Psalm Reflection - Week 9

Psalm 102 - A Psalm of Lament

Without the benefits of study, the message of the Bible can elude us. There is a tendency to read a text and then to ask "What does this passage mean to me?". For sure, this IS a most important question and a good reason for opening the Bible: we want our lives to be touched by this word! The benefit of study cannot be overstated in this regard! By reading and immediately asking "How does this touch my life?", we by-pass a few steps that make the difference in how we hear the word of God AS the word of God and not as a word we seek to understand simply from our personal frame of reference. A student begins to realize that the Bible means more than it says! Asking historical, cultural, literary and theological questions will guide us well on our journey into the meaning of the Bible. So are we instructed to approach the study of Scripture by our Roman Catholic tradition.

Without the benefit of study, there are some parts of Scripture that can simply leave us uninspired to say the least. We pick up a book such as Leviticus and if we do not appreciate the richness of thought behind it, we will put it aside and never let its message touch us. We become selective in our reading. In our attempt to find some meaning for our life in the words of the Bible, we can miss what we seek! But, by asking : "What might this have meant to the writer or his original audience?", we begin to scratch the surface. We can miss the richness and beauty of many of the psalms too. We can fail to encounter the blessings contained there if we are put off by language and expressions that meant something in the world of the psalmist and helped to convey thought. It has not been our attempt in these reflections to tackle critical questions, but from time to time we need to know they are out there.

Having said this, let us look to our psalm for this week: Psalm 102 - a Lament! There are more Lament Psalms in the Bible than there are other kinds of psalms. Haven't we said that the Psalter reflects life! Lament Psalms have a distinguishable quality to them. They are filled with cries, complaints, even curses: suggestions made to God about what should be done with "enemies". Such complaining and seeming vengeance may strike us as out of place and not suitable for prayer. In most of the Lament Psalms (Ps 88 is one exception), there is a moment of transition in the psalm where some transformation has taken place or time has lapsed to allow for a new perspective and the psalm ends with hope and resounding praise of God. (See Psalm 22: vs 22-23)

In making such observations, we are considering "literary" questions. Is the lament just about complaining? Lament occurs in many places in the Hebrew Bible. For our ancestors in faith, it was a comfortable form of prayer (e.g. Jeremiah). Lament expresses relationship with God. Perhaps we need to understand something of the personal or "historical" situation that prompts the complaint if we hope to understand just what all the fuss is about! We have lived through national disasters and heard a lot of lament! We have lived through our own individual losses and we know the excruciating grief that can fall upon us. Lament is a response to such grief. It is the cry of the soul to God. Is it good for such a cry to make entry into our prayer? If there is no place for this in our prayer, perhaps we might question whether our prayer and faith is able to sustain during such times of difficulty and move us toward new life and hope in God. Lament is honest language from one who feels so comfortable with God as to simply let out all the pain, disappointment, frustration, anger, human frailty and bitterness, trusting thoroughly in the relationship. Don't we expect this of anyone worthy of the name "friend"? It is not a lack of faith in God, but exactly the opposite! God is the one who is able to make a difference.

As you read and pray this psalm, you will recognize some identifiable divisions in the psalm. Vs 1-12 is an individual lament; the urgent prayer of one who reaches out to God in a desperate cry: "Lord listen…don't hide, turn, answer quickly!" The psalmist sounds Job-like as he places before God the list of troubles: sickness, loss of appetite, meaninglessness of life. We detect a note of depression along with isolation, ridicule and rejection. Life is not fine! Do you hear the recurring point of reference? "I", "me" and "my"! Doesn't our prayer often begin like this? The words create images that impress on us the desperate situation: "like a lonely bird on a roof … an owl in a desolate place … bread is (like) ashes and drink is mingled with tears, then, at the end of the complaint, the psalmist feels that God has lifted him up and thrown him away"! How worthless and forgotten can we sometimes feel! Life, like the grass, withers; we are like passing shadows. Pay attention to these poetic images!

The next verses introduce something new to consider. Now the one in need of God's pity is not the individual but Zion! Here we have a communal lament! How do we make this skip? Konrad Schaefer, OSB, in his commentary on this psalm says: "The victim is Zion and the poet speaks for the community as the voice of Jerusalem in Lamentations." When we studied Lamentations, we learned that in this beautiful writing, Jerusalem is personified as a woman, a widow bereft of her children and her noble status; a princess who has become a toiling slave. (Lam 1:1). So Zion (and possibly the psalmist as well), speaks of a time of destruction but this section (vs 13 - 23) emerges with a bold expression of hope that contrasts with the fragility of the human condition expressed in the previous verses. The Psalmist/Zion declares: "But you, O Lord, will endure forever!", (vs 13) unlike shadows and grass. There is certain confidence that God is reliable, that God will rebuild Zion, and respond with love to those who cherish her. There is faith that God will lean down from heaven to restore her former glory and once again dwell in her midst.

Sometimes the lament may not appeal to us because we do not identify with the grief (thankfully!). But is it possible to pray these prayers in solidarity with or compassion for a suffering world? Perhaps they can draw us in prayer to reflect on the Passion of Jesus? Just a suggestion! At best such prayer might cause us to live in gratitude to God for the blessings of our present life.

You will find in this psalm a universal vision. Are we not inspired by this! There are many echoes of Isaiah (especially 2nd and 3rd Isaiah). The future is secure, even given the experience of a recent disaster. God establishes Zion and is our hope forever, for generations to come. The firmness of Zion is established in the heart of all who cling to God and who seek God's presence, fully aware of the fragility of our earthly existence. AMEN!