Psalm Meditation 888
Proper 7
June 25, 2017

Psalm 70
1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O LORD, make haste to help me!
2 Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt me.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!” turn back because of their shame.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!
(NRSV)

At times in our lives we feel as if everyone is out to get us; and sometimes they really are. The temptation is to curl up in a ball to protect ourselves from the onslaught of evil that seeks to do us in, and from that position to cry out for help and rescue. The psalmist cries out for the deliverance that only God can bring. The hope is that God will settle down next to us, scoop our balled up body of fear and anxiety into the divine lap to offer a moment of comfort, relief, and deliverance.

In the lap of God we may find sufficient comfort to uncurl ourselves enough to realize that we are not alone. We are not the only ones suffering, we are not even the only ones suffering these particular slings and arrows. We are surrounded by folks who love and care for us. They are waiting with a mix of patience and anxiety as we find ourselves able to rejoin this community and ask for what we want and need.

It starts with God who has the ability to hear our hearts and to meet us where we are; in our brightest and best as well as our darkest and worst. “O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!”

June 19, 2017
LCM