⁴ I do not sit with the worthless,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites;
⁵ I hate the company of evildoers,
    and will not sit with the wicked.

⁶ I wash my hands in innocence,
    and go around your altar, O Lord,
⁷ singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
    and telling all your wondrous deeds.

⁸ O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
    and the place where your glory abides.
⁹ Do not sweep me away with sinners,
    nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
¹⁰ those in whose hands are evil devices,
    and whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹ But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
¹² My foot stands on level ground;
in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;
    our lips are our own—who is our master?”

⁵ “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
    I will now rise up,” says the Lord;
    “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
⁶ The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
    silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will protect us;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among humankind.

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
⁶ The Lord protects the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest,
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸ For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
⁹ I walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁰ I kept my faith, even when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹ I said in my consternation,
    “Everyone is a liar.”

¹² What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
¹⁶ O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Reflection
Once again, the psalm seems to be able to speak to us even though we are separated by so many hundreds of years.  The poem reminds us of what it is to live in troubling times.  The psalmist writes,”I kept my faith even when I said I was greatly afflicted. I kept my faith even when I was crying; when I didn’t know where to turn or what to do; when I didn’t trust anyone.” Yet through the very trying time he declares he walks before the Lord in the land of the living.  IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. O to find that path to that place!

For some of us, living through this pandemic and time of political upheaval is truly a dark and difficult time.  There are many reasons for that, and we should not be ashamed for the distress, anxiety, grief, and even anger or depression we feel.  For others of us, we are not as afflicted.  Perhaps our lives are not as disrupted, our spirits not as anguished.  No matter where we are on the spectrum of emotion and experience during this great disruption, we may all pray for deliverance, for mercy, for protection, and for our faith to be real.  For those of us who are feeling as if the “snares of death” encompass us or “the pangs of Sheol” lay hold of us, I pray that you not get lost in the grip of Sheol, but remember the cup of salvation in the psalm and at the communion table.  May others hold your hand as you walk through that shadow and step into the land of the living.  May those of us who are less distressed remember those who are struggling and walk with them, not to shame or judge them for their troubled spirits, but to accompany them in prayer and love.  May we all come to a place of peace and comfort.

⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre.
⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds,
    prepares rain for the earth,
    makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹ He gives to the animals their food,
    and to the young ravens when they cry.
¹⁰ His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;^[a]
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Prayer:
Today is a day when we need to hope in your steadfast love, O God.  We hear the words of this psalm and know you care for the downtrodden and broken-hearted.  We bring our concerns to you today.  We pray for ourselves and for others as we all pray for your comfort and care.  Today we pray for healing for those who are ill…..
jobs for those who are unemployed….
love for those who are lonely…
reconnection for those who are separated from their families and friends…
hope for those who are depressed….
(other concerns on your heart…)

We thank you for hearing our prayers.  We thank you for holding us close to you.  We thank you for your church which connects us to others and to your son.  Amen.

³ Do not drag me away with the wicked,
    with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors,
    while mischief is in their hearts.
⁴ Repay them according to their work,
    and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
    render them their due reward.
⁵ Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
    or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.

⁸ The Lord is the strength of his people;
    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
⁹ O save your people, and bless your heritage;
    be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

Prayer:
To you, o Lord, we call.  Hear our cries of help.
We do not want to be judged as wicked. We do not want to participate in evil, but we want you to deliver us from it.  Open our eyes to those times when our actions, our beliefs, our words, or anything else in our character goes against your will. Open our hearts to those times when we say the right things to people but turn around and do what is harmful to those same neighbors.  Help us to tear down those things in our world which are testaments to evil deeds, and help us to build up those things which are signs of your blessing. Be our strength and our wisdom.  Amen.

⁵ God has gone up with a shout,
    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷ For God is the king of all the earth;
    sing praises with a psalm.^[a]

⁸ God is king over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
⁹ The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted.

Reflection
When I read this psalm, a song from my childhood comes rushing back.  We used to sing it at summer camp and in Sunday School.  “Clap your hands, all ye people.  Shout unto God with a voice of triumph.  Clap your hands, all ye people.  Shout unto God with a voice of praise.  Hosanna!…”. That tune will be fixed in my mind throughout the day now.  And that’s ok.  There are times when we need to have those childhood songs or those first memory verses resurface to remind us how deep our faith goes.  I find myself resting in the peace of a faith taught to me by those saints who have gone before.  What a gift I, and many of us, have received because someone shared faith with us, taught us to sing, taught us memory verses, led us through the rituals of baptism and communion.  I am thankful for those faithful saints who taught me to sing and clap my hands.

Prayer
Everlasting father,  we offer thanks for those who have gone before us, who lived their faith honestly and with commitment.  We offer thanks for what they have taught us by example.  We know we have stepped into their shoes and now live as an example for others, seeking your grace, and living our discipleship.  Help us to grow in the areas in which we need help, and help us to share our strengths to help us others.  Help us, today, to remember the old lessons of our faith which have shaped us and led us to where we are today.  Help us to rely on you as we continue to grow in our faith.  Thank you for giving us time and opportunity to grow.  Amen.

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
¹⁵     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
¹⁷ How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end^[a]—I am still with you.

¹⁹ O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
    and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
²⁰ those who speak of you maliciously,
    and lift themselves up against you for evil!^[b]
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
²² I hate them with perfect hatred;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any wicked^[c]way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.^[d]

Prayer

You have made this day, Almighty God. Help us to live into your grace as the day unfolds. You have loved us beyond imagination. Help us to love our neighbors. You stand with those who are lonely, grieving, outcast, and in poverty. Help us to stand with you and with those in need. We offer thanks for your many blessings including….       We offer prayers for those people and issues weighing on our hearts….  Amen.

⁵ Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
    your judgments are like the great deep;
    you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.

⁷ How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
⁹ For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light.

¹⁰ O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
¹¹ Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the evildoers lie prostrate;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.