What’s Going on at the Church
Traveling Mercies for April 21-27
Listening for God’s Word:
Read Psalm 62:1, 5-8, 11-12
“For God alone, my soul waits in silence. (And the Hebrew word also means stillness.) That refrain is repeated twice in the psalm, and repeating it is one of the ways the ancient writers underlined things they wanted to emphasize.
We might hear it as keeping our selves quiet in God’s presence, as in contemplative prayer. God knows how hard it can be to silence all the things we have to do. God knows how difficult it is to keep all our hurts and resentments and troubles quiet. But thankfully, that’s not precisely what’s called for here – because verse 8 calls for us to practice catharsis – pouring our hearts out to God. Verse 8 affirms that God takes us as we are, with all of our doubts or feelings – bar none. We’re invited to let our anger, and our anxieties and our worship to coexist. It’s all about God’s unconditional acceptance.
The silence and stillness called for is about the state of our souls even when life all around us is chaotic. This part of the psalm calls us to find alone times with God, and it will be different for each of us. For some, it might be working in our woodshop. For another, it might be playing on the golf course. For me, it’s when I go hiking in the woods. The biggest message of this psalm is to find the way that works for us before the hard times come. The reason the psalmist was able to keep his cool in the midst of whatever hard time he was facing, was because he had practiced his silent, stillness time with God in the calm times first.
The last two verses speak about “power and steadfast love belonging to God” followed by, “For God repays all people according to their work.”
Right off the bat we need to know, that verse is not about God’s blessings being dependent on how well we perform. The context doesn’t permit it. The psalm says, God alone is the source of hope, and refuge. It is about the way that God’s power and love combine, to help us throughout our lives. It reminds us that prayer is not all about ourselves alone – but that it’s also about helping one another keep the faith. This psalm promises that while the world may not be safe, there’s always a safe place in God’s presence, especially when we leave space in our lives for God.
Prayer:
Spirit of God, touch and heal us, guide and challenge us, so that in the calmness and the whirlwinds, we will seek your presence and your will. In the stillness, help us to grow in our awareness of you. In the day-to-day times of our lives, help us to catch the opportunities whereby we may meet someone else’s needs through our presence and sharing. Amen.
Peace, Pastor Ed