40

Psalm 40:1-11
Psalm for the Second Sunday after Epiphany (Year A)

"I waited patiently for the Lord..."

That's the trick isn't it? Waiting patiently. Waiting past the heartbreak. Waiting past the brokenness that we see in the world. Waiting past all the things that seem like they are lost. Waiting patiently is not a given. It is difficult. As much as we think we mature beyond our kicking-and-screaming childish selves, waiting patiently often proves how far we have to go. 

Psalm 40 is a salve to those moments when the patient waiting is more than we can bear. God lifts the psalmist out of the mud and mire of a desolate pit. God places their feet on solid ground. God puts a new song in their mouth and the melody bursts forth in praise. That light at the end of the tunnel helps the worn out heart wait a little big longer.

But there is a catch in the psalmist's throat. The song of praise goes out, but it ends with: "Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever." There is a small shadow over this statement. The pit is still out in the world. The psalmist may feel his or her feet sink a bit and worry.

Psalm 40 is written as an individual prayer, but it eventually became corporate. In that context, the shadow makes even more sense. As we sit together in diverse congregations, some of us feel like we have been lifted out of the pit and others feel like they are in a pitch dark night of the soul. Some have waited patiently. Some are trying their darnedest to wait patiently. Oh God, do not withhold Your mercy.

And this is where I hear Bono. The U2 frontman adapted the psalm for a song appropriately titled "40." When I read "I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry," I hear the melody the Irish band wrote. The refrain captures the hope and the still ever-waiting that co-exists in this psalm.

I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song.
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
ow long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song?

The Kingdom of God is here. I will sing a new song. The Kingdom of God is still coming. How long to sing this song? Collectively we are in the pit and on solid ground because, to paraphrase Dr. King, if anyone is in the pit then we are all in the pit.

I have spent the last several days working on what our youth group is going to do when we meet the evening before MLK Day. I read "Letter from Birmingham Jail." I read the final book in the March trilogy by John Lewis. I watched Selma. I watched Twitter blow up again today as some discounted the work of individuals in the civil rights movement and others rushed to their defense. It amazed me how many lines in "Birmingham Jail," in March, in Selma still resonated today, even to me who is a position of privilege. How long to sing this song?

That is just one desolate pit of many in this world. Pick another prejudice. Pick poverty. Pick depression. Pick addiction. Pick materialism. Hatred. Loss. Sickness. Fear. Pick one. Pick any. If a brother or sister is in that pit then we are in that pit with them. We wait patiently alongside them. It's difficult. It seems like a paradox. God saved us. God is saving us. God will save us. Because of this we sing a beautiful new song and because of this we cry out how long we must sing this song.