Psalm 31:9-16 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 31:9-16 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
Verse 10For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
Verse 11I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
Verse 12I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
Verse 13For I hear the whispering of many- terror all around!- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
Verse 14But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."
Verse 15My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Verse 16Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.
Devotion
Today we hear another example of the humiliations those who suffer endure. The psalmist cries out with grief as his body wastes away in fear. The images are visceral: his misery weighs heavily upon him, giving him the appearance of a decaying corpse as his loved ones desert him and his enemies scheme against him. He has absolutely nothing left to him but to hope and trust that the steadfast love of the Lord will deliver him from his humiliation into safety.
Maybe you've experienced this kind of paralyzing fear and despair. It manifests itself in infinite ways and in varying degrees—it is the terror of families caught in war-torn Aleppo; the grief of parents who've lost a child; the despondency of those gripped by addiction; the loneliness of the bullied. It is Jesus in Gethsemane. But the psalmist reminds us that out of infinite love God delivers. Though suffering and death may have us cornered, they do not have the final word. We will not be left in our humiliation, for the Lord will deliver us.
Prayer
Lord, make your face to shine upon all those who suffer. In our despair help us to trust in your steadfast love, for you are our God. Amen.