Psalm 69: 1-23

Sixteen times across the better part of 10 sickening minutes George Floyd cried out “I can’t breathe.” Not surprisingly, his cry became the rallying cry of the protests against police brutality and a racist system just generally. More, it became a metaphor for how many people of color feel all the time. “We can’t breathe.” The boot of the oppressor remains on the necks of too many people. The Lectionary begins its reading of Psalm 69 at verse 7 for some reason. But I would like to suggest that it is the opening few verses that capture something that needs naming in this moment: for too many people, they can’t breathe. They feel like the poet of Psalm 69...

“Save Me, O God” by Marty Haugen, on Here Among Us: Songs for the Liturgical Year (2015)

Those drenching winter storms that broke the years’ long drought in California created some very dangerous conditions. I can still see those pictures of once dry lakes now filled to overflowing and those formerly trickling streams now become raging torrents. And I can still see those brave first responders wading into the floodwaters, maneuvering boats, dangling from ropes lowered from helicopters to save stranded motorists from their swamped cars. Do you remember what they called the actions of those first responders? “Rapid water rescue.” That’s what the Psalmist is praying for—rapid water rescue. “Do not let the floodwaters engulf me… answer me quickly….”

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