Wrestling with Divine Imagery

AM Psalm 137:1-6(7-9), 144 • PM Psalm 104
Zech. 14:12-21 • Phil. 2:1-11 • Luke 19:41-48

I was instantly alarmed when I looked at the appointed reading for today. I remembered something about Psalm 137, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until I read it.

“Happy the one who pays you back 
for what you have done to us!
Happy shall he be who takes your little ones,
and dashes them against the rock!” 

Divine blessing is called down on those who murder children. Psalm 144 offers us no respite from the violence. Even the Gospel reading for today is backlit by Divine judgment as we read of Jesus cleansing the Temple.

Psalms 137 and 144, along with Zechariah 14, are full of language and imagery that we as modern readers would rather avoid. I do not want to think about a god who blesses those who murder children in anger. I’d rather sit and ponder the theological implications of the hymn of Philippians 2 or discuss the historical-critical elements of the prophecy of Jesus in Luke or the ritual nature of his cleansing of the temple. I would rather dwell on the beautiful retelling of the creation story in Psalm 104 or the bit at the end of Zechariah, where humanity is gathered in Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. But to avoid Psalms 137 and 144 is to cut something from the story. We participate in a tradition with deep roots. It is a tradition that has understood itself in relation to God in many different ways, times, and places. I have no answer to the violent imagery present today in these readings. But, I still come to them humbly. I come to them to struggle. I come to them hoping to find new ways of holding space for sorrow, anger, and outrage. If nothing else these texts remind us that there is space for those emotions both in the tradition and in ourselves.

I leave you with the only prayer I can pray as I wrestle with such violence. 

Lord have Mercy,
Christ have Mercy,
Lord have Mercy.

Written by Jonathan Leonard

...who is constantly in wonder at the world around us.