Read
A Prayer for Help
1Why are you far away, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself
when I am in trouble?
2Proud and brutal people
hunt down the poor.
But let them get caught
by their own evil plans!
3The wicked brag about
their deepest desires.
Those greedy people hate
and curse you, Lord.
4The wicked are too proud
to turn to you
or even think about you.
5They are always successful,
though they can't understand
your teachings,
and they keep sneering
at their enemies.
6In their hearts they say,
“Nothing can hurt us!
We'll always be happy
and free from trouble.”
7 They curse and tell lies,
and all they talk about
is how to be cruel
or how to do wrong.
8They hide outside villages,
waiting to strike and murder
some innocent victim.
9They are hungry lions
hiding in the bushes,
hoping to catch
some helpless passerby.
They trap the poor in nets
and drag them away.
10They crouch down and wait
to grab a victim.
11They say, “God can't see!
He's got on a blindfold.”
12Do something, Lord God,
and use your powerful arm
to help those in need.
13The wicked don't respect you.
In their hearts they say,
“God won't punish us!”
14But you see the trouble
and the distress,
and you will do something.
The poor can count on you,
and so can orphans.
15Now break the power
of all merciless people.
Punish them for doing wrong
and make them stop.
16Our Lord, you will always rule,
but every godless nation
will vanish from the earth.
17You listen to the longings
of those who suffer.
You offer them hope,
and you pay attention
to their cries for help.
18You defend orphans
and everyone else in need,
so that no one on earth
can terrify others again.
Reflect
Here it is again: that tight-rope balance on the hard-edge of human reality. Living in our very broken world full of injustice, unfairness and violence while at the same time daring to believe in God who sees, who hears, who knows and who will bring an eternal justice. But isn’t our real struggle with When will justice come?
It is comforting to know that the psalmist was asking the same questions that we do. And there is most often a relational question at the heart of our other questions—like the one the psalmist is asking in today’s reading: God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you? When will you put an end to the wicked windbags with foul breath, mouths full of hexes, spitting venom, lying in wait to pounce on the helpless, living their charmed lives before our eyes? Aren’t these our questions when life feels like we’re swimming in the industrial-harbor-garbage-scum of wicked and corrupt people and practices?
These are human questions. These are relational God-questions.
And just before we all drown in the litany of wicked garbage scum, the psalmist cries out a declaration-affirming faith. Of commitment to God who is not indifferent to the plight of the fatherless and the poor and the downtrodden—even though it may appear so at first scum-glance.
Time to get up, God—get moving. The psalmist remembers. And God who knows this litany all too well, invites us to climb back onto that tight rope of faith and reality—and announce that the reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended. To once more choose faith in God who not only sees the wicked garbage scum all around under the tight rope, and rather than avoiding us, he is actually stabilizing us on our tight-rope walk.
Respond
Father God, thank you for inviting us over and over again to find the balance on that tight-rope of our human experience. Keep our eyes focused on Jesus who is the way through scum-filled surroundings. We pray in the name of Jesus who knows and understands human journey. Amen.
Elaine Pountney
Integration: a key word in Elaine’s life. Integrating a Science Degree into Counselling; integrating healing and wholeness into effective team building in an international business context (e.g. Sony Canada, Ontario Hydro, Schonbek LIghting); integrating counselling concepts with a Biblical understanding of what builds healthy communities and relationships with groups in the Caucasus, Africa, Brazil and the Arctic. Is it any wonder that she now works with leaders across Canada ‘bringing the pieces together’ toward Spiritual Integration? Publications: Reclaiming the Wonder of Sexuality. Trafford Pub: BC, Canada. 2008; “Reclaiming the wonder of sexuality: toward a Biblical understanding of male & female” teaching manual.