Meditation for April 22, 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Psalm 12

 

1 Help me, Lord, for there is no godly one left;

    the faithful have vanished from among us.

 

2 Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor;

    with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.

 

3 Oh, that the Lord would cut off all smooth tongues,

    and close the lips that utter proud boasts!

 

4 Those who say, "With our tongue will we prevail;

    our lips are our own, who is lord over us?"

 

5 "Because the needy are oppressed,

    and the poor cry out in misery,

    I will rise up," says the Lord,

    "and give them the help they long for."

 

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,

    like silver refined from ore

    and purified seven times in the fire.

 

7 O Lord, watch over us

    and save us from this generation for ever.

 

8 The wicked prowl on every side,

    and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone.

 

Being Real With God

 

My wife, Julia, is a big fan of the American Idol TV show - the show that is the national singing competition, at least for those in a certain age range.  (I watch it once in a while, too.)  Sometimes after the judges give their feedback to a contestant, the audience starts to boo.  When the judge who has just spoken is Randy Jackson, he often says, "Just keeping it real, baby!  Just keeping it real!" 

 

That is one of the things that I like best about the Psalms.  Whoever the Psalmist is (and they weren't all written by David), that person tends to "keep it real".  He or she just pours out his/her honest thoughts and feelings to God, and figures that God can handle it.  It comes straight from the heart, and is often quite unvarnished.  Check out verse 3 above.  That's a good example of what I'm talking about.  "Oh, that the Lord would cut off all smooth tongues, and close the lips that utter proud boasts!"  Does the Psalmist really want Yahweh to go around cutting off tongues?  Well... maybe not, but that is sure what he/she was feeling in the moment!  Can't we identify with a person who is angry about those who lie to their neighbors, or who speak from a "double heart" (verse 2), or who make a big scene about prizing things that are really worthless (verse 8)?  Sure we can!

 

Sometimes you and I have been so trained to censor or edit what we say to other people that we think, by association, that we have to do that with God, too.  The Bible doesn't suggest that, though.  Moses told God, in no uncertain terms, why he was not the right guy to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt.  Jonah told God how angry he was about God's graciousness toward the people of Nineveh, when God "changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them" (Jonah 3:10), when they repented from their evil ways.  When Ananias heard God say in a vision that he should go meet Saul and lay his hands on him, so that Saul might regain his sight (right after Saul's encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus), Ananias basically said, "Are you sure, Lord?  I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem." (Acts 9:13)  And after Elijah's successful showdown with the priests of Baal, when he ran for his life after Jezebel threatened to kill him, he cried out to the Lord, and said (not once, but twice), "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:10, 14)

 

These are just a few of the people in the Bible who poured out their heart and soul to God.  They, along with the Psalmists, were "keeping it real" with God.

 

We ought to do the same.  Especially at those times when we don't know what else to do... at those times when we are so frustrated and angry, and don't just want to lash out at the first person we see... at those times when we feel lost or confused... in times of deep grief... at those times when we are so joyful that we struggle to find the words to express our gratitude to God... in all of these situations, we ought to just let it come up and out of us, and say it - as honestly as we can - to God.  And not worry so much about how "right" it is or even how "raw" it us. 

 

I think God really loves it when you and I are real with him, as opposed to trying to sugar-coat things, or use some sort of Christian "God talk" that is all syrupy, or some kind of "prayer language" that we think might make God more likely to hear our prayers.  Yuck!  Gag me with a spoon!  Our Lord already knows what we are thinking and feeling anyway!  Do we think we can "pull one over" on him by praying or speaking in the "right" or "moral" way?

 

Just let it rip, I say.

 

Oh, yeah - one other thing:  Remember that our particular view of the situation, as we share it with God, may be quite a bit off the mark.  In my reference to Elijah above, when he thought he was the only faithful one left, and he was so sure of it that he said it to the Lord not once, but twice, he finally heard Yahweh say this:  "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (1 Kings 19:18)  Elijah thought he was the only faithful one left.  He was only off by 6,999!

 

The Psalmist who cried out that "the faithful have vanished from among us" (Psalm 12:1) was probably wrong, too.  But at least he was being real with God.