Psalm Meditation 1054 Proper 17 August 30, 2020 Psalm 88 1 O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, 2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help, 5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. 6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah 8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? 15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate. 16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me. 17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me. 18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness. (NRSV) This is one of my favorite psalms. It is dark to the point of hopelessness. In one translation, the last phrase of the psalm reads, “and darkness is my only friend.” If you have ever been to that place in life you know that it can be comforting to find that someone has been there ahead of you and has put your sense of abandonment into words. As one of the few psalms to end without a word of hope, there is something memorable about it. Even as the psalmist speaks from a feeling of abandonment, the psalm is addressed to God. It is a complaint and lament aimed directly at God. The psalmist puts words to the anger, fear, isolation, and sadness that holds us hostage when we feel as if we are the only ones who have ever felt this badly. At the very least we are the only ones feeling this swirl of emotion in this time and place. The psalmist has given us this psalm as a gift. When we have no words to express ourselves, here is a psalm to put something into words as we stand up to God. While some are quick to say that we are not to get angry with God, I am of the mind that if God didn’t want me to feel anger, why do I have it? And, if God can’t handle my anger when it is aimed at God, why would I ever need an emotion this intense? God gives us a safe place to express all the emotions that threaten our mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. Feel free to be angry with God and in the presence of God. If you don’t have words of your own, the psalmist offers the words of this psalm. August 24, 2020 LCM