Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18 on biblegateway.com
Verse 7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face.
Verse 8I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother's children.
Verse 9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
Verse 10When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.
Verse 16Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
Verse 17Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress-make haste to answer me.
Verse 18Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.
Devotion
We’re told that we live in a post-modern, post-9/11 world. Psalm 69, a psalm of lament, describes well the sinking feeling that is the prevailing mood of post-moderns. Technology that once filled us with hope and expectation is killing us as we see airplanes destroy buildings and chemicals destroy our land, air and water. Our health and very lives suffer. We are sinking. The psalmist cries our cry, “Save me from the mire; do not let me sink.” The psalmist’s cry resonates deep within the post-modern soul.
After pointing out our despair, we are directed to where our help is to be found. The psalmist cries to God: Save! Help! Rescue! Deliver! How wonderful it is that there is help in God no matter what the distress.
Prayer
Gracious God, we remember today three who put their trust in you: Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, 379; Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, c.389; and, Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, c.385. Join us with them and all the saints in knowing how wonderful it is that there is help in you no matter what the distress. Amen.