Psalm Meditation 836
Proper 8
June 26, 2016

Psalm 102
1 LORD, hear my prayer! Let my cry reach you!
2 Don’t hide your face from me in my time of trouble! Listen to me! Answer me quickly as I cry out!
3 Because my days disappear like smoke, my bones are burned up as if in an oven;
4 my heart is smashed like dried-up grass. I even forget to eat my food
5 because of my intense groans. My bones are protruding from my skin.
6 I’m like some wild owl—like some screech owl in the desert.
7 I lie awake all night. I’m all alone like a bird on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies make fun of me; those who mock me curse using my name!
9 I’ve been eating ashes instead of bread. I’ve been mixing tears into my drinks
10 because of your anger and wrath, because you picked me up and threw me away.
11 My days are like a shadow soon gone. I’m dried up like dead grass.
12 But you, LORD, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
13 You will stand up—you’ll have compassion on Zion because it is time to have mercy on her—the time set for that has now come!
14 Your servants cherish Zion’s stones; they show mercy even to her dirt.
15 The nations will honor the LORD’s name; all the earth’s rulers will honor your glory
16 because the LORD will rebuild Zion; he will be seen there in his glory.
17 God will turn to the prayer of the impoverished; he won’t despise their prayers.
18 Let this be written down for the next generation so that people not yet created will praise the LORD:
19 The LORD looked down from his holy summit, surveyed the earth from heaven,
20 to hear the prisoners’ groans, to set free those condemned to death,
21 that the LORD’s name may be declared in Zion and his praise declared in Jerusalem,
22 when all people are gathered together—all kingdoms—to serve the LORD.
23 God broke my strength in midstride, cutting my days short.
24 I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the prime of life—your years go on from one generation to the next!
25 You laid the earth’s foundations long ago; the skies are your handiwork.
26 These things will pass away, but you will last. All of these things will wear out like clothing; you change them like clothes, and they pass on.
27 But you are the one! Your years never end!
28 Let your servants’ children live safe; let your servants’ descendants live secure in your presence.”
(NRSV)

Prayer can be an interesting exercise, especially in times of deep distress. We offer our prayers of distress coupled with doubt. We have our doubts about God hearing our prayers and, in the event those prayers are heard, will there be a response anywhere close to what we want. At times, we go so far as to wonder if God is there at all. We feel as if we are wasting our breath talking to one who does not exist; if God does exist, is there any connection between us and God? However, we are praying and that indicates a desire, longing and need for God in our lives.

There is evidence from prehistoric times to the present that people have felt that need for something larger than the individual as well as the collective sense of being and belonging. One of the ways the Abrahamic faiths express that need and longing is through prayer and singing to and about God and our relationships centered in God. The psalmists lift up prayers of despair and rejoicing as well as the needs and wants that fall in between those extremes.

Yes, we wonder if God hears and responds to our prayers. We wonder for all sorts of reasons and in all sorts of situations. Through it all there continue to be people who pray, who lift the people, places and events that weigh on their hearts to the power and presence of God. Sometimes it is all we can do. Sometimes our prayers embolden us, instruct us or energize us to act in concert with God for the meeting of the needs of those around us. My experience has been that prayer does not change the events around me, prayer changes me.

June 20, 2016
LCM