Psalm Meditation 816
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
February 7, 2016

Psalm 28
1 To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts.
4 Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever.
(NRSV)

Every now and then, prayer feels as if I am simply talking to myself, as if it goes no farther than from my heart and head to my own ears. In these times prayer becomes exasperating and exhausting. The psalmist seems to be going through one of those times here. We say the words, we go through the motions and we don’t feel as if there is any response. As in so many other situations, the first step in dealing with the problem is to admit/confess that we have a problem so that we can more easily face it.

A part of the concern in not being heard in prayer is the fear that we may be becoming one of ‘those people,’ the people for whom God is either a non-entity, or worse, an enemy. Either way, we become the kind of people who know all the right words to say to gain the trust of those around us so that we can more readily take advantage of their trust. Not only do we not want to become that kind of person, we want God to deal with those people in such a way that they are not able to do damage to anyone else ever again.

Once we realize that God is the one who can, and does, deal with the people we don’t want to become, we also realize that we are not talking to ourselves. God continues to listen, to hear and to respond even when we are unable to notice. It may be along the lines of modern phone connections that are so crisp and clear it can sound as if the connection has been broken if the person at the receiving end of the call is thinking about a response or soaking in the seriousness of what has just been said on the sending end. By asking the question aloud about God’s presence we are able to tell that the connection is open and that God continues to be our strength and shield.

February 1, 2016
LCM