”Confidence in the face of misery”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, November 18, 2022
Psalm 102 (Forward, p. 20) CEV p. 617
Our psalmist has ‘got it bad’. For one thing, he is racked with innumerable physical ailments such as defy any quick or easy medical diagnosis:
“My days disappear like smoke, and my bones are burning as though in a furnace. I am wasting away like grass, and my appetite is gone. My groaning never stops, and my bones can be seen through my skin. I am like a lonely owl in the desert or a restless sparrow alone on a roof” (verses 3-7).
Nevertheless, such ailments (Kidner describes them as fever, frailty, wasting, pain, sleeplessness, melancholy, rejection and despair) are such as are the common lot of humankind, and so, as the introductory phrase suggests, this psalm is widely appropriate to many people and situations.
But, in this, so too is a questioning about where God is in all this. Indeed, all the more so, because in ancient times—and with many people today as well—God was seen as being directly involved in all things, the bad included. It was widely believed that God directly planned and orchestrated everything, such that human free will and responsibility was somehow, somewhat, minimized. Now we often think that God allows for such things to take place—in accordance with human freedom to choose a right or wrong in any situation—but doesn’t actively cause them to happen. Anyway, that was not the idea behind our psalm’s words:
“My enemies insult me all day, and they use my name for a curse word. Instead of food, I have ashes to eat and tears to drink, because you are furious and have thrown me aside. My life fades like a shadow at the end of day and withers like grass” (verses 8-11);
“I should still be strong, but you, Lord, have made an old person of me” (verse 23).
Nevertheless, our psalmist does not give up. He is convinced that the Lord will come through, both for himself and for all of God’s people. In particular, he foresees a rosy and glorious future for Zion, the city of Jerusalem. He and his existence as a mortal human being may be short- lived but God lives and rules forever. Indeed, our psalmist is sure that not only will God intervene in the short term, but that God will bring about a sea-change in human affairs with the coming of the Messiah (verses 23-28). Indeed, Hebrews1:10-12 quotes verses 25-27 almost verbatim to describe Jesus.
So then, we, and all of God’s people, can be most confident in the care and good graces of God. God is indeed there for us, and will indeed ‘come through’ for us, but in His own time and way. Yes, we can have this confidence, even in the face of whatever misery we are forced to put up with. And so, in the meantime, we wait it out—and trust and obey. Amen.
Forward notes: “Incline your ear to me; when I call, make haste to answer me, for my days drift away like smoke, and my bones are hot as burning coals. My heart is smitten like grass and withered, so that I forget to eat my bread” (verses 2-4).
“Western storyteller Louis L’Amour once published a work of poetry entitled Smoke from This Altar. The title invokes such strong imagery, a solitary figure sitting by a frontier campfire that burns beneath a universe of stars. The title encapsulates the spirituality of fire and smoke, worship, and sacrifices. The image also presents a sense of the contrast between our own finiteness and the vastness of the Divine. This contrast speaks to me in the words of the psalmist as well.
“As someone well into middle life, I am acutely aware of my own mortality. It’s hard to accept the reality that our lives are short. But it helps to remember that we do not sit alone by our fires, staring up at the night sky. The eternal God sits with us and allows us to share in eternal life.”
Moving Forward: “Take time to gaze upon the night sky and give God the glory.”