Psalm 66:7-18

7 Bless our God, you peoples; make the voice of his praise to be heard;
8 Who holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip.
9 For you, O God, have proved us; you have tried us just as silver is tried.
10 You brought us into the snare; you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
11 You let enemies ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings and will pay you my vows, which I promised with my lips and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.
13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts with the smoke of rams; I will give you oxen and goats.
14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me.
15 I called out to him with my mouth, and his praise was on my tongue.
16 If I had found evil in my heart, the Lord would not have heard me;
17 But in truth God has heard me; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor withheld his love from me.

This year, Monday Matters is focused on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Finding a foundation

One of my favorite hymns in the Episcopal hymnal is #665. The first line of the first stanza: All my hope on God is founded. The hymn tune was composed by Herbert Howells. He gave the hymn tune the title “Michael,” the name of Howell’s son who had died in childhood the year before the tune was written. I’m always moved by that fact that as Howell bore that unspeakable and unimaginable loss, he let his considerable musical gifts be applied to a text that affirmed a strong foundation of hope.

That ability to take a stand on hope seems to be the experience of the author of the psalm heard in churches yesterday and reprinted abovel. It’s a psalm blessing God as one who holds our souls in life and will not allow our feet to slip. It’s not pie in the sky stuff. It does not deny or sugar coat the difficulties life throws our way. The psalmist describes the ways that life has been hard, including the ways that God has presented him with challenges. Yet it is a strong expression of confidence that God is in charge, that God will not allow our feet to slip, that in relationship with God a strong foundation can be discovered.

How do we find such steady footing? What can we be sure of? All kinds of surveys indicate that confidence in institutions has dissipated. Things that we may have always relied on may no longer prove reliable. In our culture, the church, government, and media have all surrendered the ability to provide a sure foundation. In individual lives, there are curve balls, challenges, and unscripted events which come out of left field to shake our foundations. People around us (parents, children, bosses, employees, clergy) inevitably disappoint, even as we disappoint others.

One of my current vocations is to spend time with a 2 year old granddaughter. She is a light. It is a delight. We build towers together, with wooden blocks that have been in the family for decades. If I ask her how we’ll start, she says we need a good foundation. A good word to learn as a toddler. Or as an adult. The preacher in me can’t help but hope that there’s a life lesson.

A bishop came to visit our church recently. The liturgy for that service began with the hymn, “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.” We closed the service by singing “Christ is made the sure foundation.” (Sometimes when we have a hard time stating our confidence, we can draw strength by singing about it.) Those of us who swim in the Christian stream are led to consider the ways that Jesus provides a firm foundation.

Christ as foundation is an idea set forth by St. Paul when he wrote that crazy Corinthian church, a church which was fighting about all kinds of things (food, sex, liturgy, rules). They were especially at odds about leadership and who they thought was the real deal. Paul acknowledges in the third chapter of this letter that there are indeed a variety of styles of leadership. That’s still true in the church today. But he says that while these leaders in their own ways are building the church, the foundation is Jesus Christ. I take that to mean that our foundation is found as we follow the one who came not to be served but to serve and who stretches out arms of love on the hard wood of the cross.

What does it mean to you when we sing about Christ as sure foundation? On what kind of foundation are you building your life? Do you ever contend with that sinking feeling? Maybe those are good Monday morning questions. Our faith calls us to trust in the One who holds our souls in life and will not allow our feet to slip, will not allow us to fall, will not allow us to sink. There are practices available in our tradition that help us to build on that foundation: prayer, reflection on scripture, contemplation, service. How might you practice those things this week?

-Jay Sidebotham