The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
3rd Sunday after Epiphany, YearB
Psalm 62
Look at the picture the Psalmist has of himself: He has enemies out to destroy him!
“To them I’m just a broken down wall or a tottering fence.”
It also seems this is a high wall or a high fence because he says,
“They plan to topple me from my high position.”
Sitting on top of a high and tottering fence would be a scary position to be in. It would be easy to topple such a person.
Maybe he holds a top position in society that is very well paid. In verse 10 he says,
“Don’t try to get rich by extortion or robbery.
And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the centre of your life.”
We have all heard of the “tall poppy syndrome”. There’s always someone who wants someone else’s wealth or social standing or position of power. How can people in high positions ever get a good night’s sleep? They must have nerves of steel.
Perhaps the psalmist is a politician? Luther suggests it is David who grew up in the court of King Saul and saw lots of corruption at the top. There is the old saying, “One day a rooster, and the next day a feather duster.” One day sitting pretty on a high fence and the next day lying in the gutter. One week resting on the top of a high wall and the next week lying on the footpath like a piece of human junk ready for the garbage truck to cart away.
Someone else will take his place. They can’t wait. While they are polite to his face they spread innuendo and gossip behind his back to undermine his authority. They are two faced. In verse four the Scripture says,
“They plan to topple me from my high position. They delight in telling lies about me. They are friendly to my face, but they curse me in their hearts.”
Plenty of people believe this man at the top has got it made. He has the answer to life! They have that goal for their children. Others buy lottery tickets in the hope it will be their life’s answer if they could win. Some take short cuts like extortion or even robbery.
But there are others who have been there sitting on top of the high fence and it was such a bad experience they walked away. They had been there and done all that. They headed for the bush, or took a lowly part time job so they could be home with the children, and spend more valuable time with their life partner. To simply enjoy nature, God’s great gift, and work in the garden, or go camping and live each day closer to God. They gave up the positions of power other people lust after.
The Psalmist is no fool. He sees himself in relation to God. There are two points in today’s psalm where he compares the power of people to God’s power:
- “From the greatest to the lowliest people – all are nothing in his [God’s] sight. If you weigh them on the scales they are lighter than a puff of air.”
If one could put all the fat cats and the skinny ones, as well as all the world’s leaders on God’s scales of power and importance, they wouldn’t register anything- not even as much as a mere puff of wind.One’s position in life and one’s wealth might impress people. Such people are regularly in the news and on T V but they are nothing in God’s eyes: not even a speck of dust or a handful of ashes.
And in verse 5, the Psalmist looks to God for both safety and importance.
2. “I wait quietly before God for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honour come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.”
Instead of sitting on top of a tottering fence that his enemies can shake and bring him down, he is now sitting on top of a solid rock, like Uluru, for example. His enemies can’t move it, shake it or topple it. Life with God is like living on top of such a rock. Trusting Jesus Christ for protection and salvation is as sure as sitting on Uluru.
The Psalmist also uses the picture of a fortress: a huge castle like structure large enough to shelter hundreds of people. In Biblical times the greatest place for safety was the castle. We tend to think of castles as huge mansions but these old castles consisted of fortified walls surroundingacres of land to shelter animals, store food and provide living quarters for hundreds of people. To have a position in the family of God is like living inside the safety of a castle in Biblical days.
Martin Luther’s commentary on this psalm says the following:
“A Prime Minister’s job is to keep peace in the Country. But don’t trust one for the future! Trust God for peace of heart and mind.”
Trusting a Prime Minister in place of God is like exchanging gold for manure.
“Manure has its uses, but if it is palmed off as gold it is worthless. This Psalm is talking only about faith, trust, confidence, reliance, - all terms that are too sublime to apply to Prime Ministers and other human beings.”
This does not mean that Christians should not hold top positions! But it does mean that an important and highly paid job should be seen as a special opportunity for service to the community. And the Christian in such a position needs to rely on God and not themselves.
Jesus never held a top position. Yet he is the one who ultimately holds all power. He uses it to reach out in love to people who are on shaky perches, ready to fall. His grace catches them and enfolds them in his loving care. He holds them as safe and caringly as a shepherd holds a lamb in the safety of his arms.
Ultimately God is the one who holds all power. His greatest power is love.
Amen
[26.1.03]
1