess who washed all the dishes, by hand? Guess who sorted and washed and folded the laundry—in fact, guess who also put it all away? The list goes on, as does my need for recognition when the work that I do feels unseen at best and unappreciated at worst.
“While encouraging (and recognizing) one another certainly goes a long way, the tables are turned when I read the psalmist’s words: ‘For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD.’ Too often, I neglect to see God’s work in the world around me. Nose to the grindstone, I don’t notice the miracle of new life sprouting in the middle of winter; I don’t marvel at a young child learning to read for the first time. I forget that God is in the resurrection business, working to bring new life all over the world.
“And when I begin to see it this way, ‘I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.’ Might our eyes be open to see.”
Moving Forward: “How is God at work all around you?”
