1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.
3 Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed.
4 Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent through what your lips have commanded.
5 My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled.
6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.
10 They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a fierce lion crouching in cover.
13 Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down;
with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
14 By your hand save me from such people, Lord,
from those of this world whose reward is in this life.
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
may their children gorge themselves on it,
and may there be leftovers for their little ones.
15 As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
Night and day. Hearing and seeing. Ears and eyes. Being surrounded by hostile enemies and meeting God face to face. These are the themes of today’s psalm. As we head into Holy Week and follow Christ's journey to the Cross, surrounded by enemies, we come to Psalm 17. Which at its heart has a phrase, 'keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings.' This image above identifes Christ crucified as that apple of God's eye. It is a phrase I will return to in a little while, for it captivates our attention.
I wonder: what have you heard and seen today with your ears and eyes? Where have you felt surrounded by harm? And where have you met love, face to face? How might you view your day through the lens of this psalm?
Sometimes it seems the psalmist is so sure of his or her own ‘righteousness’ and quite damning of others. Sometimes it feels like the psalmist is paranoid about enemies everywhere; and other times very certain of his or her own right-ness. I suppose, warts and all, we can veer in our own day from paranoia to doubt, from condemnation of others to high praise of self. And all of this within the same hour!
Today’s psalm has right at its heart – the very centre verse – one of the most beautiful of phrases in all Hebrew poetry. It is a phrase that is a touchstones of the Anglican service of Night Prayer, or Compline. This service derives its name from the a Latin word meaning ‘completion’ (completorium). Above all, it is a service of quietness and reflection at the end of the day. If gathering a congregation together, the purpose would be to leave the gathering in silence and go to one’s bed with the ‘call and response’ phrase from Psalm 17 vs 8 still sinking into the soul:
Keep me as the apple of your eye.
Hide me under the shadow of your wings.
It is a powerful pair of thoughts. A parent may describe with fondness, how a child is ‘the apple of their eye’ as well as being those who seek to shield them from harm. It is a phrase also found in Deuteronomy 32.10, in a song of praise attributed to Moses about God’s care for Jacob -the people of Israel: ‘He (Yahweh – God) sustained him in the desert land, in a howling wilderness waste; he shielded him, cared for him, guarded him as the apple of his eye.’ Christ Jesus, in the wasteground of calvary, in the desolation of his death, in the cry of abandonment (which we will come to at Psalm 22) was yet the apple of God's eye and the one who we believe shields us from destruction through his death and resurreciton. And it is to that living Lord, the Jesus who has walked through our deaths into life beyond that nighttime, that the Compline participant confidentily proclaims:
Save us, O Lord, while waking,
and guard us while sleeping;
that awake we may watch with Christ
and asleep may rest in peace.[1]
This echoes the cry of the psalmist. Under the vigilant care of God, the psalmist seeks vindication in Psalm 17, from those who says he or she is surrounded by enemies seeking their very life (vs9). These are arrogant and proud foes, with pitiless hearts, looking to bring down the poet. In the Hebrew, the word used for these adversaries can be translated literally as ‘risers’. And then, in a quick change of pace (again and again this change of pace happens in the psalms, when a new disposition or outlook occurs to the psalmist) the cry goes out to God to become the supreme ‘riser’: ‘Arise, Lord; confront them and cast them down,’ says the translation of vs13 in Common Worship Daily Prayer[2]. ‘As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness; when I awake and behold your likeness, I shall be satisfied.’
Compline promises to the supplicant a journey into the night and the lowest time of the penitent’s life (those small lonely hours around 3am) that abiding presence of Christ. It concludes with the responses:
In peace we will lie down and sleep:
for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.
Abide with us, Lord Jesus,
for the night is at hand and the day is now past.
As the night watch looks for the morning,
so do we look for you, O Christ.[3]
And then finally, there comes a blessing, which echoes the psalmist’s convinced and courageous hope: that he will wake in the morning to be blessed by the face of God:
The Lord bless us and watch over us;
the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us;
the Lord look kindly on us and give us peace. Amen.
So may it be for us and for all those this night keep a bedside vigil for loved ones in this age of Covid19, when so many are falling around the world. May God give us all peace and Christ’s welcoming face in the morning.
There is something very intimate and tender in the relationship between the psalmist and God in this prayer. Being seen and known as the apple of God’s eye gives the psalmist the confidence to ask God to “Look deep down into my heart. Study me carefully at night and test me.” (v.4 NIRV) I wonder how we feel about being fully open to the scrutiny of God’s loving judgement. Dare we ask the Lord to test our hearts? The psalms challenge us to be utterly open to the mercy of God. To bare all, to pray in truth and with integrity, to have our sincerity tested. We confess our sin in the knowledge that God will show us his “marvellous loving-kindness”(v7). I have a concern though. In these days when churches are closed and we, the laity, are worshipping at home, we can pray prayers of confession but how and when can we hear the words of absolution that we usually receive with gladness each week through a priest. My theology of the Church, her priests and people, is being challenged and disturbed by Covid-19.
ReplyDelete“Hear my prayer, O Lord, for our congregations;
listen to my prayer, for we need your help”.