What’s Going on at the Church
Traveling Mercies for April 28 – May 4
Listening for God’s Word:
“I love the Lord, because God heard my voice and my supplications. Return O my soul to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For God has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I walk before the Lord in the land of the living. What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. O Lord, I am Your servant. Psalm 116 sel. vss.
This psalm is, from beginning to end, all about a relationship with God. Whatever the trouble, the content of gratitude was the way the presence of God was experienced, and it made the difference in getting through.
This psalm is not talking about the end of our lives on earth. It’s talking about death as a power – a negative spiritual force that impacts our attempts to live with faith. It’s talking about depression and anguish. It’s talking about the times in life when it seems like the sun is never going to shine again. It’s talking about times when every circumstance seems to get bigger and harder to deal with, the more time passes. Doesn’t this sound very familiar?
In these ways, this psalm has a timeless message because it reminds us of the resources that faith provides whenever the power of death and Sheol rear their heads. The first resource is found where it said, “Return O my soul to your rest.” In that brief phrase, it was speaking about a customary spiritual experience. It’s talking about every time in life when God’s grace prevailed through dark times in the past. There is the great V-8 moment when the psalm writer says, “Stop fretting! Let go of all the distress and let God into this situation.” Return to the rest God gives, even when the circumstances haven’t changed, because remember, “the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.”
When the psalm speaks of “walking before the Lord in the land of the living”, it is testifying about the difference it makes every moment, every day, when we realize, and live as though God is present. The truth is, God’s will and God’s ways can be in our awareness enough to help us choose one way – God’s way – over another in our day-to-day lives. In Christ, we always have the potential within us to transform whatever our circumstances may be, from “death” to life. In this way, this psalm is a preview of the life we have been given from Christ’s resurrection. We always have the opportunity to be God’s “servant” in our lives in the world.
Prayer:
O God, release the power of your Spirit within us today. With it, help us to face the death-dealing powers around us that tell us that uncertainty and darkness and fear have the last word. Grant us the grace to face down these powers, trusting that there’s absolutely nothing that can ever separate us from your love. In the midst of life, help us to be a source of grace, and warmth and light as we seek to be of service to others. Amen.
Peace, Pastor Ed