Psalm 46
The God of Jacob is our stronghold
46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,
46:3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
46:4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
46:5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
46:6 The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice; the earth melts.
46:7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
46:8 Come, behold the works of the LORD; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
46:9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth."
46:11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
It was a TV show from 1961 to 1963. Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne starred as two, somewhat aloof New York police officers patrolling in Car 54. For those of you interested in such things, regulars on the show included two African American actors who would go on to bigger and better things—Nipsey Russell and Ossie Davis—as well as Al Lewis, who would later play Grandpa Munster to Fred Gwynne’s Herman. Since it was a comedy, the standard plotline was that the bumbling officers would get a case, which they, well, bumbled, but eventually stumbled into solving, before the episode’s end. It was a few notches above “My Mother, the Car,” with Gwynne’s Officer Muldoon character being a bit bookish (he actually had a college degree) AND given that the show did feature regular African American actors who weren’t stumblebums, and who didn’t have to tap dance. The title of the show, “Car 54, Where Are You?” telegraphed the central plotline, that Car 54 was often nowhere to be found when the trouble started.
God can be like that. This simple statement will elicit a plethora of reactions, I’m sure. Some of you will jump on it, proclaiming that God is ALWAYS present, and watching over the welfare of God’s people. God just doesn’t always do things the way WE want them done. Others—especially persons who have been through some hellacious experience—may quickly agree, namely that God is absent when the trouble starts. They may backfill with a consolation affirmation, that God DID show up just in the nick of time, “stumbling” into being helpful, in some way, especially if they feel the resolution to their crisis was positive. I guess we will never know how those folks who didn’t make it through their catastrophe felt about God’s intervention, or lack thereof. Speak to someone who claims to be a “nonbeliever,” and you will often find at the root of their lack of faith is a story about a time when they, or a loved one, needed God’s intervention, and none came. You can see how they could draw the “there is no God” conclusion, can’t you? At the very least, it appears God can be rather selective of when to interject Godself into our situations; some might even say, random. What are we to make of this silence on the other end of the “police radio” when calling for help?
Let’s look at Psalm 46. It begins with a subtitle added by a commentator, “The God of Jacob is our stronghold.” This isn’t much of an endorsement, in my opinion. Jacob was such a conniving scoundrel, that if he and Yahweh were so tight, I’d be more weary of Yahweh. Discounting this “subtitle,” let’s look at the text. The very first verse of the psalm is what led to this message’s subject: Is God indeed a “very present help in trouble”? During a discussion in one of his movies about his own lack of faith, actor/director Woody Allen questioned, “My God, my God, what has Thou done LATELY?” It’s easy for our theology to postulate God as the “unmoved mover” of the early American deists, sitting high in God’s heaven, watching as a non-helicoptering “parent” to see how we handle things, and reserving a “that’s a shame” assessment when something goes awry. It’s much harder to postulate a God who really DOES know how many hairs (or follicles?) are on our heads, and who will be that “very present help” when it all hits the fan.
The next two verses make it sound like God is more a member of the Sierra Club than someone interested in our hairstyle. God is concerned for nature and the earth, this we know. If da Vinci were still around, I’m sure he’d be quite happy that we’ve taken good care of the Mona Lisa, putting it behind bulletproof glass and surrounding it in nitrogen. Artists always are concerned with their creations. Verse 5 tells us that God harbors concern for the city. I’m guessing this is all about the Jewish preoccupation with “Zion”--the Holy City—Jerusalem. We could do several hundred sermons on the symbolic significance of Jerusalem to God’s people, a sentiment and priority that has certainly not let up at all in our time. Even our current President, during his first term, “knighted” Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. But does this verse mean God cares for the NEEDS that arise around cities? Cities are not only centers of business, commerce, education, and medical resources, but they are often magnets for the poor and marginalized. Why? Initially because they have the most jobs available, but also possibly because other vital resources are within walking distance, or accessible via public transportation. Given that the apocalyptic prophecies of the Bible imagine Heaven as a great city, we can affirm that God does favor cities, or at least those who write as spokespersons, do.
Verse 6 extends God’s attention to “nations” and “kingdoms,” with what I have to see is actually a prayer on the part of the psalmist that God will “make wars cease” and “melt” the threats to civilization and the ongoing welfare of humanity. It certainly isn’t a report of current reality, is it? Where IS God, in the midst of the genocide, needless wars over land, power, and wealth, and, God help us, over RELIGIOUS disputes? There is a repeated refrain in Psalm 46: “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” Again, is this more of a prayer than a promise? I learned that “Selah” is possibly a musical notation similar to a “repeat,” meaning pause and rethink this. It’s good counsel for those of us wanting to believe that God did not just “wind the watch” and walk away. It bears repeating over and over again, that God WILL BE our refuge. Car 54 may finally show up!
Ultimately, I think the secret to the “Where is God” question is in verse 10: “Be still, and know that I am God!” The older I get, the more I find forms of meditation and “stillness” to be cathartic and formative to my spirituality. As an academic at heart, I have in my earlier years reveled in “doing theology” and absorbing the history of the faith. I have been a “proud United Methodist,” celebrating the good things about Wesleyan theology and practice. Honestly, this stuff is fading into the background radiation for me. Being quiet, contemplating my place in God’s universe, and taking stock of what I should be doing to enjoy the great gifts of life, love, and relationships, and finding simple, often subtle ways to make life better for those around me. It’s probably a feature of getting old, but almost every morning between 4:00 and 4:30AM, I’m up to answer the call of nature, only to return to bed and be WIDE awake, my brain firing up like a Falcon 9, thinking it’s time to be thinking. My earliest reaction to this phenomenon was to lie there going with the burst of creativity it was coming up with, but that turned out to be a dead end, for if I DID fall back asleep, nearly every good idea that had been generated had fallen back into the ether. Of late, what I have been doing during these times is trying to be still and enter into a meditative state, of sorts. I’ll hold my hands together in a pyramid fashion, close my eyes, and think of things to put my racing brain at rest. I have to confess that my best “mantra” comes from my favorite baseball movie, “For the Love of the Game,” starring Kevin Costner as Billy Chapel, an aging pitcher who finds himself in the middle of pitching a perfect game. At the start of each inning, he closes his eyes and chants inwardly, “Clear the mechanism.” I use this as I’m chilling the ol’ Falcon 9 Merlins from taking off. Next, I try to imagine where I am at this moment in the realm of the Almighty. I find myself safe, at home, in a comfortable bed, next to the most amazing woman in the world, retired from the “grind” of the ever-beckoning shackle of responsibility, and “feeling” the presence of a greater Creative Presence deep in my soul. If I get this far, I am already headed toward peace. Sometimes it puts me back asleep, but more often than not, it delivers me to a higher state of listening. I feel I can “hear” God addressing with much wisdom the bigger questions that come to mind in this silence. I don’t always achieve answers, but the peace of Psalm 46’s “God is our refuge” visits me in those moments.
In police radio lingo, “What’s your 20?” is a request for “Where ARE you?” This sermon started out questioning God, “What’s your 20?” What Psalm 46 is trying to tell us is that we should be hearing GOD asking US, “What’s your 20?” Being still is the best answer to the question, for it is there we find what we are looking for. I’m not trying to make excuses for God’s “inaction,” just suggesting—as I believe does the psalmist—that this essential stillness is what gets us to connect with the creative source of wisdom, and guides us to our “next steps” to milk the most out of God’s gift of life for ourselves, our loved ones, and others. Acting on this may require more than just the discovery of “meaning.” We may have to give more, or to volunteer, or to feed people. We may have to ramp up our prayer life and rally around those who we see suffering. We may have to take on injustice at the voting booth, by writing our legislators, or by speaking out against the wrongs we witness, especially when WE are not the ones being wronged! But starting with silence is a good idea. God WILL show up, believe me. No, God will not snap God’s fingers and just “fix” it, but it’s clear from the long, biblical witness that God CAN and DOES empower God’s people to methodically make repairs.
Another police radio term is “10-4,” meaning “I acknowledge.” Let’s not waste our energy waiting for God’s “10-4.” I think we have that already; his name is Jesus. Instead, may we go to the silence, be still, and offer God OUR “10-4,” and get with the program. Amen.
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