"Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love" (verse 16)
Now go back and read the first nine verses. Do any of those words sound familiar? (I wonder why the lectionary selects out the first eight verses?) For a long time, I didn't realize that in scripture, when a short verse is quoted like Jesus quoting a line from a psalm, it is taken to mean he recited the whole psalm. So what does it mean that Jesus spoke all these words from the cross? Many things maybe. One - the psalms were Jesus' prayerbook, the words instilled in him in his Jewish upbringing, words to call upon in times of deep distress. Scripture was in his bones and blood. Two -- Jesus knows what it means to suffer as a human being, to spiral down in despair, to approach death, to feel the abandonment of others. And three -- maybe we are meant to hear Jesus' faith in God even as he depicts his crucifixion in such humiliating and horrifying terms. What does it mean to affirm life when surrounded by terror and alienation?
The language of the psalms is sometimes shocking. I sometimes find myself wondering if I experience things as deeply as these psalms portray human emotion. I'm kind of a head person anyway, so I would ask myself that. They are unsettling and I remind myself often that even if I myself cannot identify in full with such stark and sad words, someone somewhere can.
Reflection
- How does it change the psalm for you to imagine Jesus breathing these last words on the cross?
- In times of struggle and suffering, how has your faith been challenged or affirmed or both?
Prayer
Gracious God, give us the wisdom and the courage to declare life in our moments of isolation and death. We give thanks for your Word, the Word that nourishes us and connects us to you when You seem the most far away. We pray in the name of your precious Son, Jesus. Amen
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