Читать книгу The Psalms - Herbert O'Driscoll - Страница 38

Psalm 31

Blessed be the Lord!

for he has shown me the wonders of his love

in a besieged city.

Perhaps in one aspect, the Book of Psalms is not unlike an opera. There are long passages of recitative that are neither exciting nor attractive musically. But suddenly, sometimes when one is least expecting it, there comes a beautiful aria that grips the attention and moves the emotions.

There is such a verse in this psalm. The poet is reflecting on a particularly difficult phase of life. There are some hints that age may be more and more on his mind, but let us return to this later. For now, one verse flashes out: “Blessed be the Lord! for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city.”

This verse speaks on many levels. First, in the literal meaning of the word “city.” The modern city, where most of us live, is in many senses besieged by problems that sometimes seem beyond solution, certainly beyond easy solution. But there is also the little city, the inner city, the city of the human soul, always in some ways under siege.

The armies of responsibility, tension, stress, and anxiety surround this little city, sometimes playing havoc with it, sometimes collapsing its walls and destroying its streets. Yet even while we are under such siege, it is possible to look about us and see some “wonders of [God’s] love”—experiences, discoveries, sometimes small achievements, so many supports that have made it possible for our inner city to withstand those things that would lay siege to it.

For each one of us, these wonders will be different. For one, it will be a loving relationship given as a gift far beyond our deserving. For another, it will be the sudden realization of how much a long taken-for-granted friendship means. It can be the immense satisfaction of a job well done. It may be the things of beauty that give us grace—music, art, great writing. It may be the liturgy of the church. All these things can be “the wonders of [God’s] love” in our sometimes besieged inner city.

The psalmist tells us of the things that besiege him. There is some great sorrow. He has a sense of life slipping away, of control being lost. “My strength fails me … I am useless as a broken pot.” Yet always for the psalmist there is the Lord who gives grace, and a new grasp on life. “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”

May we also turn to the Lord—not only in our adversity but every day—and find abundant grace for our living.

Recall someone struggling with the anxiety of being near the end of life. Recall someone besieged by the tension of serious responsibility. Ask God to be with these people, to strengthen and comfort them, and to be with you, when you face such circumstances.