Thoughts for the Day

Complaint about a Friend’s Treachery. Of David.

Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught ......

My heart is in anguish within me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, ‘O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest.’....

But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
He will redeem me unharmed...

Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved....

I will trust in you.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard version)

Thoughts

When I was fifteen I would walk to the small ancient church in Sussex along lanes bounded by wild flowers, until they were cut down and the defunct airfield at Ford was turned into an Open Prison. Once things were up and running in the prison the local church choir was invited to sing at a service in the prison chapel, and I was asked to sing a solo. The irony of the words in the anthem totally escaped me - the anthem was 'O for the wings of a dove' by Mendelssohn! I also had no idea they came from Psalm 55.

As we see from the this psalm David is in trouble again, seemingly an erstwhile friend has turned against him and his enemies have grown strong enough to threaten his life. We may not be able to identify with his plight, but most of us will have felt true desperation at some point in our life. Also, since we are trying this Lent to look outside ourselves to the plight of others - to the lonely, the destitute, the bereaved or mentally ill, for instance - then this gives us a moment to identify with them and pray for them, to walk alongside those who are truly suffering at this time, and who are desperately trying to flee from their troubles.

Although we're only looking at a part of this psalm today, we should notice that while David is 'distraught' and wants to fly away from everything that besets him, in fact he ends by putting all his faith in God. He also calls on us to have the same confidence in God - to 'cast our burden on the Lord' who will sustain us!

Lord God,
we pray today for all who are desperate,
and who cannot see a way out of their plight.
We think of those waiting for a diagnosis;
or those about to have a serious operation;
for those caught up in war;
or in modern slavery;
for those who are mentally sick;
or cannot afford to feed themselves.
Draw close to all who need Your help this day,
and show us how to help those in need.
Amen.