By Amber Balista
This week I am going off the daily psalm path and reading psalm 116, the psalm is one of the texts for this Sunday, it is worth sitting with a little while. This is the Common English Bile (CEB) translation, it keeps the meaning of the text but not necessarily the exact Hebrew words. It is a bit easier for me to read today.
Psalm 116
I love the Lord because he hears
my requests for mercy.
2 I’ll call out to him as long as I live,
because he listens closely to me.
3 Death’s ropes bound me;
the distress of the gravefound me—
I came face-to-face with trouble and grief.
4 So I called on the Lord’s name:
“Lord, please save me!”
5 The Lord is merciful and righteous;
our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord protects simple folk;
he saves me whenever I am brought down.
7 I tell myself, You can be at peace again,
because the Lord has been good to you.
8 You, God, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my foot from stumbling,
9 so I’ll walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I have remained faithful, even when I said,
“I am suffering so badly!”
11 even when I said, out of fear,
“Everyone is a liar!”
12 What can I give back to the Lord
for all the good things he has done
for me?
13 I’ll lift up the cup of salvation.
I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
14 I’ll keep the promises I made to
the Lord
in the presence of all God’s
people.
15 The death of the Lord’s faithful
is a costly loss in his eyes.
16 Oh yes, Lord,
I am definitely your servant!
I am your servant and the son of
your female servant—
you’ve freed me from my chains.
17 So I’ll offer a sacrifice of
thanksgiving to you,
and I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
18 I’ll keep the promises I made to
the Lord
in the presence of all God’s
people,
19 in the courtyards of the Lord’s
house,
which is in the center of
Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
I have two bird feeders in my back yard, and typically as I drink my morning cup of coffee, I get to watch them. For me, it is a sign of hope. Even when I have not filled the feeders with birdseed they still come around, checking it out gathering up bits that were lost to the ground. Somehow, these birds know they will be provided for- if not by the feeder than by God who has made creation to care for even the smallest creature. It is a sign of hope and a call to praise God!
Like God cares for the birds, we are also cared for. The psalmist remembers that the Lord saves us from death, from tears and from stumbling! We can walk free, in service to our God. This is good news, yet sometimes difficult to remember. It has been a difficult week, some weeks for many folks. Knowing the saving presence of God might not be easy these days. We might feel more chained than free and more grieved than at peace. In a time of fear, it is easy to say along with the psalm, “everyone is a liar!” We may have a tendency to feel like we are the only one suffering, the only one anxious or pulled in too many directions. Feeling out of sorts without control over the situation looking for somewhere to place blame or something to distract from the grief we are faced with.
The highest one, the God of all creation who loves us perfectly listens closely to us- we can call on God for help in times of trouble. We know there is peace to be found when we call out to God, but calling out can be so hard. God can feel far away as we struggle. Looking for some other way to escape either by our own effort or by looking for someone to tell us what to do. We need some direction because our and the people around us have needs that keep stacking up, real physical needs for food, for enough money to pay our bill, for good health of those we care for. We have needs to feel connected to our friends, family and neighbor and a need to be seen and know we are loved.
It is vital to remember that God who in grace provides is with us. While we wait, we can confidently praise God, who is our only master. The one who in grace has done good to us. The one who sent Jesus Christ and left his Spirit to stay always with us, loves us unendingly. The energy it takes to look for help anywhere else is a wasted effort. When it becomes clear that we rely on God who is revealed to us in Christ we can see how much we are loved. We are seen, and known by the God who never leaves us. We remember to call on God, and we can join the psalmist in proclaiming we are God’s servants! Set free from anxiety, fear, suffering, and loneliness. God is at our center- as close as our very breath – sustaining us to life and to hope.
God bless you and keep you.
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