Psalm Meditation 568
Third Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2011

Psalm 38
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness;
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all day long I go around mourning.
7 For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction, and my neighbors stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like the deaf, I do not hear; like the mute, who cannot speak.
14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no retort.
15 But it is for you, O LORD, that I wait; it is you, O LORD my God, who will answer.
16 For I pray, "Only do not let them rejoice over me, those who boast against me when my foot slips."
17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me;
22 make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
(NRSV)

Verse 5 jumped out at me quickly. Through my years in ministry I have noticed that church people in particular don’t like to admit to being hurt or wounded in body mind or spirit. Our perfectionism will not let us admit that anything is wrong so we simply cover our wounds and anticipate that they will go away on their own. Some do go away, many don’t. Even when they are gross and painful we simply cover them with larger bandages so that we don’t have to see or acknowledge our woundedness.

Sometimes people come along and pull off those bandages without our permission. They expose our wounds as well as our foolishness when it comes to wound care. Rather than take steps to deal with our wounds we blame the one who exposed the wound as if that one were the cause of the wound in the first place. In a sense we compound the wound by wanting to lay blame rather than wanting to seek care and cure.

And God continues to send us healing through divine presence and through the presence of others who love us and care for us. God reminds us that sometimes the folks we feel are out to get us are the ones who love us the most. They desire our healing and are taking the sometimes painful steps to accomplish that wholeness in our lives. God does not forsake us even when God steps back to allow us to discover our own skills and strengths.

May 2, 2011