Psalm 17:1-7, 16

1 Hear my plea of innocence, O Lord; give heed to my cry; listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips.
2 Let my vindication come forth from your presence; let your eyes be fixed on justice.
3 Weigh my heart, summon me by night, melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
4 I give no offense with my mouth as others do; I have heeded the words of your lips.
5 My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law; in your paths my feet shall not stumble.
6 I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; incline your ear to me and hear my words.
7 Show me your marvelous loving-kindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise up against them.
16 But at my vindication I shall see your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

This year, Monday Matters is focused 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.

Vindication

Each week, I focus on a psalm presented by the lectionary. I respond to a word or phrase that grabs my attention or piques my interest. This week, I kept thinking about vindication, a word found not only in Psalm 17 (verse 2) but in many other psalms. The author of the psalm trusts in his ultimate vindication. It seems like the author thinks he has proved himself to be so special that he has earned the vindication of the Holy One. God is lucky to have him on the team. I find that attitude less than attractive, as it implies that God owes it to the author to vindicate him, as the author believes that God will find no impurity in him, that the psalmist has given no offense with his mouth. Let’s just say that I would not be able to make those claims for myself.

It got me thinking about one of Jesus’ parables, heard in church recently (see Matthew 13). A person planted a field. Good plants grew up. In the middle of the night, weeds were sown and grew up among the good plants, all intertwined. Folks working in the field ask the owner if the weeds should be uprooted. They want immediate vindication. The owner says to leave the weeds alone. Relax. They will be taken care of in due time.

There are various interpretations of the parable. That’s what makes parables so wonderful. Here’s what I take away: It’s not really our job to obsess about the bad things that crop up in the world. We won’t get rid of them. We aren’t the ones who need to fix everything. For some mysterious reason, those weeds are here among us, perhaps within us. We are called to trust that God will take care of them in the end, that God will bring about justice. As St. Paul said: It is God who justifies. We are called to wait for God’s vindication, called to believe that will happen. Maybe to take to heart the wisdom of Julian of Norwich: All will be well and all manner of things shall be well. When we are animated by that kind of trust, it changes the way we look at the world, at ourselves, at other folks. It has the potential to lower our anxiety. It can help us get along with others better. The repeated biblical injunction to avoid judging other people is a way of leaving the judgment to God.

That doesn’t mean we abdicate the call to address events in the world that trouble us. In fulfillment of baptismal promises, we strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being. I’m moved by the witness of St. Pauli Murray: “In not a single one of these little campaigns was I victorious. In other words, in each case, I personally failed, but I have lived to see the thesis upon which I was operating vindicated. And what I very often say is that I’ve lived to see my lost causes found.” Another vision of vindication came from martyr Alexei Navalny, who in his non-anxious way said before his eventual murder by Putin: “Everything will be all right. And even if it won’t be, we’ll have the consolation of having lived honest lives.”

Ultimately, a belief in God’s vindication is an expression of hope. Not vindication based on our own moral magnificence, not vindication due to our remarkable management skills, but vindication of God’s way in the world. What would it look like to trust in that vindication? I’m working on it. It’s a work in progress, for I can get all worked up about the things I see going on in the world, wanting to order the things that I see as out of order. I want vindication that my point of view is the right one. I can wish for bad things to happen to people who I think are doing bad things. My search for vindication too easily becomes vindictive.

The message of the psalm is that God is the source of vindication. God will be the ultimate healer of the world. As we make our stand on the hope that God is in charge, that God is about love and healing, we are freed to do whatever is set before us. To follow Jesus who came to serve. To be merciful with ourselves and those around us. To do our bit to make the world better and kinder. That’s a wonderful way to wait for God’s vindication. Experiment with it this week.

-Jay Sidebotham