Psalm Meditation 637
Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 2, 2012

Psalm 22:1,16-31
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
16 For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
(NRSV)

Most of us have experienced abandonment in some form. We have been left alone too long by those we love or we have been left out of a conversation or activity even as the conversation or activity goes on around us. Whether it has been intentional or accidental, the feeling of abandonment is just as devastating. Some of us have felt abandoned by God. When that feeling comes to someone else, it is easy to assume that they have moved away from God. When it happens to me, it is not that easy. I already feel abandoned so the added burden of it being my fault can make it that much worse. In the midst of that feeling of abandonment it is more important to find out how to bring it to an end than to find out who is at fault.

In our human interactions, we may decide that it is time to move on to a different set of relationships when we feel abandoned while we are in the presence of others. We may decide there is something we can do to become more active in the life of the group. Or we may decide that we are content on the edges of this particular group. Our decision spurs us to a new set of actions in and around the life of this particular group. Whether we are successful in our strategy or not, we have taken the initiative in this interaction.

In our relationship with God we make similar decisions. We may decide that it is time to move on, that God is simply a human construct we no longer need in our lives. We may decide that we are the ones who walked away and take steps to get back into the presence of God. We may decide that we are content to be on the edge of a relationship with God. The psalmist chooses to know that God is present and that the sense of abandonment is temporary. It continues to be a real sense of abandonment even as the psalmist acknowledges the presence of God in some, currently, unknown , and real, way.

August 27, 2012