From the Pastor |
Psalm 80
As I was looking ahead to this Holiday season, I found myself drawn to the power found in poetry… specifically the poetry of the psalms. Poetry that lights the way through Advent… through this season of preparation. Have you ever noticed how different people react in times of desperation? It is like an airplane that is spinning out of control… As the people on board realize they are about to die… some curse and give into despair. Others pray… turning to and reaching out to God. Are the ones who pray “magically” saved? No! At least not from the crash… but they have one thing the others do not… hope… the hope that comes from faith… hope that comes from believing in the promises of God… from knowing that the crash is NOT the end. Hope is not wishful thinking… it is trusting in God... believing in God’s promises. Hope requires patience and endurance, but it can withstand whatever this world throws at it… fire, trials, and even despair. Hope is what we find in Psalm 80. This psalm is a song of lament… not for the individual, but for the whole community… for the nation following some sort of national disaster. We don’t know what crisis may have originally precipitated this plea. Perhaps it was the Assyrian destruction of the northern kingdom, or maybe the Babylonian exile or some other national humiliation. But this psalm is a prayer sung by a community in crisis. It is also a perfect psalm for us today because, although it is a prayer of desperation, it is not a prayer of despair. It is a prayer that acknowledges the need for God’s saving presence. Psalm 80 offers a profound description of suffering, and a plea for God’s saving power. “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel… Stir up your might, and come to save us! …how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?” It is a song of the suffering felt by a people due to God’s apparent absence. It implores the Shepherd of Israel to reveal himself and save his people. The problem they face is that instead of enjoying the “bread” of God’s presence, the people have been forced to consume only the bread of tears. In their profound suffering, the people feel that God has turned away from them… that God is simply not there with them in their pain, and they long for God’s presence to be restored. The Psalmist portrays Israel as a vine… using the metaphor to demonstrate how God had provided loving care for God’s people, as well as to dramatize the destruction that has been wrought upon them. It was God who had brought this vine out of captivity in Egypt, and planted it in the place where it grew and thrived. But now God’s care seems to have been removed. The walls protecting the vine (Israel) have been broken down, and the vine has been plundered, ravaged, fed upon… it has been burned and cut down. This is a devastating portrayal of the people at their most desperate. Things have gone horribly wrong. Their enemies laugh at them… they are scorned by their neighboring nations… and they seem to believe it is God’s fault… “You make us the scorn of our neighbors.” But the worst part is that God seems to have abandoned them to this destruction. Their suffering is acute and seemingly endless; so the psalmist cries out “How long?” But as I said… this is a prayer of desperation… NOT despair. They still have hope. It is a plea for the restoration of their relationship with God. The repeated plea “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” is for the very presence of God to be with God’s people… for the sign of God’s approval and blessing… for God’s loving care to be lavished upon God’s people once again. The people of Israel long for God’s face to turn back toward, and to shine upon them with the light of grace. These desperate people are crying out for God’s grace, peace, and loving care to be present with them in their time of distress. This is a prayer of hope in the midst of suffering. Hope for restoration… hope instead of despair. This is a prayer WE need today… it echoes the hopeful yearning of God's people today. We are in a time of suffering, turmoil and desperation. There are so many people suffering… so many whose lives have been turned upside down… who grieve… who are sick… who are in pain, whether physical, psychological, or spiritual, or some combination. There are too many living in fear… full of anger and hatred. It does seem as though God has turned away from us… In fact, there are many, even among the people of faith, who are truly experiencing within this desperation the absence of God. Those who are feeling as though they have been ravaged, fed upon, burned, and cut down are crying out for the return of God’s presence, for God’s countenance to shine once more. For it is God alone who can “restore us” and make things right once again. As we begin this season of Advent… we need the reminder that, even in the midst of pain and suffering… of grief and sorrow… we can still have hope. Even though the lament of this psalm is dire… it is full of hope… this song holds out great hope for the son of man who would be the seed of the dream of the Messiah. Such was the hope for the nation of Israel. Such is the hope for every nation, every people, every community… hope for all of us. So today, we sing this psalm of lament in solidarity with all who are suffering, and remember that it gently points us to the reason we are here… the Incarnation… This is what Advent is about… Hope… Hope is found in the shining face of God… a face we see throughout the Advent season. It shines in the baby born in Bethlehem… it shines in the obedient, reverent love of Mary… in the willingness of Joseph… it shines in the wonder and awe of the shepherds… Advent is our invitation to receive the gift of hope anew. The good news for us during these difficult times is that the light of God does, in fact, continue to shine in the darkness. God's face will shine and reflect God's mercy and forgiveness to God’s people. This is the promise of Advent… This is our hope: the coming of the one at God’s right hand… the coming of Emmanuel… God WITH us! Advent is about the restoration of hope bringing us back into a good and right relationship with God, where we will be restored and saved… and given new life. In this day and age, where it seems evil and suffering abounds, we still have hope. Hope in the “the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.” Hope in the one who has come… revealing to the world the love of God… the one who promised to always be with us “even to the end of the age”… the one who has promised to come again in glory… bringing in the kingdom of God. It is hope that will see us through this time of darkness and back into the glorious light of God. So let us cry out: “Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” O Come, O Come Emmanuel… Amen.
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Yeon Shin
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