Psalm 111

1 Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the deeds of the Lord! they are studied by all who delight in them.

3 His work is full of majesty and splendor, and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 He makes his marvelous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He gives food to those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works in giving them the lands of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice; all his commandments are sure.

8 They stand fast for ever and ever, because they are done in truth and equity.

9 He sent redemption to his people; he commanded his covenant for ever; holy and awesome is his Name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; those who act accordingly have a good understanding; his praise endures for ever.

God is ever mindful of his covenant

In the midst of some recent challenges, a kind friend sent an encouraging note and a copy of the hymn, "Great is thy faithfulness." You won't find the hymn in the 1982 Hymnal, but I grew up with it in my church. At various stages of life, I have found it sustaining. The main theme of the text comes from the Hebrew scriptures (Lamentations 3). I've been particularly helped in uncertain times by the phrase: "All I have needed thy hand has provided." I have found it to be true, a testament to God's faithfulness.

That faithfulness is a reflection of God's covenant with all of us. Covenant is a word that recurs in the psalm reprinted in this email. While there is a specific legal meaning for the word in the secular world, in the biblical context, covenant suggests not contractual agreement but commitment to another person. Seen from that perspective, it reminds us that our faith is really about relationship. Theology and doctrine and creed have their places, but at the heart of our tradition is the call to be in right and loving relationship with God and each other.

There are any number of covenants identified in scripture. The rainbow signals a covenant with Noah, God’s promise never to cover the earth by flood again. Moses goes on the mountaintop to receive ten commandments, which prescribe God’s relationship with humanity, and our relationship with each other. The Book of Deuteronomy suggests a kind of conditional covenant in which God will bless as long as the people obey holy commands. But most of the covenants carry an unconditional, gracious quality on God’s part, reflecting God's faithfulness. David receives a covenant that his kingdom will last forever, something Christians see fulfilled in Jesus. Jeremiah spoke of the gift of a new covenant, written not in stone but on our hearts. I’m told that his language of a new covenant gives us the language for the Bible itself. Covenant = testament: an Old Testament (a.k.a., covenant), and a new one.

Jesus on the night before he died, gave his disciples a covenant which we still celebrate each week: "We pray gracious God to send your Holy Spirit upon these gifts that they may be the Sacrament of the Body of Christ and his Blood of the new Covenant." Each of these covenants, in its own way, describes a relationship we may have with the Holy One, and by implication, the relationship we have with each other.

The word "covenant" pops up elsewhere in our liturgy. At baptism, we recite the baptismal covenant, making promises about how we will deepen our relationship with God (e.g., Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of the bread and the prayers) and with each other (e.g., Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving neighbor as self.) The marriage service turns to the language of covenant, for me captured in the exchange of rings as the couple says to each other: With all that I am and all that I have, I honor you. That marriage covenant represents a commitment to another person, not to a contract. We live into this covenant as we honor each other.

That’s a long way of saying that all of this has to do with right relationship. So I invite you this Monday morning to a bit of inventory, to take a check on those relationships in your own life.

We begin with our relationship with the Holy One, and a reminder of the commitment that God has made to us, powerfully expressed by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, where he says nothing can separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus. Given that, we consider our side of that relationship. The psalm du jour invites us to an attitude of gratitude, a life marked by a healthy fear of the Lord leading to wisdom, as in our lives we do our best to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. How can you deepen that relationship this week?

And part of that covenant necessarily involves our relationship with those around us as we hear Jesus’ call to love neighbor as self. Pushing the envelope a bit, we take into consideration the challenge from the New Testament letter of John: "Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (I John 4:20) How can you deepen these relationships this week? How can we widen our hearts?

Consider the covenants in your life: your relationship with God, revealed to us in Jesus; your relationship with those around you. How might you practice honor in those relationships? As you reflect on covenant, have a look at that old hymn, "Great is the faithfulness." Think on the text of that hymn this week, remembering that God is ever mindful of the covenant made with you and me.

-Jay Sidebotham