Psalms for Today

 

Read Psalms 64-66

 

Listen and help, O God. I’m reduced to a whine And a whimper, obsessed with feelings of doomsday.  Psalm 64:1.

 

Who knew that the Psalmist could predict my feelings today!  There are moments when we find ourselves struggling under the stress of this art project called, “Life”.  There are times when we cry out for relief and release, to feel renewed and restored with the Spirit.  Where are you whimpering today?  Where do you feel like things have gone to hell in a handbasket?  What external evidence do others keep shouting that, “The end is near”!!?  Notice how the Psalmist suggests that God will swoop in and save the day in verses 7-8.  Too often, God doesn’t conform to our timeline.  As I keep reading, I wonder if the Psalmist is working through our ideas about a God of vengeance who is on “our” side?  To be sure, people of all different, diverse understandings are convinced of their correctness and cancel others who do not agree.  We call out those who are hateful and hurtful (which happens within every human heart) believing that we can fix or save the other person if only they will listen to us! But remember just a moment ago we were whimpering with the Psalmist seeing only the brokenness of life.  Hold the tensions of the Psalms that sit side-by-side.  Hold the vast variety of emotions that stir within us that the Psalmist giving us permission to feel what we feel and say what we need to say to God ~ God can take it.  We can go from throwing up our hands to throwing verb punches at others, often both are fueled and fed not by processing our pain but instead passing it along.  Listen today for how so many people still scapegoat “those” people.  If “those” people got a clue, if “those” people could only be as enlightened as we are, if “those” people would…fill in the blank with your frustration of choice.  Then, listen to Psalm 65:2, “We all arrive at your doorstep sooner or later, loaded with guilt”.  It is important to remember that “guilt” means I did something bad and “shame” is I am someone bad, maybe even irredeemable.  The difference matters because we conflate and confuse the two emotions in our souls every day.  You are not irredeemable; you are beloved of God.  You are, remember the Psalmist said, the apple of God’s eye.  You are seen fully and all of you is welcome here.  There are parts of me that stumble and struggle.  I think back to a few weeks ago when anger freely flowed from my lips as someone crunched my car.  I did not act Zen-like thinking, “What is a car but a material item whose only value is to transport me from A to B.  All shall be well, go my friend and crunch cars no more.”  Nope.  I was mad with a capital “M”.  There are times I get so upset about my inability to fix or save others or end up valuing my work based on the number of people who view this Morning Meditation.  In other words, I am human.  In verse 4, the Hebrew Hymn writer sings, happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts.  In other words, when we face our fumbling and bumbling beloved fully human selves, that is the doorway to resting and residing in the Divine.  We don’t need to impress God with our fancy theological degrees or well-read Bibles or eloquent prayers.  God knows us fully, loves us fully, and asks us to be fully ourselves before God.  Can we trust this?  Can we live this?  Let those two questions simmer and be explored/expressed in your life this week.  Amen.