Psalm Meditation 598
Second Sunday of Advent
December 4, 2010
Psalm 44
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them.
4 You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants.
6 For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes, and have put to confusion those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. (Selah)
9 Yet you have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You made us turn back from the foe, and our enemies have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant.
26 Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. (NRSV)
The psalmist is aware that it is not good to depend too much on our own strength when God is in the mix, especially when God is on our side. The part that seems to have eluded the psalmist is that it not good to depend too much on God when we are working together. I have lots of stories and I imagine you do too, in which someone was overly dependent on God only to discover that God was ‘absent.’ There is a necessary mix of leaning on God and trusting our God given strengths when we are working with God.
The mystics call it ‘the dark night of the soul’ when God seems to pull back from us at a time of need. God steps back from us when we are willing to count on God to do for us what we can do on our own. We feel abandoned and disheartened; at least until we discover that we have abilities we were not previously willing to tap or trust. This doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. Quite the contrary. God is standing back waiting for us to discover our gifts. And God is preparing the celebration for our discovery.
Sometimes we do well to step back and watch God work in our lives, and the lives of those around us. Other times we do well to step in and let God watch us work with the gifts and grace we have available to us. The difficulty comes in knowing which to do when. We do our best when we trust God and ourselves to work well together.
© November 28, 2010
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