Psalm 13
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
Certainty is rarely to be trusted. When it comes to human community, to politics, to cooking, and yes, to religion, certainty is best kept at a distance. A healthy respect for ambiguity is often helpful in these and other areas of life.
In human community it's best to lean into flexibility, making allowances, offering forgiveness, and creating space for people to grow and change.
In politics, certainty is often the enemy of truth and justice. A mind made up and unchangeable is not the mind of a good leader. It is, rather, the closed and concretized nature of an ideologue. Situations and people change. Leaders should reflect that.
In cooking, improvisation breeds invention, and invention results in wonderful gourmet delights. Recipes were not meant to be followed like some map to a destination. No, recipes were meant to be accompanied by loving creativity and experimentation. How else would the hundreds if not thousands of new cookbooks published each year be possible?
And religion? Certainty in this arena can be lethal, especially if that certainty is foisted off on others. It's all right to be certain about one's own beliefs and faith. It's all right, as this psalm clearly illustrates, to place your complete trust in the God of Israel. But if we are unable to allow for that same certainty in others who may see the holy in a different light, trouble is likely to emerge.
Personally, this writer likes certainty. It makes things easy. The clarity it gives provides purpose and direction. This is all good and wonderful. Yet it can go horribly wrong if that clarity and purpose drives over the clarity and purpose of someone else, knocking it flat in the process.
So let us sing with this psalmist! Let us join in our shared trust in God's steadfast love. And as we do this, let us leave room for grace, for flexibility, and for just a little ambiguity in our lives and in our faith.
In human community it's best to lean into flexibility, making allowances, offering forgiveness, and creating space for people to grow and change.
In politics, certainty is often the enemy of truth and justice. A mind made up and unchangeable is not the mind of a good leader. It is, rather, the closed and concretized nature of an ideologue. Situations and people change. Leaders should reflect that.
In cooking, improvisation breeds invention, and invention results in wonderful gourmet delights. Recipes were not meant to be followed like some map to a destination. No, recipes were meant to be accompanied by loving creativity and experimentation. How else would the hundreds if not thousands of new cookbooks published each year be possible?
And religion? Certainty in this arena can be lethal, especially if that certainty is foisted off on others. It's all right to be certain about one's own beliefs and faith. It's all right, as this psalm clearly illustrates, to place your complete trust in the God of Israel. But if we are unable to allow for that same certainty in others who may see the holy in a different light, trouble is likely to emerge.
Personally, this writer likes certainty. It makes things easy. The clarity it gives provides purpose and direction. This is all good and wonderful. Yet it can go horribly wrong if that clarity and purpose drives over the clarity and purpose of someone else, knocking it flat in the process.
So let us sing with this psalmist! Let us join in our shared trust in God's steadfast love. And as we do this, let us leave room for grace, for flexibility, and for just a little ambiguity in our lives and in our faith.
