Never failed me...yet

 

Psalm 22: 22-31
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
February 28, 2021

As songs go, the second half of Psalm 22 sounds like a Hallelujah, like a praise song, like a gospel choir. Something like this:



I will sing of God’s mercy
Every day, every hour
He gives me power
I will sing and give thanks to thee
For all the dangers, toils, and snares
That he has brought me out
He is my God and I’ll serve him
No matter what the test
Trust and never doubt
Jesus will surely bring you out
He never failed me yet



The first half of this psalm sounds like a spiritual, like a sad song, like a lament. Jesus quotes it from the cross: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I call out and you do not answer. Those who came before me trusted you and you set them free. But me, I am nothing more than a worm. As songs go, it sounds something like this:



Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long, long way from home



There’s debate amongst scholars as to whether this is one psalm or two put together, given the change from abject rejection to effusive praise and the assertion that even though God may be absent in the present, God will rescue in the future.

Psalm 22 by Alyse Radenovic, 2014

Artist Statement: This is a painting of the complete text of Psalms 22 in Hebrew. Most of the text is not legible. This invites the viewer to move “in and out” of the text, and to meditate on alternate ways to “see”, relate to, and appreciate the text. The jumbled letters in the blue, white, and silver color scheme are meant to convey both tension and calmness, and be slightly evocative of a stormy sea, which ties in with the Psalm’s theme of seeking help from Hashem (God) when surrounded in a hostile environment.

It helps to remember that whether this psalm is sung all at once in one voice or sung over time by many voices, it is the song of one who knows pain and oppression; it is the song of an oppressed people marked by violence. But it is also a song of solidarity, of the hope and assurance of God’s solidarity with those who suffer. As bad as it can get, God is only as far away as we are from each other, only as far as the hungry are from everything they need, as far as the disempowered are from restoration to fullness of life.



Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase sounds like something we’d hear in the Black church.



Here in this great gathering for worship
I have discovered this praise-life.
And I’ll do what I promised right here
in front of the God-worshipers.
Down-and-outers sit at God’s table
and eat their fill.
Everyone on the hunt for God
is here, praising God.
“Live it up, from head to toe.
Don’t ever quit!”

From the four corners of the earth
people are coming to their senses,
are running back to God.
Long-lost families
are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge;
from now on God has the last word.

All the power-mongers are before God
—worshiping!
All the poor and powerless, too
—worshiping!
Along with those who never got it together
—worshiping!

As deep and painful and sorrowful a life with God can be, so too can it be joyful and liberating and transformative. And yet when we sing these songs, they are not songs of an oppressed people; they are not our songs. Rather they invite us to enter into the pain and suffering of another experience, of what it means to live a life not your own, a life that is not free. They beg us to share a burden, to understand what it really means to be powerless, to hunger for justice throughout generations, and if God is to be praised it is when the divine purpose is working through us to repair injustice.



When we not only feed the hungry but give people a living wage and forgive debt, people are coming to their senses, running back to God.



When we fund education and health care and housing the way we fund war and the control of Black and brown lives, people are coming to their senses, running back to God.



When everyone has the same opportunities and equal treatment under the law, when public space is safe space for non-Whites, for all genders, sexualities, and abilities, people are coming to their senses, running back to God.



When we put our minds and hearts to the climate crisis, not just for ourselves but for future generations, for a people yet unborn, people are coming to their senses, running back to God.



When will we do what we say we value? Will we survive the worst of ourselves? Are we capable of transformation? Do we even want to change?

We’ve survived every bad, horrible, painful day we’ve ever had. For the most part our humanity has survived all the dangers, toils, and snares we’ve inflicted on each other. But we also know what it means to be so full of praise and joy that we feel connected to each other and to the earth. Liberation, God’s rescue will be known through human beings. We trust God is able. It’s our faith in human beings that needs help. God, we believe; help our unbelief. God hasn’t failed us yet. May we not fail God enfleshed in us.



The world is in God’s hands
Which are our hands
Which are God’s hands

The world is in God’s hands
Which are our hands
Which are God’s hands

And justice will come
When it is embodied in us

And justice will come
When it is embodied in us



Benediction – Mary Lou Redding


Creator and Healer of the world,
Help us to see our part in your work
Of healing our world and its wounded people.

Show us what needs to be torn down
And what needs to be built up,
That all people may live in peace and safety,
Enjoying fullness of life. Amen.