Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
July 25, 2022
Invitatory
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him.
Reading: Psalm 56
Have mercy on me, O God, for my enemies are hounding me; *
all day long they assault and oppress me.
They hound me all the day long; *
truly there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
Whenever I am afraid, *
I will put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I trust and will not be afraid, *
for what can flesh do to me?
All day long they damage my cause; *
their only thought is to do me evil.
They band together; they lie in wait; *
they spy upon my footsteps; because they seek my life.
Shall they escape despite their wickedness? *
O God, in your anger, cast down the peoples.
You have noted my lamentation; put my tears into your bottle; *
are they not recorded in your book?
Whenever I call upon you, my enemies will be put to flight; *
this I know, for God is on my side.
In God the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust and will not be afraid, *
for what can mortals do to me?
I am bound by the vow I made to you, O God; *
I will present to you thank-offerings;
For you have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling, *
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
Meditation – Peter Vanderveen
It seems incongruous to me to try to offer a meditation on a meditation, for this is what many psalms are meant to be already – texts to be pondered, patiently. Or maybe the exercise that seems most in keeping with modern life is, instead, to continually cull the most pertinent details from a text that seems simply too long for sustained interest, even at only twelve verses. Wouldn’t it be great if everything – the whole terrain of life – could be captured in an elevator speech. Often that’s all the time we’re willing to give.
In our worship, the Psalms have fallen victim to a kind of procedural indifference. If they’re spoken, one can hear the dry recitation in the voices of the people. Words on a page. Read in monotones. Each line following the next without any pause that might register empathy or surprise or shock or astonishment. The Psalms twist and turn around the extremes of life: blessings and curses, anxiety and trust, aloneness amid a host of enemies, the prospect of death set against hope in God. But you’d never guess this by hearing them. We lock all of this turbulence within a steady drone. And on we go.
When the Psalms are sung, the music provides a more dramatic setting. But as often happens within liturgies, many perceive the psalm, then, more in form than in content. It provides a short musical interlude between the Scriptures that are read, that, by our reading them, are naturally given more attention. It’s a rare occasion when a psalm becomes the focus of a sermon, and when this happens, chances are it’s by reason of default. The rest of the appointed texts may have been deemed too problematic or altogether too familiar for exposition.
I’m not sure what written things get close readings any more. We’ve learned that it’s best if we can breeze through or skim over texts. Our loss. Especially with the Psalms. For they’re intended to place us within the dynamics of life that are always present. We’re invited to take the psalmist’s position, to see with his eyes, to breathe as he breathes. This can’t be done in an instant. We have to conjure up the scene. What is it like to be hounded? What does it mean to rely on God’s word? What is demanded if we can imagine letting go of the concerns of the flesh? How do we perceive God if we picture our tears gathered in a bottle? These questions can’t really be answered. They’re intended to be felt, mulled over, as if time itself pauses with us as we contemplate the world we are being shown.
So don’t move on immediately to the prayer and to the end of this document. Not right away. Read the psalm again, as slowly as you can.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
