Twelfth Friday after Pentecost: The Naughty Psalms

I guess as good Christians of the New Covenant we're supposed to blush at all of the Psalmnodic pleas to God to crush our enemies and bash their babies' heads against rocks and so forth. But sometimes I wonder if those who consistantly bash the Psalmists for honestly pouring out their hearts to God have ever been truly hurt themselves. If you've ever been hurt--I mean really stabbed in the back--by someone you loved and cared for deeply, or've been slandered by someone to whom you thought you could turn in time of trouble, or've been devastated by a situation that was out of anyone's hands but God's just when you thought you were striking up major divine brownie points with the big Guy upstairs...then...read one of those naughty Psalms; the tears will start flowing.

Names, and faces--multiple faces--will vividly fill your imagination as you read desperate lines pleading with God to save you from "their" malicious talk, "their" evil ways, and "their" devious plans to ensare you. You will start to sob uncontrollably when David speaks of his eyes giving out from having searched for God so long...to no avail...and of his tear ducts drying up from crying so much it hurts.

And then right in the midst of your angst session..."forgive me, LORD, and I shall be white as snow." Your anger has been allowed to draw back the curtain of your heart to reveal the deep-seated blackness of hatred, envy, and pride. You realize that God is God, no matter who your "enemy" is, whether it is your former best friend or the hatred welling up inside of you. Then comes the repentance, and the rejoicing. Oh, the rejoicing! There's nothing quite like a good, joyful ending to an otherwise depressing Psalm.

Not all of them are like that, mind you, and they shouldn't be. Far from all of our human experiences of depression and angst turn to Joy within the forty seconds it takes to read a Psalm...but one thing is always present in these "naughty Psalms:" God.

The Psalmist never forgets that ultimately, God is, whatever the temporary circumstances might be. God looks on as the poor, broken creatures that we are, spewing poisionous, hateful venom out of deep, painful wounds of hurt, ceaselessly pointing our fingers at others as a reaction against our own sinful state, buck up to The Almighty with shouts of "Where are You?" "Don't you care?"...God is God enough to hear us in our pain...and simply be God.


God, who lets us be angry, be despairing, be hopeless.


God, who then gives us a reason for rejoicing--actually, the only reason for rejoicing--God's Self.




Peace be yours;
we have a solid Rock,
ever-present regardless
of all else. May you
feel the Presence
drawing you towards
the Rock, and find the
Welcome that is always
in the Rock's cleft.

In Welcome's Name,
"Amen."