The Slaughter of the Psalms

Once again I must say a few words about the faults of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The selections from the Bible that are read on Sunday mornings in churches that follow the RCL are often shortened. or chopped up and rearranged such that the average pewsitter is not given a chance to think about the original contexts and traditional understandings of scripture.

This Sunday is no exception.

31 In te, Domine, speravi 

1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me; make haste to deliver me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, for you are my tower of strength.
5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me,O Lord, O God of truth.
15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies,and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, and in your loving-kindness save me."

That is what we call around here, "Sunday Morning Sweet Milk". The pewsitters have no clue as to why the psalmist has to take refuge in the Lord. There is just one mention of the psalmist's enemies, and no mention at all of the retribution that will face them. For that, you have to read the complete psalm.

1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me;
make haste to deliver me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold;
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me,
for you are my tower of strength.
5 Into your hands I commend my spirit,
for you have redeemed me, 

O Lord, O God of truth.6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, and I put my trust in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy; for you have seen my affliction;you know my distress.
8 You have not shut me up in the power of the enemy; you have set my feet in an open place.
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorrow,and also my throat and my belly.
10 For my life is wasted with grief,and my years with sighing; my strength fails me because of affliction,and my bones are consumed.
11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies andeven to my neighbors,a dismay to those of my acquaintance; when they see me in the street they avoid me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am as useless as a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;fear is all around; they put their heads together against me;they plot to take my life.
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. I have said, "You are my God. 

15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant,
and in your loving-kindness save me." 

17 Lord, let me not be ashamed for having called upon you; rather, let the wicked be put to shame;let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be silenced which speak againstthe righteous, haughtily, disdainfully, and with contempt.
19 How great is your goodness, O Lord!which you have laid up for those who fear you; which you have done in the sight of allfor those who put their trust in you.
20 You hide them in the covert of your presence from thosewho slander them; you keep them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord! for he has shown me the wonders of his love in abesieged city.
22 Yet I said in my alarm,"I have been cut off from the sight of your eyes." Nevertheless, you heard the sound of my entreatywhen I cried out to you.
23 Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful,but repays to the full those who act haughtily.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.

Words like, "I hate those, let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in the grave, let the lying lips be silenced", are considered imprecatory verses, and these are the kinds of things that are typically not included in the Sunday church services of most mainline denominations.

Verses 9-14 remind me of the afflictions of Job,

9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorrow,and also my throat and my belly.10 For my life is wasted with grief,and my years with sighing; my strength fails me because of affliction,and my bones are consumed.11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies andeven to my neighbors,a dismay to those of my acquaintance; when they see me in the street they avoid me.12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am as useless as a broken pot.13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;fear is all around; they put their heads together against me;they plot to take my life.14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. I have said, "You are my God. 

These were not included in Sunday's expurgated version of Psalm 31. In them we see the reasons why the psalmist takes refuge in the Lord. To our fault, it is usually only in times of despair like those the psalmist is experiencing, that we turn to the Lord, and this is a lesson that is lost when the psalm is mutilated.

The Sunday sweet milk is not what we should be seeking. As we are reminded in the opening verses from another of today's RCL selections, 1 Peter 2:2-3,

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 

3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Lord forgive us for our sins of omission. Give us wisdom to drink from all of your holy words.