Psalm 120
I call on the Lord in my distress,
and he answers me.
Save me, Lord,
from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
What will he do to you,
and what more besides,
you deceitful tongue?
He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom bush.
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.
It's easy to see why this Psalm was chosen to begin the pilgrim's songbook. This Psalm is the lament of someone who finds himself far from home. "Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek," the Psalmist says, "that I live among the tents of Kedar!" These places are about as far away as one can be from Jerusalem. Meshak is a place as far northwest as a Hebrew could imagine. It's in Asia Minor between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Kedar is on the other extreme corner of the map: Southeast in the Arabian Peninsula. It would be impossible to dwell in both of these places at once as the Psalmist claims. But this is probably meant to be understood poetically. The Psalmist feels about as far away from Jerusalem as you can get. As far away from God as you can be.
He's surrounded by liars who speak all sorts of slander against him. Surrounded by people who he tries to make peace with but who only want to fight. Can you feel the loneliness in this Psalm? The desperation? The Psalmist feels cut off from God and from the people around him. Alone in a wilderness.
I learned something interesting today. Did you know that the English word "Quarantine" comes from the Latin for '40 days'? In the Old English, Quarentyne was used to describe the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness and the 40 days that Christians spent fasting during Lent. Quarantine is an act of separating ourselves from the world. Today, we use the word in its purely secular sense but it is interesting that our medical quarantine comes in the midst of our Lenten Quarentyne.
Suddenly all those Lenten metaphors about being in the wilderness have a deep resonance. We are cut off from the world physically and spiritually. Our Church building is as far from our homes as it has always been but we feel as though it might as well be in Kedar or Meshek. We get on our computers or watch the news and we feel we are surrounded by deceitful tongues. We want to find God's peace, his all encompassing shalom, but the people around us are fighting over the last of the milk and paper towels.
But here we gather in our spiritual caravan on the furthest corners of the map in the sure hope that when this journey is over, we will again be in God's house where the truth is central, where fellowship is holy, and where our souls can find peace. As we set off together, we are all coming from different places. Some are coming by way of the sea. We were living a quiet life that was interrupted by all this. Others are coming by way of the desert. We've been parched for sometime and this has been a wake up call that we need to move back toward God. Some of us can say, "I called on the Lord, and he answers me." Others can only say, "Woe is me that I find myself... here."
But wherever each of us is starting this journey from, we're starting it together... one caravan, making its way upward and inward... from the wilderness of our quarantine to the mountain of our celebration... Let us sing together as we make our way:
Come ye that love the Lord,
And let your joys be known,
Join in a song with sweet accord,
(join in a song with sweet accord)
And thus surround the throne.
(And thus surround the throne)
We're marching to Zion,
Beautiful, Beautiful Zion,
We're marching upward to Zion,
The Beautiful City of God.
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's ground,
(Marching through Immanuel's ground)
To fairer worlds on high.
(To fairer worlds on high)
We're marching to Zion,
Beautiful, Beautiful Zion,
We're marching upward to Zion,
The Beautiful City of God.
Lord, There are times when we feel far away from you and far away from each other. Help us during this time of separation to let our longing turn to love. So that even though we are physically separated, we will be united in you. Amen.
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