Home » Posts filed under Psalms
Showing posts with label Psalms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalms. Show all posts

Monday, August 15, 2011


Near the end of the book of Psalms we find the Songs of Ascent, or the Pilgrim Psalms as they are sometimes called.  The Psalms in this group (Psalm 120-134) bear the superscription (title) a song of ascents.  Some of them are also ascribed to an author (four by David, one by Solomon).  Sometimes our English translations of the bible have titles put into other books.  You may find titles like “The Crucifixion” or “The Feeding of 5000”.  These are put in by the publisher to help us find things.  They are not from the original manuscripts of the biblical books.  The titles in the book of Psalms however, come form the original manuscripts.  They are, in every sense, biblical.  In fact in the Hebrew bible the verse numbers are usually inconsistent from the English numbers because in Hebrew they count the title as verse one.  (Verse numbers were also put in later to make it easier for people like us.)

The Psalms with the title “A Song of Ascents” is directly translated.  The Psalms that bear this title from  a worship book that was used in celebrations, at festivals in the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day.  These songs would also be sung as the pilgrims ascended to Jerusalem for the festival.  Jerusalem is on a hill. So from miles around on their approach those journeying to the festival would be ascending.  It is a beautiful picture of corporate worship, lines of people on converging roads heading up to the city and singing together.  Estimates of the population of Jerusalem during the first century range from 30, 000 to 50, 000 people but during the festivals it would swell to 80,000 to 100, 000 people.  Imagine them all singing together.

These songs would also be sung as the sacrifice went up the 15 steps into the holy place. It would pause on each step and the congregations would sing.  Year after year they would sing these same 15 songs.

As with all prepared prayers or songs I am sure that each person singing would view the words differently from year to year.   One of the beauties of praying the same psalm at different times or using the same prayer (like the “Our Father” for instance) is that it connects to our own experience differently from one time to the next.  Take Psalm 127 for example:

Psalm 127:1-5 (NIV)
A song of ascents.
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves.
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
The first few verses would take on a different meaning to some one who was just starting a project than it would to a person who had just completed a project that had either been a success or a failure. 
I can’t remember where I read it but someone once wrote that prepared prayers and songs are like coat hangers that we hang our emotions and experiences on.  I think that is true.  Think of how differently a person would pray/sing verses 3-5 depending if they had no children but desperately wanted them, or if they had just had their first child, or if they had a child who was turning their back on the Lord, or their child had just died. 
God’s Word is alive and it has meaning for us no matter our circumstances.  I challenge you to pray one of these prayers and see how it speaks to you and then pray it again in a few months and see what God has to say through it then.

Mark Wallace

Psalms of Ascents

Monday, August 15, 2011 at 9:00 am · by Neil · in , No comments


Near the end of the book of Psalms we find the Songs of Ascent, or the Pilgrim Psalms as they are sometimes called.  The Psalms in this group (Psalm 120-134) bear the superscription (title) a song of ascents.  Some of them are also ascribed to an author (four by David, one by Solomon).  Sometimes our English translations of the bible have titles put into other books.  You may find titles like “The Crucifixion” or “The Feeding of 5000”.  These are put in by the publisher to help us find things.  They are not from the original manuscripts of the biblical books.  The titles in the book of Psalms however, come form the original manuscripts.  They are, in every sense, biblical.  In fact in the Hebrew bible the verse numbers are usually inconsistent from the English numbers because in Hebrew they count the title as verse one.  (Verse numbers were also put in later to make it easier for people like us.)

The Psalms with the title “A Song of Ascents” is directly translated.  The Psalms that bear this title from  a worship book that was used in celebrations, at festivals in the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day.  These songs would also be sung as the pilgrims ascended to Jerusalem for the festival.  Jerusalem is on a hill. So from miles around on their approach those journeying to the festival would be ascending.  It is a beautiful picture of corporate worship, lines of people on converging roads heading up to the city and singing together.  Estimates of the population of Jerusalem during the first century range from 30, 000 to 50, 000 people but during the festivals it would swell to 80,000 to 100, 000 people.  Imagine them all singing together.

These songs would also be sung as the sacrifice went up the 15 steps into the holy place. It would pause on each step and the congregations would sing.  Year after year they would sing these same 15 songs.

As with all prepared prayers or songs I am sure that each person singing would view the words differently from year to year.   One of the beauties of praying the same psalm at different times or using the same prayer (like the “Our Father” for instance) is that it connects to our own experience differently from one time to the next.  Take Psalm 127 for example:

Psalm 127:1-5 (NIV)
A song of ascents.
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves.
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
The first few verses would take on a different meaning to some one who was just starting a project than it would to a person who had just completed a project that had either been a success or a failure. 
I can’t remember where I read it but someone once wrote that prepared prayers and songs are like coat hangers that we hang our emotions and experiences on.  I think that is true.  Think of how differently a person would pray/sing verses 3-5 depending if they had no children but desperately wanted them, or if they had just had their first child, or if they had a child who was turning their back on the Lord, or their child had just died. 
God’s Word is alive and it has meaning for us no matter our circumstances.  I challenge you to pray one of these prayers and see how it speaks to you and then pray it again in a few months and see what God has to say through it then.

Mark Wallace

Monday, August 08, 2011


How many Psalms start with the thought…

Answer me when I call you (Psa 4)

O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning,


Listen to my cry for help (Psa 5), O Lord, how long will you forget me? forever? (Psa 13)


O Lord hear my plea (Psa 17), My God, my God! Why have you abandoned me? (Psa 22)


Do not turn a deaf ear to me (Psa 28), Turn your ear and listen to me (Psa 31), How long O Lord will you look on and do nothing! ( Psa 35), Listen to my pray, O God, Do not ignore my cry for help! Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? ( Psa 44), Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles (Psa 55), O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! (Psa 61), God, listen to my complaint (Psa 64),

For me, the most gut wrenching words have to be found in Psalm 77:

I cry out to God; yes, I shout.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord,
All night I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven
By yet my soul was not comforted.
I think of God and I moan;
Overwhelmed with longing for his help.
You don’t let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
…
Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
And I said, “This is my fate;
the Most High has turned his hand against me.”

The anguish in these questions is deep and life shattering. The psalmist puts into words the experience of so many; from ancient biblical times to this moment – from people in the famine and war torn regions of Somolia who are watching their children die – to personal journeys and questions held by people reading these words.

The Psalmist captures the agony, confusion and struggles of:

 Joseph during his 12 years in prison
 Abraham and Sarah as God’s promise never seemed to come
 Job and his unfathomable loss
 Jeremiah as a faithful prophet who was constantly rejected and mistreated
 The nation of Israel under the oppression of multiple invaders for generations, waiting and crying for the coming of the messiah
 The paralyzed man of Mark 2 and the Blind man of John 9
 The early martyrs of the church – and the terrible sufferings and death they faced
 Parents of, and persons with disabilities, whose conditions cause ongoing pain and suffering
 Of perhaps you – if you are not where you ever expected to be, facing many private and sometimes very unwanted public difficulties that alter and make life difficult

For some, the prayers have been so long asked and pleaded for, that you have ceased to pray for them because of the disappointment and pain of unanswered pray.  An important author in the early days of Theology of Disability was Nancy Eiesland, a person with a disability herself. She grew up in a faith community that believed that if you had enough faith, you could be/should be healed. She tells of her journey and pain of those days – of both praying and being prayed for. She recounts some of those time, those prayers that came often unasked for, because it was believed maybe she herself didn’t have enough faith. It caused her to eventually conclude. later as a theologian, that she was still living with a disability.

“[We must (those with disabilities] relinquish the belief in an all-powerful God who could heal – for if he could is painful. Yet, who is this god whose attention we cannot get, whose inability to respond to our pain causes still more pain? This God is surely not Emmanuel God with us”

I certainly understand why she comes to this conclusion, although I don’t agree with it. However, we are not fair or honest if we do not seek to understand the ‘why’ of her lament. But we must understand if we apply this line of questioning further we find that God cannot be God at all.

 There is disability in the world. If God could heal - I would be healed. Therefore disability is more powerful than God.
 There is terrible hunger in the world. If God could alleviate hunger - he would. Therefore, hunger is more powerful than God.
 There is war in the world. If God could stop war - he would. Therefore, war is more powerful.
 This situation that I’m facing is terrible and God does not do anything about it. If he loves me - he would stop it. he has not stopped me, God loves me, so, I must conclude he can’t do this thing, or answer this prayer so I can continue to believe he loves me.

This might be a simplistic reduction – but at its core, I think it is a conclusion we all are tempted to contemplate in some form We have trouble aligning the love of God with the realities of what is. If we stop reading this Psalm here - because of the pain of our questions, it can only lead to despair, hopelessness and the ceasing of all prayer. But that is not where the Psalmist leaves us. He continues,

But then I recall all you have done, O LORD;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
You are the God of great wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Interlude

What I find interesting here, is that none of the previous personal questions have been directly answered.

Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

Yet, the Psalmist seems to find a way to hold these unanswered personal questions in a tension of sorts. On the one hand, I have this reality that I am facing that seems to put into question God’s ability to hear and respond to me. On the other hand, I look into the past including Creation itself and see the work and presence of God throughout history. The Psalmist goes on to remember,

When the Red Sea[a] saw you, O God,
its waters looked and trembled!
The sea quaked to its very depths.
The clouds poured down rain;
the thunder rumbled in the sky.
Your arrows of lightning flashed.
Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world!
The earth trembled and shook.
Your road led through the sea,
your pathway through the mighty waters—
a pathway no one knew was there!
You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

We could add to this to the Psalm, we could say,

“We remember when you came to earth as man, born of a virgin to walk among us. We remember when you spoke the words of Father God, when you took upon yourself the sins of the world, my sin; when you granted to us the gift of eternal life …”

We could add the continued move of God’s hand over the last 2,000 years. It leads us, as it led the Psalmist, and Job, and Jeremiah, and a host of others, to look in the face of unanswered questions to hold firm to hope in the face of what seems to be today’s unanswered prayers. Ultimately, we know that the answer to these questions is ‘NO’

Has the Lord rejected me forever? NO!
Will he never again be kind to me? NO!
Is his unfailing love gone forever? NO!
Have his promises permanently failed? NO!
Has God forgotten to be gracious? NO!
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? NO!

Does it take away the reality of what I face today? Perhaps they will be answered in time. We certainly can see that from Biblical history God is not ‘slow in responding as some might think of being slow’ (see 2 Peter 3:9). The difficult reality is that although Jesus heals the paralytic in Mark 2, he did not heal all paralytics. Jesus heals the blind man of John 9 yet he did not heal all those who were blind, and so forth. Does this mean that Jesus’ love and compassion and awareness of all other paralytics and those who were blind did not exist? – certainly not. Does it mean that God is preferential or has only limited healing powers (can do one at a time)? No it does not. It does mean that we all hold deeply personal questions and hurts for which at the moment we do not have answers. I believe we do more damage by attempting to answer them. As a Pastor I get lots of questions: “Why did God…?” “Why doesn’t God…?” I must admit, as a young pastor I tried to find and give answers to those questions. So much so, in fact, that it caused a crisis in my own faith. I have come to the place that sometimes the only real answer that I can give to some of those difficult unanswered prayers with integrity is “I don’t know, but this is what I do know”:

He said let there be light and there was light!
He said to the sea part, and it did!
He said to His Son go walk and die, and he did!
He said “I am the resurrection and the life” and he is!
He said, “My child, your sins are forgiven you” and they are!
He said “you are not yet what you will appear to be” and I will one day be!

I can tell you, He has not rejected you; He has not slammed the door on His compassion for you even though for the moment, it certainly feels that way. He walks with you, in the midst of all your unanswered questions. Even though you have forgotten or lost the will, or are too afraid or in pain to pray about this thing. He has given you a comforter, who is continually groaning with words too deep to be understood by human ears but is constantly heard by God. He gives us promises such as found in Isa 40:30-32

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Your faith is not in question when you question God’s ability to hear – or struggle with what appears to be no forth coming answer. The greatest examples of our faith struggled with the same question– Christ himself, when teetering on the ragged edge of life and death, cried out” My God, My God, why have you forsaken me…” And for those terrible indescribable moments, it seemed God had. We know in this moment, God did not – He stood beside His Son feeling and experiencing the pain and agony – knowing that although for the world, for the disciples, for Christ’s mother, for His enemies, this appeared to be final defeat and all hope was lost, that God had failed to hear and answer, nothing could be further from the truth. God had answered the prayers of His people, before the foundations of the earth itself. God has not rejected and shut the door of compassion on you. The truth for the Christian is that victory is both coming and already here. Hold firmly to hope till its full revealing.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil








Too Weary to Pray

Monday, August 08, 2011 at 11:47 am · by Neil · in , 1 comment


How many Psalms start with the thought…

Answer me when I call you (Psa 4)

O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning,


Listen to my cry for help (Psa 5), O Lord, how long will you forget me? forever? (Psa 13)


O Lord hear my plea (Psa 17), My God, my God! Why have you abandoned me? (Psa 22)


Do not turn a deaf ear to me (Psa 28), Turn your ear and listen to me (Psa 31), How long O Lord will you look on and do nothing! ( Psa 35), Listen to my pray, O God, Do not ignore my cry for help! Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? ( Psa 44), Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles (Psa 55), O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! (Psa 61), God, listen to my complaint (Psa 64),

For me, the most gut wrenching words have to be found in Psalm 77:

I cry out to God; yes, I shout.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord,
All night I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven
By yet my soul was not comforted.
I think of God and I moan;
Overwhelmed with longing for his help.
You don’t let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
…
Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
And I said, “This is my fate;
the Most High has turned his hand against me.”

The anguish in these questions is deep and life shattering. The psalmist puts into words the experience of so many; from ancient biblical times to this moment – from people in the famine and war torn regions of Somolia who are watching their children die – to personal journeys and questions held by people reading these words.

The Psalmist captures the agony, confusion and struggles of:

 Joseph during his 12 years in prison
 Abraham and Sarah as God’s promise never seemed to come
 Job and his unfathomable loss
 Jeremiah as a faithful prophet who was constantly rejected and mistreated
 The nation of Israel under the oppression of multiple invaders for generations, waiting and crying for the coming of the messiah
 The paralyzed man of Mark 2 and the Blind man of John 9
 The early martyrs of the church – and the terrible sufferings and death they faced
 Parents of, and persons with disabilities, whose conditions cause ongoing pain and suffering
 Of perhaps you – if you are not where you ever expected to be, facing many private and sometimes very unwanted public difficulties that alter and make life difficult

For some, the prayers have been so long asked and pleaded for, that you have ceased to pray for them because of the disappointment and pain of unanswered pray.  An important author in the early days of Theology of Disability was Nancy Eiesland, a person with a disability herself. She grew up in a faith community that believed that if you had enough faith, you could be/should be healed. She tells of her journey and pain of those days – of both praying and being prayed for. She recounts some of those time, those prayers that came often unasked for, because it was believed maybe she herself didn’t have enough faith. It caused her to eventually conclude. later as a theologian, that she was still living with a disability.

“[We must (those with disabilities] relinquish the belief in an all-powerful God who could heal – for if he could is painful. Yet, who is this god whose attention we cannot get, whose inability to respond to our pain causes still more pain? This God is surely not Emmanuel God with us”

I certainly understand why she comes to this conclusion, although I don’t agree with it. However, we are not fair or honest if we do not seek to understand the ‘why’ of her lament. But we must understand if we apply this line of questioning further we find that God cannot be God at all.

 There is disability in the world. If God could heal - I would be healed. Therefore disability is more powerful than God.
 There is terrible hunger in the world. If God could alleviate hunger - he would. Therefore, hunger is more powerful than God.
 There is war in the world. If God could stop war - he would. Therefore, war is more powerful.
 This situation that I’m facing is terrible and God does not do anything about it. If he loves me - he would stop it. he has not stopped me, God loves me, so, I must conclude he can’t do this thing, or answer this prayer so I can continue to believe he loves me.

This might be a simplistic reduction – but at its core, I think it is a conclusion we all are tempted to contemplate in some form We have trouble aligning the love of God with the realities of what is. If we stop reading this Psalm here - because of the pain of our questions, it can only lead to despair, hopelessness and the ceasing of all prayer. But that is not where the Psalmist leaves us. He continues,

But then I recall all you have done, O LORD;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
You are the God of great wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Interlude

What I find interesting here, is that none of the previous personal questions have been directly answered.

Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

Yet, the Psalmist seems to find a way to hold these unanswered personal questions in a tension of sorts. On the one hand, I have this reality that I am facing that seems to put into question God’s ability to hear and respond to me. On the other hand, I look into the past including Creation itself and see the work and presence of God throughout history. The Psalmist goes on to remember,

When the Red Sea[a] saw you, O God,
its waters looked and trembled!
The sea quaked to its very depths.
The clouds poured down rain;
the thunder rumbled in the sky.
Your arrows of lightning flashed.
Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world!
The earth trembled and shook.
Your road led through the sea,
your pathway through the mighty waters—
a pathway no one knew was there!
You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

We could add to this to the Psalm, we could say,

“We remember when you came to earth as man, born of a virgin to walk among us. We remember when you spoke the words of Father God, when you took upon yourself the sins of the world, my sin; when you granted to us the gift of eternal life …”

We could add the continued move of God’s hand over the last 2,000 years. It leads us, as it led the Psalmist, and Job, and Jeremiah, and a host of others, to look in the face of unanswered questions to hold firm to hope in the face of what seems to be today’s unanswered prayers. Ultimately, we know that the answer to these questions is ‘NO’

Has the Lord rejected me forever? NO!
Will he never again be kind to me? NO!
Is his unfailing love gone forever? NO!
Have his promises permanently failed? NO!
Has God forgotten to be gracious? NO!
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? NO!

Does it take away the reality of what I face today? Perhaps they will be answered in time. We certainly can see that from Biblical history God is not ‘slow in responding as some might think of being slow’ (see 2 Peter 3:9). The difficult reality is that although Jesus heals the paralytic in Mark 2, he did not heal all paralytics. Jesus heals the blind man of John 9 yet he did not heal all those who were blind, and so forth. Does this mean that Jesus’ love and compassion and awareness of all other paralytics and those who were blind did not exist? – certainly not. Does it mean that God is preferential or has only limited healing powers (can do one at a time)? No it does not. It does mean that we all hold deeply personal questions and hurts for which at the moment we do not have answers. I believe we do more damage by attempting to answer them. As a Pastor I get lots of questions: “Why did God…?” “Why doesn’t God…?” I must admit, as a young pastor I tried to find and give answers to those questions. So much so, in fact, that it caused a crisis in my own faith. I have come to the place that sometimes the only real answer that I can give to some of those difficult unanswered prayers with integrity is “I don’t know, but this is what I do know”:

He said let there be light and there was light!
He said to the sea part, and it did!
He said to His Son go walk and die, and he did!
He said “I am the resurrection and the life” and he is!
He said, “My child, your sins are forgiven you” and they are!
He said “you are not yet what you will appear to be” and I will one day be!

I can tell you, He has not rejected you; He has not slammed the door on His compassion for you even though for the moment, it certainly feels that way. He walks with you, in the midst of all your unanswered questions. Even though you have forgotten or lost the will, or are too afraid or in pain to pray about this thing. He has given you a comforter, who is continually groaning with words too deep to be understood by human ears but is constantly heard by God. He gives us promises such as found in Isa 40:30-32

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Your faith is not in question when you question God’s ability to hear – or struggle with what appears to be no forth coming answer. The greatest examples of our faith struggled with the same question– Christ himself, when teetering on the ragged edge of life and death, cried out” My God, My God, why have you forsaken me…” And for those terrible indescribable moments, it seemed God had. We know in this moment, God did not – He stood beside His Son feeling and experiencing the pain and agony – knowing that although for the world, for the disciples, for Christ’s mother, for His enemies, this appeared to be final defeat and all hope was lost, that God had failed to hear and answer, nothing could be further from the truth. God had answered the prayers of His people, before the foundations of the earth itself. God has not rejected and shut the door of compassion on you. The truth for the Christian is that victory is both coming and already here. Hold firmly to hope till its full revealing.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil








Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Copyright "Lament" Kathie Kollwitz
Neil and I were at a conference two weeks ago on “Theology and Disability”.  Many of the attendees were persons who had a disability themselves or were close family members of a person with a disability.  One of the discussion sessions was about how church communities can welcome/respond to persons with a disability.  Of course, there were many horror stories of when it had went wrong as well as some success stories.   One of the biggest complaints was the perception everyone gives at church is that life is perfect and everything’s great.  Over and over people shared  church was not a place where it felt they could share hurts or difficulties.  It seamed more a gathering of happy people who came together to sing happy songs.  If they or their child could not fit in with the happy norm they felt like outcasts.  For many, church was nothing like real life. It was fake people wearing happy masks.  Some pointed out the need to break out of this fakeness and become a community where pain can be honestly expressed.  The subject quickly turned to the need to be communities that include lament (which often precedes rejoicing).

The Psalms of Lament are the biggest single category of psalms in the Bible.  They comprise over one third of the book of Psalms.  Yet our worship rarely draws on them.  Walter Bruggerman in his writing on the Psalms notes in Anglican liturgy all the lament psalms are ignored except psalm 22.  He argues that we would probably like to ignore that one too except Jesus quotes it so they grudgingly admit that it exists. 

Real life is messy but often our church experience is one where we don’t feel free to express what we are really going through.  Bruggerman also points out that because lament is so seldom used in our churches and those ideas are so seldom expressed that people who are having trouble feel either; guilty that they aren’t all happy and joyful like those around them or; they themselves just go into denial mode and add to the fake smiling masses. 

Lament is real.  It is honest.  We all have things in our lives from time to time that are lamentable.  The lament psalms follow a pattern.  They begin desperate, laying out a situation with no hope.  Brugerman calls this part of the plsams “disorientation” often when tragedy hits us it challenges what we assumed to be true.  As David Kennedy (the grief counselor that developed the Grief Matters material we use to train staff) puts it “our assumptive world view is challenged”.  Suddenly things don’t make sense.   

The lament psalms do not leave us in the disorientation stage though.  Each of them (with one possible exception) moves towards hope.  The psalmist always comes around to holding on to the truths they know about God.  Psalm 13 is a great example.

Psalm 13:1-6 (NIV)
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
Brugerman calls the last part “reorientation”.  The lamentable situation is not removed but the psalmist is hopeful that God will work somehow.  Often these portions draw on past times that God has come through.
One of the men who was at this conference who serves as a pastor and himself is a person with  a disability stated that he often experiences this same pattern when he is introduced to a new church.  In his opinion,  often when churches encounter a person (or pastor) with a disability their assumptive worldview is challenged.  They go through disorientation and slowly work to reorientation.  Having someone who doesn’t fit “the mould” challenges the pasted on fakeness and makes it ok for people to admit where they may be finding life hard.
It is OK to lament.  God already knows how you feel.  You can’t fool God.  Why bother trying to fool everyone else.  Lament but be hopeful.  Be honest with God while remaining respectful.  Draw hope from those times he has come through.

Mark Wallace


Lament

Tuesday, August 02, 2011 at 11:38 am · by Neil · in , No comments

Copyright "Lament" Kathie Kollwitz
Neil and I were at a conference two weeks ago on “Theology and Disability”.  Many of the attendees were persons who had a disability themselves or were close family members of a person with a disability.  One of the discussion sessions was about how church communities can welcome/respond to persons with a disability.  Of course, there were many horror stories of when it had went wrong as well as some success stories.   One of the biggest complaints was the perception everyone gives at church is that life is perfect and everything’s great.  Over and over people shared  church was not a place where it felt they could share hurts or difficulties.  It seamed more a gathering of happy people who came together to sing happy songs.  If they or their child could not fit in with the happy norm they felt like outcasts.  For many, church was nothing like real life. It was fake people wearing happy masks.  Some pointed out the need to break out of this fakeness and become a community where pain can be honestly expressed.  The subject quickly turned to the need to be communities that include lament (which often precedes rejoicing).

The Psalms of Lament are the biggest single category of psalms in the Bible.  They comprise over one third of the book of Psalms.  Yet our worship rarely draws on them.  Walter Bruggerman in his writing on the Psalms notes in Anglican liturgy all the lament psalms are ignored except psalm 22.  He argues that we would probably like to ignore that one too except Jesus quotes it so they grudgingly admit that it exists. 

Real life is messy but often our church experience is one where we don’t feel free to express what we are really going through.  Bruggerman also points out that because lament is so seldom used in our churches and those ideas are so seldom expressed that people who are having trouble feel either; guilty that they aren’t all happy and joyful like those around them or; they themselves just go into denial mode and add to the fake smiling masses. 

Lament is real.  It is honest.  We all have things in our lives from time to time that are lamentable.  The lament psalms follow a pattern.  They begin desperate, laying out a situation with no hope.  Brugerman calls this part of the plsams “disorientation” often when tragedy hits us it challenges what we assumed to be true.  As David Kennedy (the grief counselor that developed the Grief Matters material we use to train staff) puts it “our assumptive world view is challenged”.  Suddenly things don’t make sense.   

The lament psalms do not leave us in the disorientation stage though.  Each of them (with one possible exception) moves towards hope.  The psalmist always comes around to holding on to the truths they know about God.  Psalm 13 is a great example.

Psalm 13:1-6 (NIV)
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
Brugerman calls the last part “reorientation”.  The lamentable situation is not removed but the psalmist is hopeful that God will work somehow.  Often these portions draw on past times that God has come through.
One of the men who was at this conference who serves as a pastor and himself is a person with  a disability stated that he often experiences this same pattern when he is introduced to a new church.  In his opinion,  often when churches encounter a person (or pastor) with a disability their assumptive worldview is challenged.  They go through disorientation and slowly work to reorientation.  Having someone who doesn’t fit “the mould” challenges the pasted on fakeness and makes it ok for people to admit where they may be finding life hard.
It is OK to lament.  God already knows how you feel.  You can’t fool God.  Why bother trying to fool everyone else.  Lament but be hopeful.  Be honest with God while remaining respectful.  Draw hope from those times he has come through.

Mark Wallace


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Psalm 1


1 Blessed is the person
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night.

3 They are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither
Whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish

I would think most of us would desire to be the blessed person, rather than the wicked one. We want to be the firm tree, rather than the chaff that gets blown away by a wind bag.  Two people are being contrasted here: a) the Blessed Person and b) the Wicked Person – each of whose attitudes and actions are described and compared. It is set up as a challenge for the person reading the psalm to question, “Which am I?”

Blessed can be understood as “Happy is the person” or “Joyful is the person”. We “own” much more of our mental and emotional well-being than we are willing to perhaps recognize. Notice the highly active words here - WALK, STAND, SIT. These are all things that we do each day – but the Psalmist is causing us to question were it that we mentally stand, walk and sit.

There’s a negative progression here, each step going deeper. We go from walking (the inward burn), to standing (verbalizing it with others) to --- sitting (open mocking). We become more entrenched and ‘fixed’ in our emotions, attitudes and actions. We journey from walking to eventually sitting – in rebellion and stubbornness.

Sometimes, I think of when my kids were small and we were walking through a mall. If there was something they had decided they wanted but they were not getting it,,they would walk and cry and complain. But at some point, when they saw that this strategy hadn’t worked, they would ramp it up and just stop, stand and cry – and refuse to move any further. Then as a final attempt to swing the decision, as I turned toward them, they would plop themselves down on the floor. Unfortunately, when I picked them up, they refused to put their feet down! That imagery works for us here. It is kind of the same process we find here in the Psalms, but now involves adults instead of children.

‘Walking in way’ the counsel of the wicked - getting carried away and swept up in the attitudes and actions of others. Usually the source is the result of us not getting our own way in some shape or form. It’s the idea of getting caught up and letting other voices speak for yours and then making their voices yours. There are people of influence and power that can ‘sweep’ you away into their way of thinking.

“Standing in way” of Sinners – The idea of a clique or ‘birds of a feather flock together’. It’s the choosing to ‘stand’, or to ‘stay’ in the place of complaint and dissatisfaction. I not just going with the flow anymore, I am part of it.

“Sitting in the seat” of mockers - making or delivering judgments. – Taking the position of a judge and jury. The mind sees it this way, so this is the way that it is – and my opinion is the right one. “I’m right and no matter what you say I won’t change my mind”.

The intent of the wicked here is to tear down, destroy, criticize, and sow strife and distrust. At its root is pride and selfishness. But what does a righteous person wanting and seeking a right standing before God do? They too have emotions, attitudes and actions. But rather than mock – they delight. “They delight in the law of the Lord” so much so that they meditate it both day and night. In other words, God’s Word affects every aspect of their life from waking to sleeping. There is no place, time, conversation or behaviour that God’s law does not guide and shape – it affects everything this person does. They see God has having complete authority. God’s law is a delight, not a burden or obligation – the person is seeking and eager to see how God’s law applies and is lived out in their life. This is not about the person who can recite bible verses in very situation, but who knows how to apply and live them out in real time.

Here we have a comparison between a tree and chaff. The right standing person is … “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither”.  The Wicked person is like chaff that gets blown way. The imagery here is one of the tree purposely planted in a specific place for a specific purpose -- stability, deep roots, strength – not blown way by the walkers, standers or sitters.

Why does the tree need to be firmly planted? Because it is difficult for the tree if it isn’t – those voices can be powerful and convincing. We discover in other Psalms that just because you follow God doesn’t make life easy or everything go your way. In fact, that is what a lot of psalms express, “Why does it seem the wicked prospers and those who follow you suffer loss…”?

The idea of being planted is the person drawing substance not from the opinions or accolades of people, but from the River of Life (God’s Spirit and Word) – its roots are deep in the soil and drawing constantly from the life giving power of the water. It symbolizes fertile ground – of life giving. This person gives ‘fruit in season’ to others in need – they know the right thing to and say in the right situation - they are word and actions that are life giving, encouraging and building. Contrast this to the wicked person who gives words of discouragement that tear down and bring destruction and ultimately death to those around them.  And whose leaf does not wither – that’s some powerful water. I’ve recently planted some small trees in my yard. Unfortunately, their leaves are withering. I am trying to water every night to enable survival, but the root systems are not yet established. What leaf does not wither except for plastic ones? It is a word of promise that by staying the course of being a right standing person that God will bring blessing and good through them – God will make their efforts prosper. There is lasting power in what they do.

Back to the wicked who are described as chaff that the wind blows away. There is a significant difference between a leaf that will not wither and chaff – chaff is dry, useless, dead and forgotten. This comparison paints a vivid picture for our Biblical friends. Threshing was common practice. The wheat would be separated by various methods – stomping, banging – and then the wheat heads would be thrown into the air. The wheat seed being heavier would fall to the ground, while the outer husk that surrounds the seed would be blown away. Am I juicy fruit that refreshes, or dry chaff that has nothing to offer?

Although, at the moment the walking, standing and sitting of the sinners and mockers may have power – in the end – it simply blows way – has no lasting power – although at the moment it appears to.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment – connect this with the earlier statement of sitting in the seat of the mockers (judgment). In the end, these people will have no voice, no power, and no place in the kingdom of God. All their power and influence is right now – and taken by force for their own gain – but it will have an end.

As I read this passage and work through its implications, I’m confronted with an uncomfortable question: Who am I? Am I a right standing person or a person walking, standing or sitting in the way of the wicked?

I can easily brush off the question with – well, of course I’m the right standing one, but then I have to look at the Palmist’s description and examine my own emotions, attitudes and actions. Maybe, I am walking or standing or sitting in places I should not be walking, standing or sitting. Are my words like ‘fruit in season’ or ‘dead and dry chaff’? Maybe am more like my children when they were young than I like to admit. I wonder how many times I myself – walk and complain, then stand and stamp my feet, then simply plop myself on the ground refusing to be moved. I may not like the answers I find.  I want to be a tree – but I can find myself too quickly in the seat of mockers than I like to think. In those cases, I must choose to no longer to sit, no longer to stand or walk in those ways – but to be planted – firmly by God by His river of Life, bearing good fruit for those I encounter today.

Anyway I was just thinking.



Neil
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 8:59 am · by Neil · in No comments

Psalm 1


1 Blessed is the person
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night.

3 They are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither
Whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish

I would think most of us would desire to be the blessed person, rather than the wicked one. We want to be the firm tree, rather than the chaff that gets blown away by a wind bag.  Two people are being contrasted here: a) the Blessed Person and b) the Wicked Person – each of whose attitudes and actions are described and compared. It is set up as a challenge for the person reading the psalm to question, “Which am I?”

Blessed can be understood as “Happy is the person” or “Joyful is the person”. We “own” much more of our mental and emotional well-being than we are willing to perhaps recognize. Notice the highly active words here - WALK, STAND, SIT. These are all things that we do each day – but the Psalmist is causing us to question were it that we mentally stand, walk and sit.

There’s a negative progression here, each step going deeper. We go from walking (the inward burn), to standing (verbalizing it with others) to --- sitting (open mocking). We become more entrenched and ‘fixed’ in our emotions, attitudes and actions. We journey from walking to eventually sitting – in rebellion and stubbornness.

Sometimes, I think of when my kids were small and we were walking through a mall. If there was something they had decided they wanted but they were not getting it,,they would walk and cry and complain. But at some point, when they saw that this strategy hadn’t worked, they would ramp it up and just stop, stand and cry – and refuse to move any further. Then as a final attempt to swing the decision, as I turned toward them, they would plop themselves down on the floor. Unfortunately, when I picked them up, they refused to put their feet down! That imagery works for us here. It is kind of the same process we find here in the Psalms, but now involves adults instead of children.

‘Walking in way’ the counsel of the wicked - getting carried away and swept up in the attitudes and actions of others. Usually the source is the result of us not getting our own way in some shape or form. It’s the idea of getting caught up and letting other voices speak for yours and then making their voices yours. There are people of influence and power that can ‘sweep’ you away into their way of thinking.

“Standing in way” of Sinners – The idea of a clique or ‘birds of a feather flock together’. It’s the choosing to ‘stand’, or to ‘stay’ in the place of complaint and dissatisfaction. I not just going with the flow anymore, I am part of it.

“Sitting in the seat” of mockers - making or delivering judgments. – Taking the position of a judge and jury. The mind sees it this way, so this is the way that it is – and my opinion is the right one. “I’m right and no matter what you say I won’t change my mind”.

The intent of the wicked here is to tear down, destroy, criticize, and sow strife and distrust. At its root is pride and selfishness. But what does a righteous person wanting and seeking a right standing before God do? They too have emotions, attitudes and actions. But rather than mock – they delight. “They delight in the law of the Lord” so much so that they meditate it both day and night. In other words, God’s Word affects every aspect of their life from waking to sleeping. There is no place, time, conversation or behaviour that God’s law does not guide and shape – it affects everything this person does. They see God has having complete authority. God’s law is a delight, not a burden or obligation – the person is seeking and eager to see how God’s law applies and is lived out in their life. This is not about the person who can recite bible verses in very situation, but who knows how to apply and live them out in real time.

Here we have a comparison between a tree and chaff. The right standing person is … “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither”.  The Wicked person is like chaff that gets blown way. The imagery here is one of the tree purposely planted in a specific place for a specific purpose -- stability, deep roots, strength – not blown way by the walkers, standers or sitters.

Why does the tree need to be firmly planted? Because it is difficult for the tree if it isn’t – those voices can be powerful and convincing. We discover in other Psalms that just because you follow God doesn’t make life easy or everything go your way. In fact, that is what a lot of psalms express, “Why does it seem the wicked prospers and those who follow you suffer loss…”?

The idea of being planted is the person drawing substance not from the opinions or accolades of people, but from the River of Life (God’s Spirit and Word) – its roots are deep in the soil and drawing constantly from the life giving power of the water. It symbolizes fertile ground – of life giving. This person gives ‘fruit in season’ to others in need – they know the right thing to and say in the right situation - they are word and actions that are life giving, encouraging and building. Contrast this to the wicked person who gives words of discouragement that tear down and bring destruction and ultimately death to those around them.  And whose leaf does not wither – that’s some powerful water. I’ve recently planted some small trees in my yard. Unfortunately, their leaves are withering. I am trying to water every night to enable survival, but the root systems are not yet established. What leaf does not wither except for plastic ones? It is a word of promise that by staying the course of being a right standing person that God will bring blessing and good through them – God will make their efforts prosper. There is lasting power in what they do.

Back to the wicked who are described as chaff that the wind blows away. There is a significant difference between a leaf that will not wither and chaff – chaff is dry, useless, dead and forgotten. This comparison paints a vivid picture for our Biblical friends. Threshing was common practice. The wheat would be separated by various methods – stomping, banging – and then the wheat heads would be thrown into the air. The wheat seed being heavier would fall to the ground, while the outer husk that surrounds the seed would be blown away. Am I juicy fruit that refreshes, or dry chaff that has nothing to offer?

Although, at the moment the walking, standing and sitting of the sinners and mockers may have power – in the end – it simply blows way – has no lasting power – although at the moment it appears to.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment – connect this with the earlier statement of sitting in the seat of the mockers (judgment). In the end, these people will have no voice, no power, and no place in the kingdom of God. All their power and influence is right now – and taken by force for their own gain – but it will have an end.

As I read this passage and work through its implications, I’m confronted with an uncomfortable question: Who am I? Am I a right standing person or a person walking, standing or sitting in the way of the wicked?

I can easily brush off the question with – well, of course I’m the right standing one, but then I have to look at the Palmist’s description and examine my own emotions, attitudes and actions. Maybe, I am walking or standing or sitting in places I should not be walking, standing or sitting. Are my words like ‘fruit in season’ or ‘dead and dry chaff’? Maybe am more like my children when they were young than I like to admit. I wonder how many times I myself – walk and complain, then stand and stamp my feet, then simply plop myself on the ground refusing to be moved. I may not like the answers I find.  I want to be a tree – but I can find myself too quickly in the seat of mockers than I like to think. In those cases, I must choose to no longer to sit, no longer to stand or walk in those ways – but to be planted – firmly by God by His river of Life, bearing good fruit for those I encounter today.

Anyway I was just thinking.



Neil

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)