Psalm 62 ~ They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah

Psalm 62

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

9 Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.


Actually this morning this was said to me. Bless with their mouths and curse you behind your back.

I was speaking to a friend at a birthday party and we were discussing the Kennedy family. She knew one branch of the family in a small way. She had seen the Jackie Kennedy documentary films done within six months of President Kennedy's assassination. Jackie had not cared much for Rose.

Laurence Leamer wrote a book called "The Kennedy Men." He adored Rose Kennedy, daughter of the Massachusetts Governor, and wrote of example after example of Joe Kennedy's brutal ideas of success. Beginning with his mother's rise from domestic daily employee to liquor store owner in the poor and harsh part of town. As a banker, Joe used bank information to send men from said that area to beat up business men, gaining their business. Rising to owning the defunct (depression era) large American distilleries and playing the ivy league education connections rising, becoming the American Ambassador to the U.K. Rose was a shuffled, with her 8 children, to a rural NY area without a real place in the small town for her. She was isolated with the children - for the children to be her only objective. Joe Kennedy was busy building the Empire and having an affair with actress Gloria Swanson. Joe was diligent to check with Rose on the children's grades, tutors, discipline and weight. Rose was carefully writing down all the children's details to give to Joe and attending Church each day.

Diligent. Capricious. Devout. Plotting. Lecherous. Determined. Philanthropic. Justice. Equality. Relief. Self-centered. Loving. Devious.

Moving ahead 80 years. If you seated all of these people, we have heard of all of these years, at the dinner table - you end up with the Documentary Rory Kennedy did of her father, Robert Kennedy  (who died before she was born). All these faces talking about Daddy. Ethel rose quickly past her husband's death. She had so many children to raise, causes to attend to. And, I'm sure, hurt over her husband's noted infidelities. Yet you come back to the point made at the end of the documentary, Rose worked hard on with Rory. "Sure, we know all about Daddy, he raised us. We are not unfamiliar with his flaws. We choose to remember Daddy in the ways he taught us about his aspirations, his ideals, his strong beliefs, the character he was coming to the dinner table every evening, telling us about what he hoped for his children, this nation. We choose to remember the best parts of Daddy."

So, if you did seat these people all at God's table, you would see the view changes from every seat. And a man at Church, Paul, says that you need to be kind to people. It might just be the only word of kindness they receive that day.

Diligent - Joe Kennedy was a victim paralyzed by stroke for many years. Capricious - Jackie Kennedy was a stunned, hurting widow when her realizations/documentary came to light after her death. Devout - Rose Kennedy sent away Joe' nurses and left him to the people she chose, as she began to go out at night with Joe's friends before his frozen years. Her fate was similar to Joe's, living to be 103. You have to hurt for the hurting woman. She really did not understand the character of the man she married, nor forgave easily.

Plotting - would be Joe who taught his children to forgo their inclination for private lives giving to the United States an example of philanthropy not matched in any other family in the United States. We have Special Olympics because Rosemary Kennedy was lobotomized by her adulterous father instead of cared for, over Rosemary's adolescent interest in the opposite sex in her debilitated IQ state ( probably cause by oxygen deficiency during her birth). Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver started the Special Olympics purely for the need to overcome Rosemary's hidden condition and the nations' attitudes for special needs.

Lecherous. We tend to talk about this more than the many achievements, including a family willing to gather through all the terrible events befalling this family. Determined. To overcome.

Justice. Equality. Relief. Does the dinner table of any other family strive further? Self-centered. Loving. Devious. Aren't we all.

Liberal. Conservative.

Power belongs to God,
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.

Father God, give us this day. Each day you give us, we build something. Help us each day to put out our hands, using the drive to live You have given us. Use our desire to be blessed as a blessing to YOU. In seeking You first, in righteousness, all these things are added to us to Your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus. All things work together for good for those who love you and work according to Your purpose. You called us into fellowship with You, through Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And You, oh Lord, are faithful. Jesus, be our Christ, the power of God and our wisdom of God. You bless the eyes, Lord ,that did not see You, but yet believe. Increase our faith. We walk by faith, relying upon You. In Your Name. Amen.


<><