Psalm 130
Psalm 130 falls into all kinds of categories. It is one of the Psalms of Ascent (meaning it was used in pilgrimage, as a way to prepare to attend religious festivals in Jerusalem). It is a lament psalm, but of a specific kind, a penitential lament. In other words, the lament here is not for what outside forces are doing to someone, but for how their life is not whole due to their own errors. It is also a psalm of hope.
A couple of fascinating things about this Psalm. First, although at the beginning it seems to be a prayer of confession by one person, it morphs into a prayer about the nation in the final two verses. This is in keeping with the sensibility of Hebrew prayer that there is little separation between an individual and the collective "people" or "nation." This is particularly hard for individual-oriented Americans to understand. When we sin as individuals, the sin impacts many people. When many people sin together (as when a nation makes mistakes), that sin impacts individuals.
The opening lines of this Psalm, in Latin, "De Profundis," pick up the strongest emotion possible. The "depths" are shorthand for the depths of the sea, the sense of the waters rising so high that we are covered and see no way back to the surface and the breath of life. Walter Brueggemann comments in his book The Message of the Psalms that "the gospel affirms that the cries from the depths are the voices to which Yahweh is peculiarly attuned." (p. 104).
That hope, that God is indeed attuned to hear the most agonizing cry of a human being, sits at the heart of the Psalm. The words "wait" and "hope" are synonyms in Hebrew. Together they are repeated five times in the Psalm. Elie Wiesel has said that a "passion for hope" is what makes a Jew a Jew. This is a hope rooted in God, beyond human capacity for understanding or action. It is not a hope rooted in what seems humanly possible or logical or realistic. And it is not a hope that can always be satisfied quickly.
I am coming to this Psalm this week keenly aware of the power of the individual penitential lament, but also keenly aware of the need for the church as well as our nation to engage in this activity. We need to be in touch with the honesty of lament and the possibility of hope (no, this is not an endorsement of Obama, though it is interesting how he has tapped into the basic human need and capacity for hope). Maybe most of all we need to learn how to wait in ambiguity.
A couple of fascinating things about this Psalm. First, although at the beginning it seems to be a prayer of confession by one person, it morphs into a prayer about the nation in the final two verses. This is in keeping with the sensibility of Hebrew prayer that there is little separation between an individual and the collective "people" or "nation." This is particularly hard for individual-oriented Americans to understand. When we sin as individuals, the sin impacts many people. When many people sin together (as when a nation makes mistakes), that sin impacts individuals.
The opening lines of this Psalm, in Latin, "De Profundis," pick up the strongest emotion possible. The "depths" are shorthand for the depths of the sea, the sense of the waters rising so high that we are covered and see no way back to the surface and the breath of life. Walter Brueggemann comments in his book The Message of the Psalms that "the gospel affirms that the cries from the depths are the voices to which Yahweh is peculiarly attuned." (p. 104).
That hope, that God is indeed attuned to hear the most agonizing cry of a human being, sits at the heart of the Psalm. The words "wait" and "hope" are synonyms in Hebrew. Together they are repeated five times in the Psalm. Elie Wiesel has said that a "passion for hope" is what makes a Jew a Jew. This is a hope rooted in God, beyond human capacity for understanding or action. It is not a hope rooted in what seems humanly possible or logical or realistic. And it is not a hope that can always be satisfied quickly.
I am coming to this Psalm this week keenly aware of the power of the individual penitential lament, but also keenly aware of the need for the church as well as our nation to engage in this activity. We need to be in touch with the honesty of lament and the possibility of hope (no, this is not an endorsement of Obama, though it is interesting how he has tapped into the basic human need and capacity for hope). Maybe most of all we need to learn how to wait in ambiguity.
posted by shelly @ 10:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home