Psalm Meditation 500
Second Sunday After Epiphany
January 17, 2010

Psalm 120
1 In my distress I cry to the LORD, that he may answer me:
2 "Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue."
3 What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar.
6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
(NRSV)

500 is a milestone I did not anticipate when I began writing these meditations nigh on to 10 years ago. Thanks to all who have read and commented and encouraged me through these 500 weeks.

It is not fun to be the one who holds a minority opinion in a group of folks with strong opinions and yet there are people who choose to be different and to act differently from the dominant culture. Is the psalmist one who disagrees with the dominant culture or is this a case in which a person thinks one thing and says another in an attempt to fit in and the resultant self-disgust that comes from not being able to say what one believes in order to appear to fit in?

Whether it is an internal or external disconnect there is still the problem of having to live with the pressure one experiences in the process. We are creatures who seem to made for group interaction. While it is true that a group without any disagreement will soon dissolve into indifference most of us do not consciously choose to be the one with whom everyone else will disagree. At the same time we do not like the idea of staying with a group who does not know that we do not agree with one or more of the groups passionately held beliefs.

Whether the problem here is that the psalmist disagrees with the group or that the psalmist does not speak the deeply held beliefs of heart and soul the dilemma of the situation is the same. We will seek to be delivered from the discomfort of the situation by asking for the courage to speak what is in our hearts and minds even if it makes us unpopular with one or more groups of which we are a part. God does not suddenly make everything better by giving us the courage to speak out and the group suddenly being won over to our position but God does stand with us so that we know we are not alone even in those times in which we are the only ones in the group who both believe and speak the minority opinion.

© January 11, 2010