Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 4: You alone, O Lord

You alone, O Lord
(from The Message translation)

When I call, give me answers. God, take my side!
Once, in a tight place, you gave me room;[1]
Now I’m in trouble again: grace me! hear me!
² You rabble—how long do I put up with your scorn?
How long will you lust after lies?
How long will you live crazed by illusion?
³ Look at this: look
Who got picked by God!
He listens the split second I call to him.
^4-5 Complain if you must, but don’t lash out.
Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking.[2]
Build your case before God and wait for his verdict.
^6-7 Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say.
“More, more.”
I have God’s more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
^7-8 Than they get in all their shopping sprees.
At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep,
For you, God, have put my life back together.

Today’s focus from the Government was to ask people to be considerate and stop the panic buying. ‘Be responsible when you shop. Think of others. As you shop think of those who are finishing the late shift after a long day (in the hospitals),’ said Environmental Secretary George Eustice today. ‘There is more than enough food to go round.’ There has been a peak in demand like Christmas says the British Retail Consortium.

Today’s psalm, in Eugene Petersen’s marvellous translation from The Message, addresses the rampant consumerism that grips our country at present in very pertinent ways. Verse 6 and 7 in his translation read thus: Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say. “More, more.” I have God’s more-than-enough, More joy in one ordinary day  than they get in all their shopping sprees. Yesterday we were troubled to hear the cries of a critical care nurse called Dawn who was reduced to tears when she found her local supermaket emptied by panic buying. 'Where am I to get the food I need to stay healthy?' she asked in this short video which has gone viral. 

Yet again, the psalmist is at pains to contrast the way of living that believes ‘everything is down to me’ and a complete switch of mindset that acknowledges a much deeper sense of belonging to God which overcomes all anxieties and panics even in the face of very real anxieties and panics. This psalm, like yesterday's, characterises such a person – who trusts in God rather than their own strength – as one who is able to lie down and sleep and wake again the next day sustained by God’s love. 

Oh that we had that deeper trust. Speaking for myself, my sleep has become less easy over the years – like so many of my friends and family! And I can’t help but acknowledge that I have been infected by the rush and craziness of our culture which does not take breath. I acknowledge that I have built up a deep store of self-dependence which is not really giving me peace.

I am grateful for the Book of Psalms to help re-orientate my life in a time of profound disorientation. I also am grateful for the way in which, in these days, I am finding it possible to reconnect with good relationships and find time for ordinary things too. I have just cut the lawn, reclaimed the grassed over stepping stones in the garden and tied back plants that had become loosened by the recent winds. There is a sense of greater spaciousness in the day now that face-to-face appointments have dried up.

Psalm 4 opens with an interesting reflection on how God works in the human heart and life. The NRSVA version is helpful here. In vs1, the psalmist says: ‘Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.’ My commentary tells me that the Hebrew verb rahab, here translated as ‘gave me room’ literally means ‘wide’, while the noun sar (we simply note this strange co-incidence of a word connected with a virus), here translated as ‘distress’, means ‘narrow’. 

As our lives are narrowed down by isolation and illness, may we all know the wideness of God’s mercy expressed through the kindness of strangers and the help of health professionals. But also may we also find the spaciousness of God's love and mercy and grace when we are narrowed down by our own distress. May we find ways to trust again in God. And in doing so may we find our way into a spacious place again, a spacious place of health and loving care – a space such as a well cared-for garden with re-discovered stepping stones to a grateful life.

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[1] NRSVA: You gave me room when I was in distress.

[2] NRSVA: When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent