Psalm 118
“Enduring Love”
August 23, 2020
We do it sometimes blindly or even foolishly. We do it optimistically. And when times have changed, so has it.
I’m talking about trust. One definition of trust is “the firm belief in the character, strength or truth of someone or something.” A definition I like even better is “a feeling of security which comes through reliance on something.”
Throughout history until about the mid-1800s trust was built on close-knit relationships. If I lived in a village, where I would most likely know and/or be related to the vast majority of my fellow villagers and I needed to borrow some money, I would borrow it from someone I know for whom I would not be much of a risk to lend to as I would most likely pay it back as expected because my reputation would be on the line. There was an accountability built into that trust.
Once populations grew and more folks lived in large cities and spread out towns, major corporations flourished. It was more likely than not that folks would have to start trusting institutions although I know that didn’t happen with my maternal grandparents who only kept a single savings account and never had a credit card and my grandmother lived that way until her death in 2007. Most folks felt they had no choice but to trust commercial organizations but not without things like contracts and insurance and regulations. Sadly, many institutions that were trusted have broken that trust. I watched the movie Spotlight again recently and was reminded how the trust that many have in hallowed institutions like the Church can be shattered.
Now we’ve moved to trusting each other in new ways. Have any of you ever taken an Uber (I realize you would have had to go somewhere else to do that). You are trusting that a total stranger will get you safely to your destination and the driver has to trust that you are not a serial killer Some of us have stayed at Airbnb’s here in the U.S. or even in another country. In fact, last summer there were over 10,000 guests who arrived and stayed in Bennington County Airbnb’s. That’s a lot of trust – both on the guests’ part but especially on the hosts who open their homes to a whole bunch of strangers.
This individual psalm of Thanksgiving today is filled with praise for God. Here the psalmist talks about being under attack and desperate to escape. He thought he was done for. What he does in his desperation is cry out to God and God answers him. Crying out to God meant he trusted that God would be there and God’s enduring love would continue.
Elaine read the English Standard Version of this Psalm today which talks about God as a helper who makes it possible to give the stink eye to those who hate the writer. Taking refuge in God, it says is better than trusting in man or princes. Eugene Peterson’s interpretation is even more colorful in The Message:
God’s my strong champion;
I flick off my enemies like flies.
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in people;
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in celebrities.
Trust is spoken of in many places throughout Scripture and when it’s trust in God it is presented positively, such as in Psalm 56, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” or in Psalm 22, where the Psalmist offers “In you, God, our ancestors trusted, and you delivered them.” But when the trust is placed in something besides God it’s spoken of negatively such as in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; Don’t trust on your own understanding.”
Are we then to live a life of skepticism and worry over placing our trust in other people or even ourselves? What happens when we can’t trust those around us or when we feel we are not being trusted by others? What is your reaction? So often we want people to be what we need them to be. Could that need for a sense of security open us to trust in God more?
We are being called to trust in God and love each other. No easy task and definitely the work of a lifetime. Today’s a good day to recommit to such trust – the security we get from relying on our ever-present God. And the way we act on that trust is to love each other and to act on that love by taking good care of each other.
Let us pray then these words from Joyce Rupp:
There is nothing temporary about you, O God
Nothing shallow about the endless depths
Of your being. Nothing brief about the extent
Of your longevity. You are. You will be.
Always and forever. For us, with us, among us.
Constant. Sustaining. Enduring. Unending.
And you promise to each one of us a life
Forever united with the richness of yours.
How could we ask for anything more?
Why would we want anything less?
Amen.
(Rupp, Joyce, Fragments of Your Ancient Name, 1/12/17 prayer)