Did some reflection Psalm 91 today with some fellow pastors. We are using the Psalms as Lenten texts for this season using a series put together by Prof. Carl Bosma of Calvin Seminary.
For the preachers among us, our group generally uses the "Four Pages" method suggested by Paul Scott Wilson's Book, "The Four Pages of a Sermon: A Guide to Biblical Preaching" as a rubric to help get the discussion started.
One of the "problems" that one of the pastors suggested is that when we encounter the text is that we sometimes have "unrealistic expectations of God" in regards to the potential troubles of life.
I wonder,is it unrealistic to have high expectations of God?
Personally, I don't want to have low expectations of God. I expect healing, safety, and protection. Yet, there are times I do realize that I won't receive it. When this happens, I don't automatically think God has failed me or my expectations. Instead, I am confronted with a new issue--God's will. The question isn't whether God has the power to heal, protect, or save. The question is how does my experience or life fit within his greater will and plan?
Where then is the comfort or grace in this text? I have some more study to do, but unless I find some more surprises, I think the answer is found that our lives have meaning beyond the grave. We are protected from eternal death. We are spared and saved from eternal injury. We are rescued by Jesus Christ. We are, as the Psalm says, "shown salvation."
Eternal comfort. Sounds good to me. However, today I am healthy and well. I don't want "health and wealth" bullarkey (my new word for the day), but I want Psalm 91 to mean something when I have a checkup at the doctor or when I prepare to leave on a long trip. I don't want to have low expectations for God's protection today.
Still wrestling with that.
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1 comment:
I read Ps. 91 on my first pastoral visit ever during my summer assigment at First GR. The lovely old couple nodded along, and when I had finished it, he (Clarence) cleared his throat and said, "That's nice. But I still don't understand why we do things like fall and break bones..." (or something to that effect). Looking back, I think Clarence may have been messing with the new guy a bit. But I'm also certain he was expressing an honest question many of us have. (I'm apparently a slow learner. On my next internship--in January of 2005--I read it to a woman in the hosptial. She raised the stakes from Clarence but got at the same issue. "But what about all those people who died in the Tsunami?").
Even with those experiences, I still read this Psalm to people. From what I gather (as a person who has not had to suffer much), people often experience its truth in a rich way even when they can't understand it all and how it plays out in their lives. (Or if they aren't "experiencing" it in a way they can sense, they want to be reminded that its still true). Its no small thing to know/be reminded you're in the care of God (even if you'd prefer he show that care in a little different way).
Let me know how this turns out for you...
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