Psalm Meditation 584
Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 28, 2011

Psalm 71:1-18,24
1 In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together.
11 They say, "Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver."
12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge.
16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.
24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.
(NRSV)

A refuge is a place of safety rather than a hiding place. In a refuge one can go around much more freely because of the protection that is so much a part of the concept of refuge. That doesn’t mean there won’t be folks waiting at the boundaries for those within the refuge to step over the line of protection so they can do as they will to the one who steps out. While the psalmist is concerned that there are limits to the refuge God offers, including age limits, we have come to see that the only limits are the ones we place on that refuge ourselves.

As we get older our strength fades and we become more vulnerable to any number of attacks and calamities of disease and the people around us. And taking refuge in God does not keep these attacks from happening. Taking refuge in God keeps the attacks from getting to the core of our being, from destroying us in any way other than physically. We will be in the presence of God, no matter what. In the presence of God we will find that despite weakness and disease we take comfort in being with God.

Even as health and vitality fade from our lives we can find wholeness in God’s gracious presence. Things that used to be easy will get more difficult even as some things that have challenged us in the past will become easier. Through it all God will be with us as a source of refuge, calm in the midst of storm.

August 22, 2011