Moving Forward - 19 February 2025

WEDNESDAY, February 19, Ying, Zhao, and Zhenmei

Psalm 109:12 Let his descendants be destroyed, and his name be blotted out in the next generation.

As unholy as I may sound, there’s almost nothing I love better than a good cursing psalm, and this one is my favorite. The combination of pettiness and venom married to prayer is so incredibly delicious that I feast on it time after time. On a good day, I see it as an extreme, almost slapstick adaptation of what I wish would happen to “meanies.” And on a bad day, when individuals or institutions choose evil that results in abuse, murder, and genocide, these words are affirmation that God understands human responses.

This psalm is an invitation to bring the deepest level of honesty and reality into God’s presence as an emotional release and spiritual cleansing. Pain and righteous anger get the blessing of divine witness, and my spirit gets readied for the work of loving those who hurt me and others. What freedom to not have to “fake it until we make it” in the work of loving enemies. God is present with us and allows us to be fully present in our emotional lives so that we can act in love, whether we’re feeling love or not.

MOVING FORWARD: Read a cursing psalm aloud. How does it make you feel?

PRAY for the Diocese of Machakos (Kenya)

Ps 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 * 119:121-144 | Isaiah 63:15—64:9 | 1 Timothy 3:1-16 | Mark 11:27—12:12

(Source: Forward Day By Day Movement)