Easter 16 Resurrection and Meditation

[HKHaugan]

Meditation is exciting if you will allow yourself into its refreshing springs. Especially in this season when we celebrate Jesus having risen from the dead. The Resurrection is a great prompter when it comes to interpreting the Psalms. As a result the Psalms become a meditative oasis, a reservoir of spiritual detail for insight and wise response. You can see the depth of the person of Jesus in every psalm. From the most general of themes to the minute intricacies of their implications for us personally, the Psalms are “like a farmer who sowed a field with good seed” if I may be so bold as to start as Jesus did with one of His parables. The Psalms are like bags full of seed always ready to be planted, sprout and their produce harvested. Apply the Resurrection, water with the Spirit and the Lord does the rest. Get your Bible, take Psalm 115 like I did and see what happens. The following is what I got and it came out as a general thanksgiving. As I went through it I got a lot of far more detailed information but I kept it short for you all so you'd jump in and try it. Start broadcasting,

When we wake up in the morning our first thought needs to be,

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness (vs.1).”

But why?

To read those opening words is to feel the psalmist's plea to make sure we are aware there is nothing in the way we use our humanity that deserves to be glorified, to be lifted up as worthy of praise, to be given special notice. If there is anything good at all it is the Lord's doing. If we accomplish anything of value it is because it reflects the name of the Lord. We can go so far as to say even the good done by an unbeliever simply underlines the already established eternal truth of the Lord. The very fact of our existence is good because He said it was good in Creation (Genesis 1:31). The overriding fact of God's intention to make images of Himself and a universe for them to inhabit comes out of His goodness. The psalmist says in another place that he “knows full well” he is fearfully and wonderfully made; that the Lord's works are wonderful (Ps.139:14).

But also the very plea of the psalmist is a recognition that human nature is flawed at the deepest level. What was a good creation needs to be restored. Because of sin, the heart of man, the internal guidance system only the Lord can operate, has sought glory apart from God. Its restoration can come only when we give our hearts back to the Creator's love and faithfulness. That's the key, His love and His faithfulness (emphasis on 'His'). They alone can bring us back to where we need to be through our personal relationship with Him.

The Resurrection puts this psalm in perspective on three conscious levels: self, God and others.
First, we are conscious of the Lord, who He is and what He did on the Cross and in the Resurrection.
Second, we stop thinking about ourselves first so that He can do His will through us.
Third, the reason is, through faith, His love and faithfulness are in us.

The Psalmist is writing based on his profound personal experience of the Lord. So profound that he is doing three things simultaneously:
One, worshiping the God of life (vs.2-3),
Two, exposing the lifelessness of idols (vs.4-8) and
Three, calling out believers to trust the Lord and His promises (vs.9-11).

Now believers comprise three groups: Israel, its leadership and all believers everywhere. Israel is the chosen people of God. Aaron's house is the leadership of Israel. All believers are those outside of Israel but also believe with His people (vs.9-11).

The Lord blesses these three groups---small and great alike. Note that he places the small before the great. That does three things.
First, it establishes spiritual equality among believers.
Second, it denies spiritual pride in worldly status.
Third, it elevates the relational experience among them.
What's more these are blessings. The Lord is blessing each person in these three intentions. The Lord is blessing, personally touching, each life (vs.12-13).
Having powerfully declared these assurances the psalmist addresses the nation, the leadership and the outside believers. He lets them know it is the Lord who gives and continues giving them increase in life experience and in offspring. As the Maker of heaven and earth these are His personal blessings (vs.14-15).

Now the psalmist closes in triumphant fashion. “The highest heavens belong to the Lord but the earth He has given to man (vs.16).” Everything we know as the world both the seen and unseen are gifts from the Lord with the built in idea that in that gift is also the implied gift of rule.

In the last two verses, 17-18, the idea of two kinds of life exist as do two kinds of death.
“It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to silence...” Two kinds of death are the physical kind and the silence of faithless spirituality, sin. Conversely, there are two kinds of life, biological life and spiritual life as well. Praising the Lord and extolling Him are direct signs of eternal life in the Spirit. “It is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore (vs.18).” To emphasize for all believers the impact of the Lord on those who trust Him, he closes, “Praise the Lord.”