But
you have rejected and spurned.
You
have been angry with your anointed.
You
have renounced the covenant of your servant.
You
have defiled his crown in the dust.
You
have broken down all his hedges.
You
have brought his strongholds to ruin.
All
who pass by the way rob him.
He
has become a reproach to his neighbors.
You
have exalted the right hand of his adversaries.
You
have made all of his enemies rejoice.
Yes,
you turn back the edge of his sword,
and
haven’t supported him in battle.
You
have ended his splendor,
and
thrown his throne down to the ground.
You
have shortened the days of his youth.
You
have covered him with shame.
How
long, Yahweh?
Will
you hide yourself forever?
Will
your wrath burn like fire?
Remember
how short my time is,
for
what vanity you have created all the children of men!
What
man is he who shall live and not see death,
who
shall deliver his soul from the power of death?
Lord,
where are your former loving kindnesses,
which
you swore to David in your faithfulness?
Remember,
Lord, the reproach of your servants,
how
I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples,
With
which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh,
with
which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.
Blessed
be Yahweh forever more.
Amen,
and Amen.
In
contrast to the first half of this psalm, the second half is grim. But the psalm ends with a prayer.
I
am reminded of the ending of the PBS movie, God
on Trial. A group of Jewish
concentration camp prisoners have held a trial and declared God guilty of
abandoning them and breaking the Covenant.
One of the prisoners, who up until then had been cynical and dismissive,
plaintively asks the rabbi what they are to do now. The rabbi answers simply, “pray.” They are led away to their deaths praying the
haunting Psalm 90. “Satisfy us in the
morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our
days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years
as we have seen evil.”
Jesus
too, must answer this question for himself and for his apostles. His death occurs on Passover, the celebration
of God’s rescue of His people by His strong arm. Like the prisoners, Jesus must make sense of the
strong, Passover God’s apparent absence in his moment of need.
He,
too, simply prays.
