The Noontimes

Psalm 13: Long Enough

Monday, February 12, 2024

We might want to read THE MESSAGE version of this psalm in order to feel the full impact of the psalmist’s cry.

Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough.

We might want to offer the psalmist’s words to those who look for consolation in their grief.

Long enough I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.

We might want to take in the psalmist’s words as our own in our days of sorrow and fear.

Take a good look at me, God, my God;
    I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
    or laugh when I fall on my face.

We might want to share the psalmist’s words with those who stand in solidarity with the oppressed.

I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers.

God says: I know that many of you struggle with the injustices you see around you each day. Remember that when you remain in solidarity with the persecuted, the bereft and the abandoned, you remain in me. Arise to show yourself and the world where you stand; and if you cannot stand, or are afraid to stand, then support societies that provide medical and civil support or that bring about positive change. Connect with your civil representatives to let them know that the weak and marginalized who have no voice have found a voice in you, and that they are not alone. Remind politicians that the world is watching. Remind yourselves that I am with and in you as I am with the rejected and oppressed. Remember that when you stand with me, you stand with the lost and excluded who are weak and defenseless, not the haughty and comfortable who wield power and fear. And remember that when you stand with these lost sheep of mine, you do not stand alone. You stand in me. 

We might want to share the psalmist’s words with those who seek to create rifts and with those who want to heal the wound that yawns between the included and excluded.

When we compare varying versions of these words, we open our hearts and minds to God’s healing Spirit. When we pray in solidarity with those who are persecuted, we speak to God to say, “This injustice has lasted long enough.”

For an article on how one image can change the world, click on the photgraph of the child going through barbed wire or visit: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/09/04/437582231/an-image-of-a-child-can-change-the-way-we-see-the-world 

Images from: http://wvxu.org/post/how-cincinnati-working-develop-support-system-refugees#stream/0 and https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/09/04/437582231/an-image-of-a-child-can-change-the-way-we-see-the-world