6 My whole being is depressed.
That’s why I remember you
from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep called to deep at the noise of your waterfalls;
all your massive waves surged over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his faithful love;
by night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my solid rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I have to walk around,
sad, oppressed by enemies?”
10 With my bones crushed, my foes make fun of me,
constantly questioning me: “Where’s your God now?”
11 Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed?
Why are you so upset inside?
Hope in God!
Because I will again give him thanks,
my saving presence and my God.
Reflection
I watch the Charlie Brown holiday specials every year, and there is always something to take away from them. I hope at some time you have watched those specials. As a kid, I was obsessed with Snoopy and Peanuts. In the Christmas special, Charlie Brown tells Linus he enjoys doing the activities connected to Christmas but just doesn’t feel happy. He goes to his mailbox but is disappointed that he didn’t get a card. He says he knows nobody likes him and is upset that there is a holiday to emphasize it. Everyone seems to be enjoying the season, including Snoopy, but Charlie Brown gets upset about all of the commercialism etc. He becomes more frustrated after the Christmas play practice turns into a dance party and people do not take him or Christmas seriously. It is interesting to me because Charlie Brown is a nice kid. He tries to do the right thing, but for some reason his peers see him as a “Blockhead.” He is never really part of the group. He is ostracized and/or taken advantage of at every turn. He is always the “odd person out.” In our scripture, the Psalmist is in exile and feels that everyone, including God has left him. He is struggling with the fact that God seems to have abandoned him and in turn that makes his situation worse with his peers because they are relentless in their abuse. He remembers what God has done for him in the past and how that feels, and he realizes that the only hope available is in God.
At this time of year when we want to do all of the traditional things – whatever they are for each of us – baking, decorating, meeting friends and family, seeing special performances in addition to what we do everyday including our work, taking care of our families, etc. we can get very stressed and feel that we are pulled in so many directions that we feel nothing is getting done well. It can all be enjoyable, but sometimes it is all just too much, and we feel so overwhelmed that we don’t really feel like we are connecting to others or to God. We can add in the state of things in the world, and it is no wonder we can feel depressed and out of sorts.
All of this reminds us once again at the start of this Advent season that God gives us hope through Christ who came as a baby and experienced those human feelings of feeling alone and overwhelmed at times as he was trying to do the right thing. We can follow Jesus’s lead in trusting that God will lead us to a better knowing, a hope that things will turn out for the best in God’s time as the Psalmist writes in verse 11b,” Hope in God! Because I will again give thanks to God, my saving presence, and my God.”
by Janet Waryck
For Pondering and Prayer
When have you felt like Charlie Brown or the Psalmist? I know I feel like Charlie Brown at times – part of the group, but somehow disconnected as I try to do the right thing although maybe not in a conventional way. I definitely try to remind myself that I am a unique person, and I have Jesus’s example to try to follow, unlike the Psalmist who really relied on God coming through over and over again. We need to remind ourselves that is what God promises – hope in God will save us!
Prayer: God of Hope, please help us to look to you in hope for things that we can’t know, but trust that you will do within our lives. Help us to praise you in the midst of what can be a sometimes too hectic season. Help us to remember that even if we do feel we are the “odd person out” that we are always part of your kin-dom and that you sent Jesus to be our example in this life. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.
