Psalm 130

A Song of Ascents.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2     Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Maybe this psalm answers the questions that ended the reflection on Psalm 129.

The psalm writer moves quickly to tell us what they are crying out to God for – in vs. 3 they recognize that their iniquities condemn them and the only hope is in the forgiveness of God. Certainly iniquities – sins – could include a long list of things, but having Psalm 129 immediately before, makes one wonder if the iniquities in view include the desire for the vicious revenge named in that earlier psalm.

And if I am right in that suggestion, vs. 5, 6 take on the deepened meaning. There is the waiting for the forgiveness of God which is the promise that lies behind this psalm – but there is also the commitment to wait for God to act in relationship to the oppression that was the dominant theme in Psalm 129. This psalm, 130, come to rest in the hope of God’s great power to redeem (vs. 7) – both in forgiveness and in bringing redemption (rescue) from oppressors.

For both redemptions the writer, and those who sang this psalm, waiting with eager anticipation, with great hope, a hope that the moment would arrive but that that moment could not come quickly enough. “More than those who watch for the morning” – anyone who has waited for the morning to dawn, those who have waited for the night to end – know this waiting with bated breath, this expectation.

In God’s hands is the redemption of forgiveness – in God’s hands is the redemption of liberation from oppression. Both are sure and certain for they are in God’s hands.

PRAYER:

O Lord, more than those who watch for the morning we wait with eager longing for the day of redemption to come, when the world will be freed from oppression. We rejoice that that day is already dawning, for in Jesus Christ the redemption of forgiveness of sin has been poured out on the world. You are mighty to save, save us, Lord, save us and all of humanity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.      

Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents.

1 ‘Often have they attacked me from my youth’
    —let Israel now say—
2 ‘often have they attacked me from my youth,
    yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 Those who plough ploughed on my back; they made their furrows long.’
4 The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back.
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops that withers before it grows up,
7 with which reapers do not fill their hands or binders of sheaves their arms,
8 while those who pass by do not say,
    ‘The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
    We bless you in the name of the Lord!’

This psalm unsettles us because it desires the punishment of those who have oppressed the people of God. We are uncomfortable with ideas of punishment especially when a passage in the Bible calls for such severe punishment (vs. 4-6). If we can bracket that for a moment.

The oppression described in the psalm experienced by the people of God has been severe and of long-standing – “from my youth” (vs. 1), “ploughed my back…furrows long” (vs. 3). In the face of such oppression and hurt, the desire to see the perpetrator held accountable, to see the perpetrator punished, is not surprising. To voice such a desire on the basis of what one has experienced themselves oneself makes sense. To express such a desire for retribution on behalf of loved ones is also to be expected. Before we decide that such words and thoughts are not appropriate, it is important to let people live into their pain, and to express the pain we feel.

But the words of vs. 7, 8 catch us – catch us both as readers, and as people who may wish such punishment on others. And the punishment wished for is that the oppressors would not flourish, that no one would offer them blessing, that in fact the wish is that harm would come to the oppressor. And this should catch us and make us ask questions – for the desire that the oppressor not succeed, that they not flourish, is exactly what the oppressor has wished for the ones they oppress. And so with the last words the people saying these words become oppressors, asking that others be oppressed.

It is true the psalm does not indicate that the singers’ attitude changed, but it the question is left hanging – were they caught by these words and caused to reflect on what they were asking for? Did their own words challenge them to think towards mercy rather than revenge?

PRAYER: 

O Lord, we confess our anger and bitterness at those who have hurt us and our loved ones. We have wanted you to punish our opponents and crush those who oppressed us. Confront us with how vengeful we can be, and bring us to repentance and change us to be people of mercy and grace just as your Son, Jesus, was and is. In his name we pray. Amen.