Psalm 20 - “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend you.
Grant you your heart’s desire and prosper all your plans.” (Psalm 20: 1, 4) I knew a man who assumed that if he desired something, the impulse must arise from selfishness. He was very hard on himself. It is true that…
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.” (Psalm 138:7) As I read this psalm - Psalm 138 – a song of praise and thanksgiving - I was reminded that we should give thanks and praise to God in all circumstances. In verse 7, the psalmist expresses his faith and trust in a God who is with us in the midst of trouble, who preserves us, who stretches out his hand and delivers.
“You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;
and so you renew the face of the earth.”
Psalm 104 V.31
For some people, talk of the Holy Spirit evokes images of charismatic worship and prayer: speaking or singing in tongues, prophecies, fainting, or spontaneous healings of body, mind or spirit. For others, the Holy Spirit may be more associated with a call, commission, and empowerment from God to particular forms of service and ministry, in the Church and/or in the World…
“O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.
With his right hand and his holy arm has he won for himself the victory.”
Psalm 98 (v. 1,2)
Psalm 98 is positively bursting with music! The Psalmist as composer and band leader has singers breaking forth with joyful song (v5), and musicians making joyful noises on the harp (v6), trumpets and horn (v7)…
To Him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship;
all who go down to the dust fall before Him. (Psalm 22: 28)
As many of you know, my husband and I are in St Vincent and the Grenadines and living through a volcanic eruption. When our La Soufriere volcano started to erupt quietly back in December 2020 (our seismologists call the incidents emissive eruptions), I think I was lulled into a false sense of security and thought this is OK. We can handle this. However…
“I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep:
For only you Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
(Psalm 4: 8)
Living with the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year has robbed many of us of our sleep and invaded our dreams. While some of us are feeling the weight of time on our hands, and others of us are overworked and overstretched, few of us are getting the rest and sleep we need.
Each week we will offer a short meditation; sometimes historical, or sometimes akin to a “mini-Bible study,” or at other times personal storytelling, but always a response to the Psalm. We will also include suggested prayer starters, or spiritual practices, or reflective questions, to aid the reader in their own response.
Each week we will offer a short meditation; sometimes historical, or sometimes akin to a “mini-Bible study,” or at other times personal storytelling, but always a response to the Psalm. We will also include suggested prayer starters, or spiritual practices, or reflective questions, to aid the reader in their own response.
Psalm 51: 1-13
“Purge me from my sin,
and I shall be pure;
wash me,
and I shall be clean indeed.” Psalm 51: 8
Speaking of sin can be perilous. In the popular imagination of the culture, the Church is preoccupied with sin, to the point of losing our credibility. You’ve likely heard people joke, “If it’s fun, it’s probably sinful.” In reality, the Church is very “care-full” in speaking about human sin and brokenness, calling us to repentance out of God’s love and compassion, not judgement and rejection. The Good News of God begins with God’s good creation and God’s sacrificial love for the world and everyone in it; a love so deep, faithful and committed that our Lord would suffer and die on a Roman Cross, to overcome all that separates us from our Creator, one another, and our true selves.
Notice the language in the Psalm. The Psalmist is humbly asking for God’s help to forgive and make life new. This is no “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” exercise: somehow making yourself worthy of a love you could never earn, and yet is ours as a gift! It is an openness to the grace of forgiveness mending what sin has broken; healing what has been injured; freeing what has been held down; uncovering what needs to be bathed in the Light. As Christians, the images of water remind us of our Baptism into Christ, and the new life of mercy and grace we find in him. Baptism is an unrepeatable sacrament, but its meaning and importance needs to be renewed in us again and again. Our journey of Lent and the joy of Easter is such a time!
Walking in the light:
In preparing for the Eucharist (either virtual or in-person) take some time to reflect on your life. Are there areas where the grace of forgiveness is particularly needed at this time? Share that in prayer with God. When you join in the words of the General Confession, do so with that particular intention in mind. Hear the words of Absolution as God’s gracious gift to you through Jesus the Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. How will you live now as a forgiven person?
Submitted by Archdeacon Peter Crosby
Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
He sent out his word and healed them,
and saved them from the grave. Psalm 107: 19, 20
“I don’t understand why God is doing this to mother; she’s been such a good person all her life!” As a Priest, I have heard these anguished words, or ones like them, in many hospital rooms, as family members struggle to cope with the suffering of a loved one. The ultimate causes of illness, pain and suffering are sometimes obvious, but often they are not. Even when we “understand” how and why, we, or a loved one has become ill, it doesn’t take away our emotional and physical pain. And, if we think that it is somehow a punishment from God, we create a distance from Him - at the very time when we need to trust in the comfort of His presence and in His faithful love.
The death of Jesus, the Son of God, on a Roman Cross, should put an end, for all time, to ideas that if a person is suffering, that they must have done something to deserve it. In humanity’s darkest hour on Calvary, where do we see God? We see Him in Jesus the Christ, fully human and fully divine, suffering with us and for us, giving us a hope that neither the Crosses of life, nor death itself, can destroy.
“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” Hymn 386 - Common Praise.
Walking in the light:
Find a quiet space and time in your day. Centre yourself in the presence of God. Visualize this time as bathed in the light of God’s healing love, grace and peace. Beginning with those in your family circle, personal network of friends, colleagues, neighbors and fellow parishioners, send this healing light to any who you know are suffering at this time, in body, mind, or spirit. Then extend the dimensions of your prayerful concern to people and situations that have come to your attention through the news, social media, conversation, etc. Remember to include yourself in God’s healing. As you go forward, is there anyone that the Spirit has nudged you to contact with a special word of love and caring?
Conclude your prayers by saying “The Lord’s Prayer,” or the “Gloria Patri (“Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit …”), or the Doxology at the Eucharist (“Glory to God, whose power working in us …”), or a simple “Amen.”
Submitted by Archdeacon Peter Crosby
Psalm 19
“The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever …” Psalm 19: 9
In our modern society, in which all forms of authority are held under suspicion, disregard, or even contempt, “the fear of the Lord” can be a “hard sell” as something remotely positive! The Biblical phrase, “the fear of the Lord,” needs to be viewed in the context of the whole revelation of God’s character in both the Old and New Testaments. The fear of the Lord is not a cowering before an angry God, who is looking for the slightest reason to destroy us, and the world He has made. Rather, it is best understood as deep reverence and profound respect.
As a child, the imagination of my faith was kindled by reading C.S. Lewis’s classic, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” One character asked another about Aslan, the Christ figure: “Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh,” said Susan. “I thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe?” … “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I’ll tell you.” Aslan is not a tame lion. He is not domesticated, but he is good. Lewis is giving us something like “the fear of the Lord,” as reverence and respect, combined with love.
Our relationship with God has no less than the best characteristics of our human relationships. Taking others for granted, including God, the Wholly-Other; treating God and others with a causal attitude, full of assumptions, bordering on disrespect, diminishes others, ourselves, and dims the brightness of faith.
Lent is a time for both penitence and renewal; a time to enter more deeply into the profound, transforming mystery of God, who, in Christ, suffered and died that we might rise with Him and truly live. There is nothing tame about this God, but He is good, good beyond all telling!
Walking in the light:
Psalm 19 is an extended reflection on the majesty and order of Creation. Take time to pause and notice the beauty, intricacy, and wonder of God’s Creation around us. Nurturing a deeper sense of wonder within us is a healthy antidote to taking our Creator and His Creation for granted!
Submitted by Archdeacon Peter Crosby
Psalm 22: 23-31
“All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
shall bow before him.” (Psalm 22: 26)
Who hid the remote? Where did I put my glasses? Why can’t I find my keys! Our memories can be wonderful and frustrating! Remembering can be a source of comfort (tender memories) and unhappiness (nursing grudges or becoming lost in regret). To remember is also a “spiritual practice.”
The Psalmist invites us to remember God - His nature and His ways - and to find in Him, grace, guidance and strength. The awesome God of Glory, is the Compassionate One who meets us in the mess and muck of life, where we are bruised by our broken world. On the Cross, Jesus spoke words from Psalm 22 as he fully embraced the spiritual, emotional, and physical pain, which are part of our human condition; at the same time, witnessing that nothing can separate us from the love of God, nor from the hope of new and eternal life.
Walking in the light:
In those moments of remembrance during your day, thank God as you savor joyful memories; ask for healing and forgiveness when you find yourself stuck in hurtful memories or regrets. The anointment of God’s healing can be applied again and again.
Submitted by Archdeacon Peter Crosby
For ‘the next while’ we will offer a reflection on the Psalm, in the Sunday readings.
The Psalmist is an artist of the Word; painting with every color in his paint box: bright ones for joyful praise and thanksgiving to God; warm ones for love and compassion; dark ones for suffering, anxiety, depression, loss, grief and mourning; fiery tones for anger and rage; muddy ones for confusion. All of life is portrayed on the Psalmist’s canvas, and so is the presence and grace of God.
