Defend me, O God, and plead my cause
against a godless nation.
From a deceitful and cunning people
rescue me, O God.
Since you, O God, are my stronghold,
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go mourning
oppressed by the foe?
O send forth your light and your truth;
let these be my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
And I will come to the altar of God,
the God of my joy.
My redeemer, I will thank you on the harp,
O God, my God.
Why are you cast down my soul,
why groan within me?
Hope in God; I will praise him still,
my saviour and my God.
The Psalms: An Inclusive Language Version based on the Grail translation from the Hebrew © 1963, 1986 The Grail (England) GIA Publications
Reflection
R S Thomas opens his short, deeply introspective poem ‘Absence’ thus: ‘It is this great absence that is like a presence, that compels me to address it without hope of a reply’ He finishes with: ‘My equations fail as my words do. What resources have I other than the emptiness without him of my whole being, a vacuum he may not abhor?’
The longing for God in times of crisis is an experience common to many. It is writ large in many of the Psalms. Over the centuries many poets have woven this theme into their work, but few poets have ploughed as deeply (or as honestly) as R S Thomas. He explores our inability to sense God’s presence, and when that may be discovered.
The interior dialogue of the Psalmist follows the pattern of complaint, petition and hope that can be observed in many Psalms. David the anointed king to be, hunted down by his own people, is possibly the life situation provoking this Psalm. However its theme transcends this by tackling the apparent absence of divine concern for the sufferer. How can the one who is capable of releasing the innocent sufferer sit idly by? It is only when the memory of worshipping God reasserts itself that hope springs up. God who is the redeemer acting and caring for his people then becomes real for him.
Those who have sung the Psalms in the Scottish Metrical Psalter version (as I have) will recognise the latter part of this Psalm. Entirely absent is wrestling with God’s absence. The Psalm has turned purely into a song of hope and praise to God.
Prayer
Gracious God
through your Son Jesus Christ
you have assured us that
where two or three gather,
in his name,
there you are.
At all times,
but especially In our times of loneliness, despair and sadness
let your Spirit’s presence come close
to reassure, comfort and encourage us
day by day
Amen.
