Read: Psalm 70

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me!
-Psalm 70:1

Author Anne Lamott wrote a book eight years ago entitled Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, and I think this psalm would definitely be included in the “Help” section. Pleas for haste and deliverance appear twice in this psalm, which is a big theme when the psalm is only 5 verses.

Why is it important that pleas for help appear consistently in this psalm? Why is it important that we ask God for help when we are in trouble? Does prayer make a difference?

My answer to the last question is “YES!” Prayer does make a difference when we unite our will to that of God. God wants to help us and deliver us and seems to want us to ask. Does this mean that we will always be delivered from trouble? The answer to that question is “not exactly.” When our trouble is caused by our own bad decisions, we do have to face the consequences. God is present with us, however, as we face them.

In everything we face, be present with us, Lord. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Read: Psalm 139

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
-Psalm 139:7

Full disclosure: This is my favorite psalm. I was really surprised to find this on a list of psalms of lament because most of it seems like a psalm in which the psalmist is in awe of the presence of God. They are pondering how they could go to the ends of the earth, and yet God is there. They are marveling at how they were put together in their mother’s womb, which I find incredibly profound. I mean, this is the psalm I go to when I need to be reminded of God’s presence with me.

The problematic part comes in verse 19 when the psalmist takes a violent turn and talks about wishing the Lord would kill the wicked. Umm… OK… They then talk about hating those who hate the Lord (v. 21), and I find myself wanting to back away slowly while looking for all the possible exits out of this psalm. The psalmist talks about hating them (the wicked and people who hate God) with a perfect hatred (v.22), and I find myself pondering how exactly we went from a psalm expressing wonder and awe to hating people. The psalmist then returns to wanting God to search them and know their thoughts (v.23), and I start wondering what just happened here.

The issue, I think, is that the psalmist’s zeal for the Lord gets a bit out of hand in those four verses from 19-22, and they want to be part of the judgment on the wicked because they have perhaps been persecuted. Zeal is a wonderful thing, but it needs to be tempered and focused in a specific way lest it get out of hand and bad things happen. Those four verses are problematic for me, but I can see (mostly) how they could fit into the psalm. I hold them in tension with the wonder and awe expressed in the majority of the psalm, and I return to feeling like the psalm encircles me like a mantle of strength.

Thank you, Lord, for your presence in the world and the ability to wonder and ponder things. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Read: Psalm 141

Give ear to my voice when I call to you. Let my prayer be counted as incense before you.
-Psalm 141:1b, 2a

By now familiar to us, the psalmist is once again praying to be preserved from wickedness. This hits close to home if I am honest; it pains me to admit that I relate to his plea that God place a guard over his mouth. “Keep watch over the door of my lips”, it reads. I am reminded that I can in this way save myself from wickedness. Words can be weapons if we so choose.

The writer implores God to hear his petition, asking that his prayer be “counted as incense”—ephemeral, floaty, sweet-smelling smoke. When I think of incense, I am reminded of the vague, faint aroma that lingers long after the oh-so-slow burning has finished. Is it too much to imagine that our prayers could likewise saturate the very space around God? Just think: our words continue to resonate long after the sound itself has evaporated into silence.

My dear friend Sharon Kohn, a Reformed Jewish temple cantor in the Kansas City area, inspired me to think of music similarly. She gave the children’s “sermon” once at a Presbyterian church in Houston where I served as pianist and music director. The subject was prayer, so she demonstrated by singing a brief Torah reading and prayer in her gentle, rich soprano voice for the kids. They were asked to imagine why the chanting tradition might be so important in her faith. After several long seconds, a boisterous little three year old girl exclaimed, “Because it’s prettier that way!” Well, yes! Sharon likened song to wrapping paper enclosing the prayers offered up like gifts. Indeed, isn’t the very best present even better when it’s in beautiful ribbons and bows? And how blessed we are that God hears our every prayer, sung or silent, wrapped or bare, in great exuberance or excruciating pain!

At the end, the psalmist expresses several hopeful thoughts: his eyes turn toward God, seeking refuge and defense. Evildoers become prey to their own traps, and he alone escapes. So may we, in keeping our eyes on God, thus be preserved.

Dear God, thank you for hearing our prayers and for your faithfulness as our refuge and defense. May we always strive to be the same for any of your creations in such need. Amen.
-David Sloat

Read: Psalm 27

One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his temple.
-Psalm 27:4

In this psalm, David is lamenting that he is not able to worship the Lord as is his custom while he is waging warfare. His adversaries are surrounding him, his enemies are plotting against him. But he knows that “the Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? This Lord is the stronghold (refuge) of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” His wish at this exceedingly difficult time is to be able to have a room in the house of the Lord where he could worship every day.

I think of us in 2020 and 2021 waging warfare against the COVID-19 virus. We are hunkered down in our homes, isolated from our friends and family, taking all precautions necessary to not contract the virus. As humans, we are social beings who want to spend time with our friends whether it is a walk together, sharing a meal, or just sharing that hug.

But most of all, we are missing that chance to “live” in the house of the Lord as we are accustomed to. Instead of being able to go to church and sit in a pew with the rest of the congregation, we are at home on Zoom! I miss the awe of feeling God’s presence in the church, the singing of the hymns, and the choir anthems. I miss hearing your celebrations of life and being able to support you in your joys and sorrows. I miss being able to extend God’s peace to you with a handshake or a hug. But most of all, I miss sharing Holy Communion at the Lord’s Table with all of you – that special time to commune with God.

But, like David, we are here keeping the faith. We are fighting the virus knowing that this too shall pass, and the time will come when we can go back to some form of “normalcy”. Circumstances change but God is faithful and steadfast in His love toward us and He will give us the strength to persevere until we can worship together again.

Lord, thank you for your promise to be with us even during COVID-19. Help us to keep the faith!
-Marilyn Allen

Read: Psalm 38

I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
-Psalm 38:18

I will readily admit that I am very much on the Anglo-Catholic end of the Episcopal spectrum. I’m happy with the bowing, sitting, kneeling, genuflecting, and standing parts of the pew aerobic routine that is Sunday worship. Holy water? Love it! Ash cross on Ash Wednesday? Let’s wear that baby out in public until it wears off! Stations of the Cross on Good Friday? Totally there. I have two Anglican rosaries because of a former rector who taught me about it and made one of them for me, and I am one of those people that needs something in my fingers to pay attention.

One of my favorite “Catholic” things is the rite of Reconciliation, commonly known as “Confession”. I am a convert to Christianity, and it took me years to believe that I was truly forgiven for things in my past. I dwell on my sins longer than I should and going through the rite once a year during Lent keeps me both mentally and spiritually healthy. (It was essential during the two years I went through my divorce because it helped me work through my part in things.) The feeling of hands on my head and the sign of the cross being made on my forehead is a tactile reminder that I am forgiven and that my sins do not define me.

For this reason, I identify with the psalmist today. I know the feeling of “my iniquities … weigh[ing] like a burden too heavy for me” (v.4), and “groan[ing] because of the tumult of my heart” (v.8). What I need to remember is that the Lord is faithful and will forgive my sins. I need the reminder that God will “make haste to help me” (v.22), and that Jesus died for my sins. It is why I kneel for the Confession of Sin during worship—it is a tactile reminder of humbling myself before God and confessing what I have done that has hurt and me and has hurt others. God forgives me… and will forgive you as well!

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. (BCP, p. 360)
-Jen McCabe