Not Us...Them

Psalm 79:1-9

As I write this, the television blares news about yet another shooting. This one took place in a naval yard in Washington, D.C. during what would have otherwise been a pleasant Monday morning. There isn't much information yet, so there really isn't anything more for us to know other than there was a shooting and some people got hurt. Unfortunately, there is at least one death from this shooting, and for his family, friends, colleagues, co-workers, and casual acquaintances I want to send prayers of comfort.

Comfort has become one of the words I've relearned. At its Latin root comfort is a combination of 2 words. Com is Latin for with and comfort comes from the Latin word fortis, which means strengthen. To comfort someone is to share with them in the process of getting stronger. When we help a family member or friend regain life after tragedy we are comforting them.

Today's Psalm brings with it the voice of someone in search of comfort. The psalmist cries out for God to stop those who have invaded God's place from killing everything. The voice with which the words cry out from this psalm seems to come from a place of not understanding how their God would allow these atrocities to happen.

The psalmist pleads with God to place blame where blame belongs - on those who are defiling God's place. This is something we still do today. Terrible things happen in our lives, and when they do we find it difficult to see any reason as to why those things are happening to us. It's not our fault when we lose our jobs. It's not our fault when our relationships fall apart. It's not our fault when the balance in our bank account is barely above $20.

The truth is that it's not always our fault. Sometimes it is, but not always. It's in the times when we know with absoluteness we didn't do anything wrong that we have a difficult time to see that God is in our lives. Yet, as we can witness from today's Psalm, God is always with us. Think about it; if the psalmist didn't believe that God was still listening, why would the psalmist cry out to God?

There will always be times when we don't think God is with us, especially when we're absolutely sure we didn't do anything to deserve the bad things which are happening in our lives. In those times cry out to God anyway, because the God I know is still there and wants nothing more than to comfort you.