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Prayer is a pretty big deal. After all, at Commons we opened this year with prayer and we’re closing the year with prayer. From the Lord’s Prayer in the fall, to the Psalms prayer book in the summer, we’ve got instructions and illustrations to shape our prayerful souls in all seasons.
So what’s prayer to you? Is it the recitation of prayers you learned as
a kid? Is prayer the words that spring up inside you like “thank you,” “help me,” and “I’m so sorry”? Maybe prayer is becoming less wordy and more connected to deep breaths, centred contemplation, and heart-soaring awe.
There are Christians in all kinds of traditions that pray the Psalms every day, morning and night. And sure, the prayerful poems are more familiar year after year, but they never stop speaking and shaping the human heart before God. Dive into the Psalms with us this summer and find yourself refreshed with honesty, lament, and praise.
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Salvation in the Psalms, it feels like relief. It feels like hope. It feels like trust.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information.
Speaker 1:Well, last week, we kicked off our summer psalm series with no better psalm to start with than psalm one. Start at the start. Right? So we jumped right in with this Hebrew poetic device known as parallelism. This is where you say something and then you make the point again, but with a bit of a twist.
Speaker 1:And parallelism can be synonymous, it can be antithetic, or it can even expand an idea. And I was recently just scrolling through my old Instagram posts, and I found all kinds of social media kinda spins on parallelism. So humor me for this. Like, these pictures that I used to take of myself wearing shoes and pants and dresses, like, all at the same time. I don't know.
Speaker 1:It seemed cool. So same same, but kinda different. Or the pictures of me with couples that I marry, same same, but also kinda different. Or the many times that I show up somewhere and I'm dressed like someone else. Does this happen to you people?
Speaker 1:Just me. Well, it's same same, but also kinda different. And looking back on these pictures, not only is it clear that I wear shoes for years like these bad boys, 2014 to 2019, people. But it's also clear that repetition and the multiple pictures and the parallels, they kind of expand a moment. Moments where I'm present and paying attention to where my feet are on the ground and love stories on display at a wedding, reminding me of the infinite creativity of love and these slivers of synchronicity speaking to our greater connection.
Speaker 1:And all through the Psalms, we hear prayers and longings that echo with parallelism. The poet keeps spinning the thoughts and unfolding the metaphors and expanding the emotion of a moment. And one of the things that I love about our reflection on Psalm one is the emphasis on joy and beauty. And joy and beauty are so important that the writer plays up the themes with parallelism and with contrast. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take, but whose delight is on the law of the Lord and who meditates on the law day and night.
Speaker 1:And Jeremy made the point that it's the embrace of all god's goodness that brings transformation in our lives. So it's not a fixation on what's bad, not self flagellation for what you did wrong in the past, not constant frustration. I'm being so caught up in just trying to avoid evil. It's actually choosing the good. It's finding the beauty in the order and the patterns of the divine.
Speaker 1:It's the available gift of presence in our bodies and our minds. That's the blessed way, and that blessing is worth repeating. But today, we are actually going to take a bit of a sadder turn and sit with a psalm of lament. And thank God for that. Because you and I know that just as soon as we can embrace the good and get swept up in beauty, we can be walloped with pain and misery.
Speaker 1:So before we pray together, I'll read Psalm 13 and then we'll dive in. And I'd like to invite you, if you're able and comfortable, to actually stand with me as I read as a sign of solidarity with those who struggle. So go ahead and jump up. So Psalm 13. For the director of music, a psalm of David.
Speaker 1:How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look at me and answer, Lord my God, give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.
Speaker 1:And my enemy will say, I have overcome him. And my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise for God has been good to me.
Speaker 1:You're welcome to take a seat. Let's pray together. Loving God, thank you for the gift of this inspired literature. These poems, these songs, these prayers, they sweep us up. They carry us in community.
Speaker 1:They guide our journey. So for the art and the words and the cries that are before us, we give you thanks. And today, if we are in pain or if we carry the pain of someone we love, if we are anxious about the state of the world, oh, God, will you speak your word of life to us? In the authentic struggle of the Psalms, you are near, and we are here. And for all of this, we give thanks.
Speaker 1:Amen. So last week, you heard Jeremy recite some of a Billy Collins poem, and that's actually pretty wild because I too was going to read some Billy Collins to get us in the mood. The mood for the Psalms, of course. I don't know what you're thinking. But on account of that repeat, I ditched Billy Collins in favor of another favorite poet, Scott Cairns.
Speaker 1:And Cairns writes what is one of my most favorite poems. It's surprisingly simple. It's not quite g rated. It's about intimacy, but I think you can handle it. The poem is called taking off our clothes.
Speaker 1:I know you look a little afraid, but it's gonna be okay. So let's pretend. For now, there is no such thing as metaphor. You know, waking up will just be waking up. Darkness will no longer have to be anything but dark.
Speaker 1:This could all be happening in Kansas. We could lie back upon a simple bed that is a mattress at the corner of the floor. We'd have clean blue sheets and a wool blanket for later. I could be the man and you could be the woman. We talk about real things casually and easily taking off our clothes.
Speaker 1:We would be naked and would hold onto each other a long time talking, saying things that would make us grin. We'd laugh off and on, all the time unconcerned with things like breath or salty skin or the way our gums show when we really smile big. After a little while, I'd fetch you a glass of water. I mean, come on. This poem, it has everyday objects and simple moments, its story, its intimacy, its bodies, its kind of everything.
Speaker 1:But there's more to this poem for me, so much more. This poem came into my life through a man I had a massive crush on in seminary. I'm telling you, I liked this guy so much. And it turns out that for a short time anyway, he also liked me. So the poem is so much more than a poem to me.
Speaker 1:At the time, it addressed important questions like, do you see me? And do you like me? And am I safe with you? And the answers the poem led me to were yes, yes, and yes. I mean, why else would a person show a soulful seminarian a poem about taking our clothes off?
Speaker 1:Don't answer that. So I am sorry to say that the relationship was not true love forever. This glorious crush dumped me and left me feeling so sad. And while the romantic experience was honestly still pretty great, I it is one of the best stories of my life. It did leave me with new questions.
Speaker 1:Questions about who I was, about what it meant to be open to love, and honestly, how to just let go. And Psalm 13 is a lament, and it's all about a spirituality of questions. Because it turns out questions are fabulous companions. And questions pull you forward, especially into the unknown. Genuine inquiry is a really good guide.
Speaker 1:And the Hebrew bible scholar, W. H. Bellinger junior offers us four literary questions to unpack a psalm, and that's how we're going to march through psalm 13 today. The questions are, number one, how does the psalm use divine names? Number two, what words or phrases are repeated?
Speaker 1:Number three, how does the text use loaded terms? And number four, what figures of speech are included? So let's start with the first question to see what Psalm 13 has for us. How does the Psalm use divine names? Right away in our English bibles, we see the divine addressed as lord.
Speaker 1:Capital l, capital o, capital r, capital d. Now lord in English stands in for the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh. And in Hebrew tradition, Yahweh is the name above all names. Such a big deal is the name Yahweh that we don't really know how to say it, nor do we really know what it means. And one reason for the mystery is that the Hebrew scriptures were originally written with consonants, only consonants.
Speaker 1:Scribes were trained to supply the vowels themselves. So that leaves us with the Hebrew consonants, Yod, Hei, Vav, Hei. In English alphabet, it's capital y, h, w, h. That's right. And a second reason for the mystery is that by the third century BCE, people didn't say the name Yahweh out loud.
Speaker 1:They were so nervous that they'd break a commandment and misuse God's name. And finally, the third reason for the mystery is that the name Yahweh has different interpretations. Yahweh comes from the Hebrew verb meaning to be, and one theory states that it means that God causes to be. Another possibility is that God is or God will be. And I kinda like this interpretation, the one who brings into existence whatever exists.
Speaker 1:But that's a bit of a mouthful. So side note, there's even this little bit of anthropology that says that before the time of Moses and the tribe of Levi, Yahweh probably had nickname or a few. Something like Yo or Yeah or Yahoo? Calgary? And all of it indicated the manifestation of the holy.
Speaker 1:So in Psalm 13, God is the very presence of life. God is mysterious force. The name of God may even be tied to breath as that's what it sounds like to say. Yod, hey, vav, hey. It feels like and it sounds like breathing.
Speaker 1:But the issue of the divine name in Psalm 13 gets even better. Now we know the psalmist is struggling, asking where are you, God? Have you forgotten me? Am I alone with my terror? I mean, if you're so tied to life, oh, divine one, then where are you in my life?
Speaker 1:But in verse three, we find this intimate phrase. Even before there are answers to questions, the psalmist says, Lord my God. Yahweh, my God. So be my God. Look on me and answer.
Speaker 1:And I wonder, what does the name of God sound like on your lips in the middle of your life, in your hard time? Does God become the cursed one? Is God the far off one? Is God cold and distant and indifferent? I recently came across a favorite theologian called God by this name, soft God.
Speaker 1:As in the more you grow in love and in the way of Jesus, the more defenseless and vulnerable and spread out you become. The thing I love about this poem, about all the poems of the Psalms, is that God's name and the poet's presence, they're always there, kinda side by side. There's no me without you. There's no psalmist without Yahweh. There's no breathing without the one whose very name means breath.
Speaker 1:So our first question has got us looking for God in the middle of a struggle, a sacred presence in lament, secure enough to take every question that we throw at the divine. And the next literary question to turn to is what words or phrases are repeated? We're going to stick with two sets of repetitions for this part. We already mentioned the first. Four questions in verses one and two.
Speaker 1:Ask, how long will you forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my mind and live with this sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Now the beautiful thing about the Psalms is kind of how general they are.
Speaker 1:We don't know who or what the enemy is here. We just know that the writer feels under attack. But here's the deal. The poem isn't the first in the ancient world that asked questions like this. Check out the prayer of lamentation to Ishtar, the queen of heaven, a Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love and war.
Speaker 1:How long, o my lady, shall my adversaries be looking upon me? In lying and untruth, shall they plan evil against me? Shall my pursuers and those who exalt over me rage against me? How long, o my lady? It's an ancient practice belonging to a variety of traditions to ask questions of the gods.
Speaker 1:And the thing about these prayers is that they are prayed so that other people can pray them, Copy them. Reshape them for themselves. They are prayers prayed in community. So it's not shameful to ask God how long. It's not meant to be isolating to speak this way out loud.
Speaker 1:It's not a slight or a weakness to wonder if God is nearby. It's just not. Have you felt freedom like this? To say, I don't know if I believe this thing about Jesus anymore. I don't know what to make about this part of the bible.
Speaker 1:I can't cope with this certain way of speaking about spirit. Feel free to speak your questions out loud here. We aren't afraid. We won't defend. You won't fall into a trap.
Speaker 1:We will sit with you and wonder with you and ask some questions of our own. And that's what love looks like in community. It looks like the trust that we have in the personal journey of every person in our midst. So do that for each other because it's an ancient practice. And as far as I can tell, it's not going anywhere to ask how long, Lord?
Speaker 1:What's your deal, God? So the second repetition is for lests, as in here are the reasons the psalmist thinks God should act. Answer me, lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy has the last word, lest my foes rejoice, lest I fall down into Sheol, down to the underworld. Or as Robert Alter translates, lest I sleep death. We've got a lot of pain piled up here, and desperation and the fear of oblivion.
Speaker 1:And along with the bleak talk, there's also this lovely longing for light. The phrase light up my eyes in verse three is the antithesis of death. But realize that it's not the noun light. It's the verb enlighten, to be or to become light. Light here is the power of life.
Speaker 1:And the poet feels himself slip slip slip into death and just wants to live. In the middle of these questions and these threats, there's longing. How human it is to long, to be alive to our wanting. And some of you need to recover a sacred notion of longing. The way it connects us to one another, the way it anchors us in ourselves.
Speaker 1:It's good to want. Your wanting can show you so much of what it means to be human and just what it means to be you. It doesn't mean that you follow longing everywhere that it wants to go, but you know you're alive when you want something. When you want to be known, when you want love, when you want someone to see you, like, really see you, when you want to feel good in your body, when you want clothes that fit and cars that work and kids that are kind, when you want to learn and grow and put down roots. All that wanting is good.
Speaker 1:But you know what? You may want some of those things for the rest of your life. Repetition isn't a bad thing. Repetition is important. In fact, it teaches us a lot about what we value.
Speaker 1:I mean, we repeat ourselves all the time. Right? I mean, I know I do. I asked my spouse, Jonathan, this week what he hears me repeat. And you guys, it was telling, as in it actually says a lot about what matters to me.
Speaker 1:So first, Jonathan said that I repeat this sentence, and this was the first one that he said. I should do some yoga. Then he said, I repeat, I really should get ready for bed. Then he said, I rant about how frustrating it is to know what's happening in Calgary. I always miss the boat on the cool things here.
Speaker 1:Now let me decode this for you in terms of what I value. Yoga for me is actually about pain. I live with pain because of a lifelong hip issue. So yoga helps me manage. So I value feeling good in my body.
Speaker 1:And getting ready for bed, I mean, it seems kinda silly, but it's all about self care. I really value rest and wellness. And YYC event frustration is about feeling connected to a city after moving here a few years ago. I value place, and I want it to feel like home. What we repeat tells us a lot about what matters to us.
Speaker 1:So go ahead this week, if you dare. Ask someone close to you what they hear you say over and over and over again. Learn something about yourself. Find out what you value. I know.
Speaker 1:I know. You may also locate some lament, some wanting, But do not be afraid. Repeat yourself to God. Your repetition absolutely belongs. It belongs.
Speaker 1:So take a deep breath and repeat your questions and pile up your threats. Wait for the divine one to enliven you. Now my favorite part of Psalm 13 is the part that isn't even there, and we'll talk about that in a moment. But first, the third literary question. How does the text use loaded terms?
Speaker 1:Loaded terms carry special significance for ancient Israel's faith. So let's look at two terms in verse five, unfailing love and salvation. But I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. So unfailing love.
Speaker 1:This is the Hebrew term chesed. It means unfailing kindness, unfailing goodness, unfailing love. And it's a supercharged love repeated over 250 times in the scriptures, but it's a term that is not found in the book that is all about love in the Song of Songs. So we can see from Hasid's absence in Song of Songs that Hasid is not infatuation or seminary crushes or anything temporary. Hasid emphasizes loyalty.
Speaker 1:It's love that will go the distance. It's love that will stay the course. It's love that will last. Then the second loaded term is salvation. The Hebrew word is Yeshua.
Speaker 1:And the Psalms use this word to assert that God alone saves. And in Psalm 74 verse 12, God is described as working salvation in the earth. It's a feminine noun found 77 times in the scriptures. Now here comes my favorite part. In Psalm 13, salvation and lasting love, they are actually in an in between space.
Speaker 1:There's a mood swing between verses four and five, but we have no idea what causes the change of heart. How the psalmist is saved from misery is not mapped out here. It's quiet. It's private. It's personal.
Speaker 1:All we have in the psalm is this little signal to indicate transformation. It's the tiny word but. Just a single letter in Hebrew called a conjunctive vav attached to the first person pronoun I at the start of verse five. But I. That's all we have to go on.
Speaker 1:Now some scholars say that a divine oracle has arrived, But others say that this is just how you feel when you vent and you rant and you get all of that ugly emotion off of your chest. Salvation in the Psalms, it feels like relief. It feels like hope. It feels like trust. No matter what has gone down in the private space between these verses, the message in Psalm 13 is that suffering and lament, they can lead you to God, not away from God.
Speaker 1:So maybe your questions are better than your answers. Maybe your doubts are as important as what you know for sure. Maybe your pain does not determine your outcome. God's loyal love, God's way of saving you, it's all here in the in between spaces of your life. I mean, how cool is it that the best part of the psalm isn't even there on the page?
Speaker 1:Love and salvation transform us in the quiet spaces of our everyday lives, tiny moments that tune us in to presence, which says, you got this, honey. Keep going. You are gonna be okay. Now we have one final question in Psalm 13. What figures of speech are included?
Speaker 1:Now I wanna circle back to the idea that God is hidden, which is metaphor. The psalmist says, how long will you hide your face from me? And at the time, there is no way that God be God could be contained in a countenance. So what is the poet saying with this figure of speech? What the poet is saying is that we are at home in the human condition when we feel lonely, when we feel distance from the divine, when we look around for presence and find nothing.
Speaker 1:Heck, even Jesus who makes this invisible God known in a human face says these haunting words. My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me? It's a spirituality full of questions.
Speaker 1:But rather than numb out, rather than distract, rather than stay silent, you are invited to speak up. The psalmist uses the metaphor of God's hiddenness to get past fear, to go right through pain, and then onwards to a horizon of hope. And the psalm ends like this. I will sing the Lord's praise for God has been good to me. The poem ends with this celebration.
Speaker 1:You just can't lament forever. So it's not always arguments or answers that lead you through hard times. Questions and poems can companion you too. Like the poet Scott Cairns wrote in Taking Off Our Clothes, let's pretend for now that there is no such thing as metaphor. In the presence of real love, we are exposed.
Speaker 1:We are unashamed, and we are held. If it's true between lovers, how much more true with God? So thanks be to God who hears our questions and our cries and comes running to be with us even if you can't sense God's approach. God is near. Let's pray together.
Speaker 1:Loving God, will you shape questions in us that reveal and enliven? Questions like, how long? Oh, love, will you hide your face from me? How long will I hurt like this? Where are you in my situation?
Speaker 1:Really, I wanna know, where are you? When will you show up? What does your healing look like for me? What does it mean that your love is unfailing? How can I trust your nearness?
Speaker 1:Are you as close to me as the breath? Are you? Where are you in the folds of my life? Where are you in the folds of those that I worry about? Where are you in the folds of the cosmos?
Speaker 1:The spirit of the living God present with us now. Enter the places of lament and uncertainty and heal us of all that harms us. Amen.