Psalm Meditation 1063 All Saints Day November 1, 2020 Psalm 39 1 I said, “I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.” 2 I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse, 3 my heart became hot within me. While I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. 5 You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah 6 Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; they heap up, and do not know who will gather. 7 “And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 9 I am silent; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. 10 Remove your stroke from me; I am worn down by the blows of your hand. 11 “You chastise mortals in punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is dear to them; surely everyone is a mere breath. Selah 12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears. 13 Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more.” (NRSV) Our inclination is to see God as the source of deliverance from all the terrible things we face in our lives. The psalmist is convinced that God is causing these terrible things as a punishment for some unidentified transgressions. Even as the psalmist places hope in God for relief from suffering the realization dawns that God is the one giving this beat down. Things are so bad that those who are inclined to make light of the suffering of others can see that the psalmist is being humiliated by God who is supposed to help out in situations like this. While we are quick to say that God punishes others for their sins and transgressions, we are not as quick to see God as out to get us. When Job is stripped of his possessions, assets, and loved ones his friends gather to let him know that it is his fault and if he will admit guilt and repent God will forgive him. Job is sure that there is another cause. In the end, the friends are told to apologize to Job and to have him pray for them because God is not as vindictive as the friends want to believe. The psalmist asks God to turn away so that there can be some relief before dying. Convince that God is the cause of all this suffering, the psalmist wants to be left alone by God so that there can be a moment of peace before drifting off into nothingness. Job, on the other hand, continues to hope in God for the present and the future. We too can know that God is with us. We are not promised that we will get through life with all of our stuff intact. We are promised that God will be with us. Sometimes it works out, as it did for Job, that we are able to recover and rebound. Sometimes we have to count it all loss and move ahead in the presence of God alone. October 26, 2020 LCM