Psalm Meditation 794
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 6, 2015

Psalm 69
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; many are those who would destroy me, my enemies who accuse me falsely. What I did not steal must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord GOD of hosts; do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me, O God of Israel.
7 It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s children.
9 It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With your faithful help
14 rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.
19 You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonor; my foes are all known to you.
20 Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table be a trap for them, a snare for their allies.
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck down, and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.
27 Add guilt to their guilt; may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the LORD hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall live there and possess it;
36 the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall live in it.
(NRSV)

There is a tendency among us to be competitive in any number of categories. In regard to this psalm we compete in feeling bad. If someone is going through a difficult time, I have gone through worse. At the very least we are tied for the deepest difficulty. With some folks we can be downright dismissive of their suffering because it seems minor compared to the level of our own. Do we remember that what is an inconvenience now was once a major malfunction in our own lives? The depth of each person’s suffering is relative to the experiences each has had. The sufferings of a typical teenager may seem trivial to an adult, however they are the deepest emotions this person has experienced in life so far. When we can be compassionate rather than competitive we honor the person and their suffering in a way that they can turn to us, and through us turn to God, in the next time of suffering.

Several verses of this psalm have a familiar ring to them since they have been used by Gospel and Epistle writers to refer to the suffering of Jesus. While we have not borne the weight of the sins of the world, we have suffered greatly as people of faith. That level is different for each of us and is unique for each of us as well. When I asked my doctor a question about my medication his answer was memorable, “I don’t know; you are not a robot.” While the answer is open to lots of interpretations I took it as a reminder that each of us is special. What works well for one person fails miserably for another, what is too much for one is not enough for another. Even though I do not bear the sins of the world I have had an experience of the deepest suffering ever, as far as I’m concerned.

The psalmist requests compassion from God in the face of suffering. As people of God we get to be agents of compassion in a variety of ways. Some offer compassion as a part of their work. My guess is that the folks who are most compassionate in that work have a relationship with God that opens their hearts to the needs of others. Some offer compassion as volunteers. They go above and beyond the minimum requirements and touch lives in a way that honors the worth and dignity of each person with whom they come in contact. The folks for whom compassion is a gift from God will find a way to offer it no matter where they are and what they are doing.

August 31, 2015
LCM