Psalm 31:9-16



9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.

10 For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;
my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.

11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors,
a dismay to those of my acquaintance;
when they see me in the street they avoid me.

12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am as useless as a broken pot.

13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;
fear is all around; they put their heads together against me;
they plot to take my life.

14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.
I have said, "You are my God.

15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.

16 Make your face to shine upon your servant,
and in your loving-kindness save me."

This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Trouble

Do you ever wonder if people will remember you once you’re gone, maybe after you die, but also maybe after you move, or take a new job, or just fall out of a social circle? That wondering can be hard. And it’s hardly new. To be forgotten is just one element of human suffering indicated by the psalm heard in church yesterday (reprinted above).

That psalm, of which we read a portion, was crafted by someone who’s in trouble. Eyes filled with sorrow. Life wasted with grief. Strength failing. A reproach and dismay to the people around him. Actually, forgotten as if he was dead. Simply useless, like a broken ceramic pot, not good for anything. Happy Monday Morning to you, too. And happy Holy Week.

This psalm was read on Palm Sunday, a.k.a., the Sunday of the Passion, to kick off this most important week in the church year. By passion we mean suffering, a theme that grows in intensity this Holy Week as liturgies describe the suffering of Jesus. That suffering unfolds in many ways, including physical torture at the hands of taunting soldiers, callous religious leaders and feckless politicians. It culminates in one of the cruelest methods of capital punishment ever devised.

But as we move through this week, we find Jesus’ suffering has other dimensions. It comes not only with the opposition from those in power. It comes from those closest to him. They abandon him, betray him, deny him. In this Holy Week, meditate on the truth that the God of creation, present with us, was subjected to this kind of suffering.

Then also reflect on ways you may have felt like the psalmist. Are there times when you felt sorrow, wasted, strength gone, a reproach to people around you, or worse, have you ever felt forgotten? If indeed suffering is the promise life always keeps, we all are familiar with these experiences. They come with varying degrees of intensity and threat, but they show up in each of our lives. Sometimes, the folks who seem to gather the greatest elements of privilege are sometimes the ones who seem to suffer most. Go figure.

It can sustain us to know that the God of creation, present with us in Jesus Christ, knows that we have these experiences. More importantly, the Lord shared in them. That’s another way of saying that Jesus meets us with compassion, literally suffering along side of us. That means we are not alone in these experiences. It also means that we can show compassion to others.

Karen Armstrong, great scholar of the world’s faith traditions, says that the one value they hold in common is compassion. I love how St. Paul begins the second letter to the Corinthians. He wrote: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. 

This week, see if perhaps you can put aside your own agenda and focus on Holy Week. Let each liturgy in which you participate focus your meditation on the passion of Christ. Marvel at the premise that the Lord of creation came among us to live a life marked by suffering. Give thanks for how that life brings us new life. And with an eye on that compassion, look for a way to show compassion to someone who comes across your path this week.

One last note: I mentioned that we only heard part of the psalm in church yesterday. If you’re looking for a focus for this Holy Week, you might read the whole psalm. Note in particular the verse in which the psalmist says: Into your hands I commend my spirit, an expression of deep trust that Jesus expressed on the cross, a message of trust we’re invited to embrace in whatever suffering comes our way. From start to finish, the psalm surrounds the vivid description of suffering with an affirmation of God’s loving presence. In God's mind, we are never forgotten. May we this week and in all the weeks to come sense that presence.

- Jay Sidebotham

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