Psalms 69 and 70

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POST XXVI OF LX

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The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days.  I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 226

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In Psalm 70, nearly identical to the end of Psalm 40, the Psalmist asks God for deliverance from and revenge upon foes who threaten his life.

The theme of lament also exists in Psalm 69, apparently by a faithful Jew living in exile after the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem.  The exile has many enemies–strangers, relatives, and former friends.  He is figuratively drowning in their scorn.  He also seeks deliverance from and vengeance upon his enemies.

As I reread Psalm 69 again the first time in preparation for this post, I focused on the timeless sense of enduring rejection (for the sake of righteousness) from those one knows best.  I have read and heard many accounts of people over time who, upon leaving one religion, sect, or denomination for another, have had to cope with rejection by their relatives and former friends who have not converted.  Frequently the alienation from one’s former circle has been permanent.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he’ll take and shield thee,

thou wilt find a solace there.

–Joseph M. Screven, circa 1855

My only disagreement with that fragment of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is that a friend does not despise and forsake another friend.  No, friends take care of and look out for each other; one does not reject and become an enemy of another while remaining a friend.  In Judaism God is like what God does.  Likewise, we are like what we do.

May we never forget that, when we experience trauma and cry out to God in that context, we might feel alone yet are not, if we walk with God.  May we also know that, although the desire for revenge is natural, it is unhealthy.  It is, actually, self-destructive and spiritually poisonous.  I do take comfort, however, that one can express even the most unpleasant feelings to God safely.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 12, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THADDEUS STEVENS, U.S. ABOLITIONIST, CONGRESSMAN, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

THE FEAST OF SARAH FLOWER ADAMS, ENGLISH UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER; AND HER SISTER, ELIZA FLOWER, ENGLISH UNITARIAN COMPOSER

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