If Bones Could Talk

Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. 

All my bones shall say, “O Lord, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”

—Psalm 35:9-10

If bones could talk, what would mine say? The psalmist's faith is so deep, that her or his bones extol God. Not just in body, but in the very frame that upholds the body, the psalmist praises the Defender of the weak and needy.

Today's faithful seem very far removed from the words of this psalm. Instead of being encouraged to share our plenty with those who have nothing, people in my culture are taught to expect even more—"blessings" that the vast majority of the people on earth cannot dream of. We pray for benefits for ourselves alone. And yet the songbook of our faith, the Book of Psalms, teaches us that at the core of his or her being, the person of true faith cannot help but glorify the One whose love is toward the weak and the needy.

Instead of praying for more than I already have, perhaps I should pray to be more like those whom God regards with a particular kind of saving love. "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." [Matt. 25:40]

You created me in your image, O God. So forgive me for all the times I dishonor that image by ignoring the needs of the vulnerable, for reveling in the ways I profit from their need, for asking for that which I don't need. Make me more like the humble, the needy, the weak, that at the core of my being, I may praise you with integrity; in Jesus' Name, who taught me to pray: Our Father...