Psalm Meditation 614
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 25, 2012

Psalm 77
1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. (Selah)
4 You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.
6 I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit:
7 "Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever? Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" (Selah)
10 And I say, "It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed."
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)
16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
(NRSV)

In many forms we ask the question, ‘what do I do when I can’t pray?’ Various answers have been given to the question and many of them seem to make the problem worse because they continue to make it my responsibility to tough it out and keep going. A recently received answer to the question seems to be pretty satisfying. When you can’t pray turn it over to the community of faith. Many of us have at least one contact or friend who can carry our concern to the community of faith so that it, and we can be lifted up.

When the burden of having to do everything on our own is lifted we can muster up some energy to think back to other times when we have felt the presence of God, and we were able to help someone through their sense of abandonment. As we remember the presence of God, we may notice that we are not as separate from God as it may seem in this moment. It may be that we have lost focus and we find that God is more near than we thought.

As God comes back into focus, or as we move back into a sense of God’s abiding presence through the concern of the community, we see that God is a loving redeemer who delivers us. The deliverance of God may not be in the way we had hoped, however we do feel the power of God’s redeeming and restoring presence and love. We may also feel a closer sense of community with those who stood with us through this time of trial.

© March 19, 2012