Psalm Meditation 673
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 12, 2013

Psalm 59
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from those who work evil; from the bloodthirsty save me.
3 Even now they lie in wait for my life; the mighty stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Rouse yourself, come to my help and see!
5 You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.Selah
6 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.
7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with sharp words on their lips—for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
8 But you laugh at them, O LORD; you hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my strength, I will watch for you; for you, O God, are my fortress.
10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11 Do not kill them, or my people may forget; make them totter by your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 consume them in wrath; consume them until they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.Selah
14 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.
15 They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill.
16 But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
(NRSV)

We may not have experience of living in a city occupied by an enemy army, however most of us have had experience with being bullied to some degree or another. An older sibling, an older, bigger kid in the neighborhood or at school, a co-worker, a spouse, any number of folks who think it is a show of power and authority to have others cower in fear around them. In most cases, those bullies have been bullied themselves, so they know how it feels to be bullied. Of the two feelings, they prefer the power of being the bully. The psalmist cries out to God for protection from a whole gang of bullies.

The cry to God rises out of the sense of powerlessness in the face of bullies. When a deliverer finally rises for us we get caught in a whirlwind of conflicting feelings. We want the bullies to leave us alone. The psalmist first asks God to make these oppressors suffer in such a way that folks will remember what a power they were, even as they see that they have been robbed of that power. In the same breath the psalmist calls for the complete destruction of these folks. In the presence of the deliverance of God we are able to express all the wild fantasies of our downtrodden hearts.

Once we know that we are safe in the arms of God we are able to calm down and leave the resolution of this issue to God. After letting God hear all the ways we would like to see this situation resolved to our satisfaction we turn it over to the steadfast love of God. This is the same love that has given us the freedom to vent our fear and anger in comforting safety. Will God exact the revenge for which we call, or will God find another way to show us the breadth and depth and width of the love we now experience?

May 6, 2013