NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE- Babylon was nothing like home to Israel’s de-possessed people. Exiles are rarely at home in a foreign land. The geographical strangeness of the land, with its system of canals between the Tigris and the Euphrates would only serve to remind them of how far away from home they really were. So we see the pain in this psalm that such a disruption creates.

GRIEF, RAGE, OUTRAGE - this psalm with its melancholic, poignant and shocking words can teach us about prayer, about ourselves, and about God. As the NIB suggests:

One thing it teaches us is the lesson that in extreme situations, grief and anger are both inevitable and inseparable . . . What must be felt-by the victims and on behalf of the victims-are grief, rage, outrage. In the absence of these feelings, evil become an acceptable commonplace . . . the psalmist’s outburst in vv. 8-9 is both a psychological and a theological necessity.[1]

HONEST TO GOD - This prayer is an honest, passionate, heart-tearing lament to God. To pray is to offer ourselves-the good, bad, the ugly-entirely to God. That includes our darkest places-even our rage and violent feelings. "For survivors of victimization, ancient or modern, to express grief and outrage is to live." [2]

connections

When have you been homesick? Or lovesick-a loved one separated by a great distance?

The shocking words of v. 9 speak to the violence and retributive justice that rules the ancient world. How honest are you with God? ___Brutally honest ___cautiously honest ___polite ___occasionally up front and personal with God ___rarely.

gambits

As mentioned above, this psalm though in poetic form, can teach us much about prayer, ourselves, and God. I would use this psalm precisely to draw lessons about prayer for my listeners. (1) honesty; the writer feels outraged and grieved. Sometimes we mask our real feelings to others, but especially in our praying. The first lesson from this psalm is the invitation to honesty. (2) emotions are mixed and inseparable during times of crisis; the psalmist reflects both yearnings for God and deep-down outrage. Both are there and both are authentic emotions. The worst position would to be impassive and unfeeling during times such as these. As someone has said, to forget is to submit to evil, to wither and die; to remember is to resist, to be faithful, and to live again. We are no less vengeful (we may just mask it better) than this psalmist was. (3) "Remember, O Lord . . ." is another way of saying, "be present O Lord in our sufferings." The homily could conclude with a call to remember God into our own suffering and pain.

Another possibility for a homily: use the third point above (Remember, O Lord) as a way of reminding us about World Communion Sunday and Jesus’ words, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). Remembering Jesus’ self-sacrifice is painful, for it must recall his death. But in remembering there is hope, for "you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). [3]

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible IV (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), page 1228.
[2] Ibid, page 1229.
[3] Ibid., 1229.