The third reading is from Psalm 22, a psalm that is familiar because it is cited in the gospel Passion narratives. Note, however, that the psalm has meaning independent of its use by the gospel writers.
Sometimes things go so miserably wrong in our lives that we are sure that God has rejected us forever. Even though we cry out, we hear nothing in response. Maybe we are faced with a serious illness. Maybe we've been laid off from our job. Maybe we've made bad decisions and they've come back to haunt us. When we need God most, why does it seem that God has forsaken us? When we feel this way, that's when we need to remember what God has done for us in the past. God has pulled us out of tough situations before, and God is capable of doing it again. When we look around and don't see God, it may be that we're looking in the wrong place. God isn't "out there" somewhere deciding whether to ride in on a white horse and rescue us. God is "right here," beside us, even inside us, giving us the strength we need to carry on, even in the most difficult of trials.
Psalm 22 is classified as an individual lament, that is, a psalm of complaint used by an individual in worship. The psalms tend to use generic language to describe situations of distress, joy, or thanksgiving. For that reason, they could be applied by different people in different situations. This psalm, like most psalms of lament, has a happy ending. After an implied oracle of salvation (between verse 21a and 21b), the psalm ends with a note of thanksgiving. In the first portion of the psalm the worshiper complains that God has forsaken him. In the second portion, he thanks God for not turning away. The structure of the psalm is a reminder that there is hope, even in the worst of times.
This psalm may be read from the perspective of the poor, the word used in verse 26: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied." Specifically, I want to focus on the situation of the poor in the U.S. The poor cry to God for help, because of the affliction of their enemies. Who are these enemies? The psalmist describes them as mockers, people who denigrate the poor and their faith, strong bulls, ravenous lions, dogs, evildoers, and those who steal the last property of the poor. Over the past several years, the gap between rich and poor in the U.S. has grown, and it shows no signs of letting up. Minimum wages haven't risen since 1997, and in terms of real dollars, it peaked in 1968 and has been declining steadily ever since. In the meantime, the richest one percent of the population control a higher and higher percentage of the wealth of the country. The federal government, which was established, in part, to "promote the general welfare," in fiscal year 2004 spent $50 billion more on defense than on all other nondiscretionary governmental functions combined. Meanwhile, more people are in poverty in the U.S. than ever before. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking of another time of increased spending on a questionable war, said this: "It's inevitable that we've got to bring out the question of the tragic mixup in priorities. We are spending all of this money for death and destruction, and not nearly enough money for life and constructive development. . . . When the guns of war become a national obsession, social needs inevitably suffer." The psalm ends with a shout of thanksgiving because God has answered the cry of the poor. The God of the Bible hears the cries of the poor and answers them. It is time for those who rely on riches and who exploit the poor to repent and change their ways, before the God of the poor decides to bring justice to our land.
As early Christians read the scripture, that which we call the Old Testament today, they frequently ran across passages that reminded them of the life of Jesus, and Psalm 22 is one of the most important of these passages. The description of the suffering that the psalmist paints--mocked by others, poured out like water, bones out of joint, heart like wax, people staring, dividing the clothes--bore striking parallels to the experience of Jesus on the cross. The most important application of this psalm, though, is from the very first line. The only words that Jesus speaks from the cross in both Matthew and Mark are taken from the opening line of this psalm, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Set aside for the moment Luke and John, and Jesus' only words from the cross were words of sorrow, words that reflect a feeling of abandonment. How could Jesus, who had walked so closely with God, who was called the very Son of God, think that God had abandoned him? It would certainly be human for Jesus to feel that God had let him down. On the other hand, another possibility is that Jesus' quotation from the first line of the psalm was meant to invoke the whole psalm, which ends with God's deliverance of the sufferer. If so, then Jesus' cry of sorrow on the cross was also a statement of faith that God would ultimately deliver him.
In Franz Kafka's story "Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa, a young salesman who lives with his parents and sister, awakens one day to find that he has been changed into a giant insect. His tastes are different, he find it hard to do simple tasks, and people can't understand what he says. He finds it more comforting to scurry under a chair and eat rotten scraps of food than to be in public. One day his father catches a glimpse of him and throws an apple, which becomes lodged in his back and eventually rots. After Gregor dies, a cleaning woman throws his body out with the trash. The psalmist says in verse 6, "But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people." Those with debilitating mental illnesses--schizophrenia, paranoia, agoraphobia--often feel less than human, even when they are on medication that hides their symptoms. What's worse, those who are "normal" in society often treat them the same way. It is our duty as Christians to minister to those whom society rejects, regardless of the reason. They need to know that God loves them, despite their condition, and that they are fully human in the sight of God.
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© 2011, James R. Adair, Jr.