A ministry of presence
Friday June 23, 2017
Psalm
13
How
long will you forget me, LORD?
Forever?
How
long will you hide your face from me?
How
long will I be left to my own wits,
Agony
filling my heart? Daily?
How
long will my enemy keep defeating me?
Look
at me!
Answer
me, LORD my God!
Restore
sight to my eyes!
Otherwise,
I’ll sleep the sleep of death,
And
my enemy will say, “I won!”
My
foes will rejoice over my downfall.
But I
have trusted in your faithful love.
My
heart will rejoice in your salvation.
Yes,
I will sing to the LORD
Because
he has been good to me.
The Lament psalms give us a template for faithful
response to others who find themselves in the pit. We live in such a face paced society that we
allow almost no time to grieve or to suffer.
When we transpose that secular expectation into our faith communities,
we do a disservice to one another. Here
is a place to honor the plea “how long, Oh Lord?” Here is a place where we can create a safe
place to honestly share our doubts, fears and struggles. Here is a place where on any given Sunday we
can lean on the praise and faithfulness of one another if we find ourselves in
the pit.
Prayer: God of
desert places, we remember the moments that Christ suffered and know that we
are not alone in our suffering. Help us
to be mindful of those in our world who have found themselves in a place of
abandonment. In your Holy name we pray,
Amen.
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