Psalm 6:6; 137:1 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 6:6; 137:1 on biblegateway.com
Verse 6I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
Verse 1By the rivers of Babylon- there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.
Devotion
The seas of chaos are internal and external. Internal chaos is marked by the salt water of our tears. The drowning flood of tears may come for personal loss, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, depression. The psalms of lament give expression to our confused and complicated feelings. With the help of the Spirit we are able to give our sorrow over to God.
Israel knew such sorrow was not confined to personal grief. Nations also weep. Psalm 137 is a community lament expressing Israel's sorrow after being exiled to Babylon, the capital of the nation that had overrun Israel's homeland and destroyed Jerusalem's temple. Israel's citizens cried out to God: How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
Only in exile does Israel learn that God is found in absence and presence, in sorrow and joy. And only when faced with the reality of the cross do we come to know the depths of God's love. In the midst of our weeping we are met by God and given hope.
Prayer
Receive our tears, O Lord. Cherish the truth found there. Then dry our tears and let us rest in you.
Amen.