Читать книгу The Psalms - Herbert O'Driscoll - Страница 13

Psalm 6

The Lord has heard my supplication;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

The more we read the psalms, the more we become aware of their deep intensity. Whether it be joy or fear, depression or anxiety, or any other human emotion, these emotions are never felt mildly in the world of the psalms. Nobody in the psalms ever says, “I feel rather depressed today” or “I’m a little worried about such and such.” Instead one cries out, as the psalmist does here, “I drench my bed and flood my couch with tears” or “My spirit shakes with terror.”

Unless we remind ourselves of the tendency in Eastern life to use language that to us seems exaggerated, we can be persuaded that these people lived with constant and dreadful intensity and stress. As a consequence, we may find it difficult to identify with the language of the psalms, and they can cease to speak to us about our human condition.

Obviously the psalmist is under great stress and, equally obviously, this has been going on for some time. We hear the cry, “How long, O Lord, how long?” From our own experience we identify with his distress. We know very well that the most steadfast courage can be worn down if there seems no end in sight to what is afflicting us.

We can only guess at the demons the psalmist wrestles with. The language seems to point to a period of actual sickness. “I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are racked.” He is beginning to feel the dread that comes over us all when a malady continues and nothing seems to shake it.

Dark fears emerge from within, fears we hesitate even to name. “In death no one remembers you; and who will give you thanks in the grave?” This ultimate fear is forced into words because the psalmist’s resistance has been weakened over weeks and months. The cry,” [I am] worn away because of all my enemies,” suggests that the pain and sickness are finally threatening life itself.

But, as so often happens in the psalms, giving vent to fears, expressing deepest feelings, has an immediate effect. If we listen again to the verses of this psalm, we hear the word “Lord” ringing through its cadences like a resonant chord, but always in the background. Suddenly this chord assumes dominance and floods the soul with its assurance. “The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer.”

And what do we see? Enemies are routed. It is they who now quake. Healing takes place. Life pulses back.

Recall a time when you have suffered. Ask God to be with you. Give yourself permission to feel and accept the suffering. Be kind and gentle with yourself. Ask God to feel the depth of your suffering with you. Ask God to be with all who suffer.