Psalm 130 (Second appearance in year B)

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, hear my voice!

Click on the link for the Psalm above for the text or listen to Psalm 130:

Reflection:

My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning. Those standing guard over the city or their fellow soldiers watch the shadows closely. They are on high alert knowing that while most of the others sleep the enemy could be plotting an attack under the cover of darkness. There is an intensity to their watch that dissipates with the rising sun. They have hope in the security of daylight and wait for it to take their rest.

My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning. Even in the darkness I have hope. My hope is in my God who hears my cries and holds me as a mother holds a screaming child. I am impatient with a world that is not changing as quickly as I want it to. I am tired of the chokehold the patriarchy has on me and my sisters. I am tired of the structural racism that exists in America still exists despite the number of “woke” book clubs that sprang up last summer. I am tired of systemic poverty continuing to kill my most vulnerable neighbors. I am tired of discovering my own sin in the ways I hold up these systems that I wish we could eradicate. I long for the new day (without sexism, racism, poverty, and violence) to come with those who watch for the morning.

If Hope is a thing with feathers, I want to ride on its huge eagle wings soaring toward the dawn as we sing, but it seems to be that hope has a broken wing. That hopeful little thing perches in my soul and sings a song without words that can hardly be heard over my screaming in the dark. And yet, her soft song reminds me to use my words before I lose my voice. It is then that I am still enough to notice that God is repeating the ancient words, love beloved and be loving.

There is hope in these shadowy times. At the end of her book, I’m still Here, Austin Channing Brown speaks about hope. “Where is your hope, Austin? The answer: It is but a shadow. It is working in the dark, not knowing if anything I do will ever make a difference. It is speaking anyway, writing anyway, loving anyway. It is enduring disappointment and then getting back to work. It is knowing this book may be read only by my Momma, and writing it anyway. It is pushing back, even though my words will never be big enough, powerful enough, weighty enough to change everything. It is knowing that God is God and I am not. This is the cool place from where I demand a love that matters.” (Scroll down for the longer quote and a link to her book website).

God is God and I am not. And so, there is love in the shadows as we wait for the dawn.

Prayer:

The Lord’s Prayer is about the amount of time you need for hand scrubbing 😉

Breath Prayer: I am including breath prayers because this is the practice that I engage in most often. Sometimes, I simply manage my breathing as I would when I was singing as a warmup and strengthening exercise. This practice helps me to feel centered, strong, and connected with myself and the divine. Sometimes, I add words or intentions for the inhalation and exhalation.

Nicole Cardoza’s Guided Meditation For Anxiety
Try this short meditation, created by Yoga Foster and Reclamation Ventures founder Nicole Cardoza, the next time you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious. Read in Yoga Journal.

Mr. Roger’s “Taking a breath” This one is short, but Mr. Roger’s voice is calming for me (and many Pittsburghers) and even his virtual presence can summon childhood memories of calmness and safety.

Let us pray:

One way to think about breath prayer is that whatever is exhaled other people will inhale. So, sometimes we might inhale and exhale the same idea with the hope that what we receive from God, we can share with others. For example, you may imagine receiving God’s steadfast love while praying that others are receiving God’s steadfast love.

Another way to think about breath prayer is to pick something you would like to receive for your inhalation and something you would like to release for your exhalation. The idea is to keep it simple, so I encourage you to simply find one word for each inhale and one word for each exhale. That simple prayer could be something like this: God fill me with your Holy spirit. I receive your calm and release my impatients.

Or you may want to use a short phrase: Lord hear my prayer. I will wait in hope for you.

Ok, everyone take a deep breath. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Repeat as needed.

Sources and notes:

Psalm 130 is a “succinct but powerful expression of the theme that is the heart of Scripture: the human predicament and its dependence on divine grace.” Mays p. 405

“In the eleventh of the Song of the Ascents an individual psalm singer calls on God for deliverance from what seems to be some threatening situation in life.” W p. 209

Verse 6 watching for the morning: “Sentinels often stood guard on city walls, as did soldiers in camps during times of war, watching in the darkness for danger and waiting expectantly for the safety of daylight, when the possibility of attack from enemies was lessened.” W p. 212

“This psalm invites the faithful who embrace God’s “steadfast love” to help turn the tide of our world’s and our own selfish iniquity–our self-seeking turning and twisting.” W p. 213

Jennifer Garrison Browenell “Sophia” in Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press. “Sometimes Patriarchy has me in a choke hold, a hand over my mouth. I struggle against him, suffocating, my nose clogged with his odor. Always Sophia cradles me, her embrace soothing and strengthening. I sink into her arms as into the bed of my lover. Sometimes Patriarchy stands at a distance his fingers in his ears. I sort at him until my throat is tattered, while he pretends not to listen. Always Sophia leans in. Her face alight with curiosity and compassion. I speak, one word or a thousand. She hearkens. She hears. Sophia, hear my petition: remind me that I have the strength to break free from that which binds–to break that which binds. Remind me that I have the voice to speak words that bring down and build up whenever necessary.”

Austin Channing Brown’s I’m still Here: Black Dignity in a World made for Whiteness “This is the shadow of hope. Knowing that we may never see the relation of our dreams, and yet still showing up. I do not believe that I or my children or grandchildren will live in an America that has achieved racial equality. I do not believe this is a problem that America will fix within any soon-coming generation. And so I stand in the legacy of all that black Americans have already accomplished–in their resistance, in their teachings, in their voices, in their faith–and I work toward a world unseen, currently unimaginable. I am not enslaved, and yet I look back and see centuries of creative evolution of ht hatred for Black bodies. I look at the present–police brutality, racial disparities, backlash against being “politically correct,” the Voting Rights Act, and the election of a chief executive who stoked the fire of racial animosity to win–and I ask myself, Where is your hope, Austin? The answer: It is but a shadow. It is working in the dark, not knowing if anything I do will ever make a difference. It is speaking anyway, writing anyway, loving anyway. It is enduring disappointment and then getting back to work. It is knowing this book may be read only by my Momma, and writing it anyway. It is pushing back, even though my words will never be big enough, powerful enough, weighty enough to change everything. It is knowing that God is God and I am not. This is the cool place from where I demand a love that matters. In this place, I see the sun setting behind me, its light as far away as the stars, and I let the limitations of hope settle over me. I possess not the strength of hope but its weakness, its fragility, its ability to die. Because I must demand anyway. It is my birthright. It is the culmination of everything my ancestors endured, of all that my parents taught me, of the Blackness that rescued me. How dare I consider surrender simply because I want the warmth of the sun? This warmth has not been promised to me. My faith does not require it. When the sun happens to shine, I bask in the rays. But I know I cannot stay there. That is not my place to stand. So I abide in the shadows, and let hope have its day and its death. It is my duty to live anyway.” pp. 180-182

WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.

Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

Brueggemann Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Chittister Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.

WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.

Creach Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.

W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020.

W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.

NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.

Mays Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.

McCann McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Miller Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.

Schlimm Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know.Nashville, TN: Abington Press.

Spong Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.

WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.

OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.

I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020 shortly after we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the revised common lectionary that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, Third Church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. Reflections exploring the Psalms in year D. While we were using Year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. Now that we are rejoining those who use the lectionary, we are on Year B. This we hope will keep all of us planning and preparing worship on the same page.

I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings to make text selections when I’m following the Revised Common Lectionary.