Psalm Meditation 716
First Sunday in Lent
March 9, 2014

Psalm 56
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many fight against me.
O Most High,
3 when I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they seek to injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk, they watch my steps. As they hoped to have my life,
7 so repay them for their crime; in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will retreat in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I am not afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me?
12 My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life.
(NRSV)

After a long, draining day it is good to have a place to be coddled and cared for, a place of refuge and renewal. Some of us are lucky enough to find that in a person to whom we go home on a regular basis. For others of us, we have a trusted friend to whom we can bare our hearts and share our hurts and hopes. For any and all of us, God is available to give us comfort in the face of all that makes us feel, helpless, hopeless and worthless.

Whether our enemies are the flesh and blood kind who can do physical damage to us, or the psychic, spiritual kind who can do just as much damage without leaving a mark, God is present to offer us a reprieve from the wounds. That God is present doesn’t mean that we will suddenly be free from our wounds. It is up to us to receive the comfort and healing God offers to us. God is not one to use force, to thrust power or presence upon us. God waits for us to open ourselves to receive as we are ready and able.

The presence of God does not take away our wounds so much as offer us comfort in the face of our woundedness. As a parent who kisses a skinned knee or holds a child against that first heartbreak, God is with us in all the calamitous places of our lives to offer us companionship in the face of each and all of our wounds. In the presence of God we are delivered from facing the trampling and lurking of our enemies on our own.

March 3, 2014