Psalm Meditation 1101 Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time July 25, 2021 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) Even though this psalm may not resonate with you doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to you. If you are lucky enough not to be poor and needy, this psalm by one who is can teach us what at least one poor and needy person thinks and feels. They long for help from God and hope that any of us who may be guilty of doing the picking on and harassing will come to ruin with the help of God. We all feel picked on from time to time. Many of us have resources to help us get through those times. We have parents, spouses, children, friends, or combinations of these to give us support and comfort when others are miking our lives miserable. Direct intervention by God would be helpful, though much of the work of God will be done through family and friends. Instead of assuming that we are picked on as badly as the psalmist and those in the same boat, perhaps we can be an agent of God (an angel), by offering help and support that people like the psalmist do not have access to otherwise. We have each justified our lack of action by knowing that it is not our concern, that this other somehow deserves what is happening to them, leaving it to others closer to this other to support them, or worse yet, participating in the bullying oppression. For those who have no support network, we can look for ways to live out the presence of God for them, if even for a moment. “Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.” July 20, 2021 LCM