Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 21 (June 19, 2025)

June 19, 2025:  Thursday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 21

Blessings and Peace be with you today in this extreme heat. I pray that you can find a comfortable place to stay inside as the heat moves up to 114 according to the weather forecasters. Please pray for the people who have no choice about being outside, especially the homeless in our community. In the past several days Melody and I have helped homeless people. Their names are Richard and Tommy. Also pray for Jeff who is battling cancer. He is traveling to Colorado to have some time with his daughter Shannon who is married to our Joshua. I hope that in these difficult times in our nation that we never forget why Israel lost its place and its land. The Old Testament is clear. The message of the Old Testament prophets was clear, and I might add, unheeded. Their failure to care for the orphan, widow, and resident alien with God's justice, comfort, and peace, was the cause of their destruction. God's truth for us has not changed. We too bear the responsibility to guarantee these realities in everyone’s lives. I come from an immigrant family, like I suspect you do too, unless you are indigenous to this land we call home. My family immigrated to Michigan before it was a state, during the upheaval of the Civil War, I knew the first generation of those who were born in Michigan. They came from poverty and famine to make a better life for themselves. They became lumber jacks and built the church that I grew up in, and they settled in cohesive neighborhoods on the shore of Lake Michigan. They came for a new life, and like so many that have come to the United States today, they were not criminals, but hard working, faithful Christian, people who sailed here for the promise of a better life. Regardless of faith traditions, when we deny the rights of these new immigrants, not the criminal ones, but the ones here for their children and for a chance at the abundant life, the blessings of God for all people,  then we must ask,  "Where is our faith when we support the wholesale removal of children, families, of good people?"  I know what Jesus would say to us. Aren't we fortunate to have His forgiveness for our failure as His children?

How interesting that our Psalm today is about receiving God's blessings and being God’s blessing. Though this Psalm is about David, and the king's blessings from God, here we use our discernment which is a gift of the Spirit, so that we might think about our own relationship with God, and what this Psalm has to say to all people of faith.  First let me say that this is not the excuse of the King to be only a blessing to the people of Israel, because it is truly the LORD'S desire for the leaders of faithfulness to be that blessing to all people. Yes, I know that we could go to another Psalm and discover some texts that indicate that the king who is to be a blessing has the authority from God to destroy others. That is not really what this Psalm is about. This Psalm does not take the position that the king (or that we) should take the initiative to act to safeguard God's purpose in the world. When we do that, we act, and sometimes claim, that we have the power to safeguard the One who is the master of creation, the Redeemer and Sustainer of all life. Can we really be so bold as to make such claims about God needing us if He is going to succeed?!  When the king of Israel in the Old Testament is out keeping his nation safe, keeping its boundaries fixed, and displaying his confidence in the presence of the One who has called him to Faith, the example of God's rich blessing is evidenced in the King's very life.  The greater purpose of the King receiving God's blessing is that others may see the reality of this blessing, and by it, be blessed themselves. This really helps us to understand that having received the LORD'S blessing, we are to allow that blessing to become, by its example for those around us, a powerful blessing for us all. David knows that he alone cannot act to bless all people. First, he is flawed, and despite that, he loves God, even when David is punished for his error in his relationship with Bathsheba. David's faith does not falter when he realizes that in that circumstance, he has not been an example of the LORD'S blessing. His reconciliation with God even strengthens his faith in God's blessings. When David returns from his work as king of Israel, which may include being at war with the enemies of his nation, and with those who have no relationship with God, this Psalm tells us that God goes out to meet David with blessings, long life, abundant good in all things, and more.  This Psalm indicates that David is a blessing because of God's blessing in his life. This is just like Abraham in Genesis 12. He too is told that he will be a blessing, though it will not be by every action that he takes, it will be because Abraham has responded to the blessing of an heir late in his life, and he will live with joy and peace in this blessing of God.  Can you tell who has these blessings in their lives, not because they directly bless you with the "things" of life, but instead by their response to God's grace which has surrounded them and enters your own life as you know them and their faith in the promises of God?  At the Synod Assembly last week, I had a chance to speak with Pastor Mateo, the pastor of San Juan Bautista on Tucson's south side. He inspired me with the courage, faith, and blessing of San Juan's members. Attendance has been tough there since ICE and the Border Patrol have been given the right to enter houses of worship to make arrests. The attendance has rebounded because the members have said they must live their lives of faith. What courage! What a blessing for us all! The power of faith in God's blessing and grace!

Like the prophets of the Old Testament, prophecy is a gift of the Spirit, and often not one which people want in their lives because the message they bring is always challenging to the way we would like things to be. I have been struggling lately with that call to speak God's Truth in the face of what is happening in our nation. To do so is not easy. My dreams of the last four or five months have been troubled. I have come to know them as a message from God for my life. I know that to serve the Gospel is my call. That alone is challenging in our modern difficult world, but I must also discern how prophecy fits as I proclaim God's generosity in our midst at American.

With love for you all in Christ, Pastor Kim