Lent - Pt 15

Help me, O Lord my God! Save me according to your steadfast love! Let them know that this is your hand; you, O Lord, have done it! Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad! May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak! (Psalm 109:26-29 ESV).

Our reading today is known as containing some of the most severe curses in the Bible. The Apostle Peter quoted verse 8 of Psalm 109 ("Let another take his office") before the apostles elected the replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:16-26). We have also seen it often used as an imprecatory prayer by various fundamentalist in regard to the condemning of others and their actions. In 2009, it was used in reference to President Obama. In January 2012, Kansas Speaker of the House Michael O’Neal sent an email quoting Verse 8 (May his days be few; may another take his office) to his Republican colleagues that stated: “At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. And, then by the late summer of 2017, bumper stickers could be seen asking people to pray for President Trump with the same attribution. So, with such misuse of this great psalm, what can we learn as we prepare during our Lenten season for the celebration of the resurrection. We must remember that David lived in a world that was broken when he wrote this directive. He appeals to God to deal with his false accusers. While the idea of such a plea as may my accusers be clothed with dishonor can be uncomfortable to those of us who are not exposed to the injustices of war, genocide and sex trafficking as others throughout the world are, we should recognize the truth of the emotion. At some point we have all chosen to repay evil for evil. But instead of addressing injustice on his own, the psalmist takes this injustice to God and appeals to him to act on his behalf. He chooses to allow a just and holy God to deal with those who have wronged him instead of seeking retribution himself. That is the heart of the lesson. If God were only forgiving but not just, there would be nowhere for us to go when we are sinned against. But God’s holiness will not tolerate injustice. As comforting as that sounds at first, we also are unjust, so unless there is some remedy for us, we will be judged with the same judgment as our oppressors. The only reason the psalmist (or we) can appeal to God is because Christ has already spoken on our behalf. When Christ cried out to God from the cross, he was rejected and scorned because he was taking the place of a sinful humanity. Now we can appeal to God because he looks at us through the sinless Christ who spoke on our behalf. This is the victory of grace!