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Every Wednesday in Lent, a member of the Tobar Mhuire Team will offer a reflection on the week's Psalm. For the latest entry visit this page on Wednesday or register to have the weekly reflection emailed to you. Registration at this link: http://eepurl.com/vbvH1.
Psalm 27 Click here to read the complete psalm online. In the first five verses of Psalm 27 David sings his confidence for placing complete trust in God's providence. The Lord is his 'light', his 'salvation' and his 'stronghold' even when surrounded by his enemies and under attack. Safety is to be found where the Lord is to be found. David faced many trials and difficulties and later versus in this Psalm reflect his pleading with the Lord to come to his aid. In these circumstances fear will be diminished and trust in the Lord sustained if we can 'wait', 'take heart' and 'be strong'. David is convinced that the Lord will respond. This is the Holy season of Lent whereby focusing on the suffering and passion of Jesus can help us understand how in fact the Lord comes to our help and is our salvation. Let me take you into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus and his disciples are surrounded by His enemies. The disciples did not wait with the Lord, they lose heart, become weak, experience great fear and flee. When the disciples turn their focus away from the Lord towards their own survival, trust plummets. Jesus, on the other hand having prayed to His Father receives the strength to remain and face into His suffering and death. We can think of times in our own lives where, in difficult times, we have responded in a similar way to the disciples in Gethsemane. Surrounded by opposition we lack confidence and flee from the challenge to support Jesus in His Mission to make His presence felt. The confidence and trust in the Lord expressed by David in Psalm 27 can be an antidote to the fear and discouragement we may feel when times are tough. This Lent Psalm 27 can provide us with just the right sort of encouragement we need to direct our focus on Jesus The Lord. Kieran Hill, Management Volunteer
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Every Wednesday in Lent, a member of the Tobar Mhuire Team will offer a reflection on the week's Psalm. For the latest entry visit this page on Wednesday or register to have the weekly reflection emailed to you. Registration at this link: http://eepurl.com/vbvH1.
Psalm 91 1You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, 2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” 10 no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. 14 He who loves me, I will deliver; I will protect him who knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue and honor him. Remember being a little child, and going to the surgeon for a vaccination? I can remember very clearly, sitting on the doctor’s chair with my mother just beside me. I was a pudgy cheeked five year old, and terrified of needles. Nothing the nurse could say would ease my anxiety. All I could do was close my eyes, and hold tight to my mother’s hand. I still remember her words, ‘I’m here. This might hurt a little but it will be over soon.’ As I read through Psalm 91, I heard the words of God echoed in my mother’s voice, ‘I will be with [her] in trouble.’ The subject of the psalm alternates between I, he, and you, relating a personal conversation between a man and his Lord, moderated by the psalmist. The Lord is introduced as Almighty, Most High, Refuge and Fortress, and the man is the one who lives in the shelter. The man proclaims sincere trust in the Lord, and the Lord in return pledges comfort and protection. Take note, God does not promise that the man will live a life without trouble. Rather, God promises to be with him in his trouble. Like the comforting grasp of my mother’s hand as the nurse approached with the needle, the Lord is ever present to us in life’s stings. The authors of Mathew and Luke sought to emphasize this point when they chose to quote psalm 91 in the story of Christ’s temptation. The Tempter asks Christ to recklessly place himself in danger, knowing that the Lord ‘will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.[1] Knowing the true benefit of trust in the Lord, Jesus does not invite trouble upon himself. Jesus did not live an untroubled life on earth, indeed he suffered greatly but the Lord was ever present with him. We do not need to invite trouble. It will find us in time, and ever the Lord will be with you, as well. A friend of mine lost a loved one to cancer a few years ago. After a healthy amount of grief, denial and anger, she found that she was remarkably grateful to have loved someone so dearly as to miss them so greatly. God does not wish any of us to suffer but sometimes pain is just unavoidable. Sometimes trouble comes to the most cautious. Sometimes injury is a consequence of living well. In these moments, we have, at least, the comfort of knowing we are not alone, and the assurance that our suffering will not last forever. We have a hand to grasp. The Lord is with us in our trouble. Kate Balmforth, International Volunteer [1] Psalm 91:11-12, Mathew 4:6, Luke 4:10-11 Every Wednesday in Lent, a member of the Tobar Mhuire Team will offer a reflection on the week's Psalm. For the latest entry visit this page on Wednesday or register to have the weekly reflection emailed to you. Registration at this link: http://eepurl.com/vbvH1. 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is blameless in thy judgment. 5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6Behold, thou desires truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 12Restore to me the joy of salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee. 14Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance. 17The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou will no despise. “Just say it already!” I do not know how many times I have heard that phrase being used. But, I do remember one instance when I yelled it…to myself. I was living in Boston at the time and the stress of an important paper for my graduate degree was looming over me. I remember running into my housemate before one of my classes and I ended up saying something really insensitive. It was not until my walk home a few hours later that I realized how hurtful I had been. When I unlocked the door, I knew my housemate was in her room and I knew I had to apologize. As I made my way down the corridor I thought of every excuse and rationalization for my words, but only an apology would do. I was in the wrong and I knew it. As I stood outside her door, I finally heard this voice in my head yelling, “Just say it already!” And with a deep breath, I did.
Why did I apologize? Because I was in the wrong and I wanted to restore my relationship with my housemate. The only way to restore that relationship was to take ownership of my words, apologizes to her, and hope that she would forgive me and would want to continue on our path of friendship. Why was it so hard for me to apologize? There was no question about who was in the right and who was in the wrong. I learned that one of the most difficult things to do is look someone in the eyes and admit that I was wrong, to admit that I made a mistake, to admit I have sinned. But, this is the message we receive from Psalm 51. Instead of trying to sweep his mistakes under the rug, we see David lamenting, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me,” and begging, “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God.” This shows us how important it is to take ownership of our wrongdoing. While the psalm teaches us the importance to taking ownership of our wrongdoing, it does not make it easy. Before David mustered up the courage to make his proclamation to God, there probably was a little voice in his head yelling, “Just say it already!” No matter how hard it maybe, in both our human relationships and in our relationship with God, there will be times when we need to apologize for our words and actions. Until we accept the fact that we have sinned and apologize, we cannot hope to repair the damaged relationship. The beauty of this psalm and the beauty of our relationship with God is that the story doesn’t end with us and our sin. That’s only the beginning! The Christian faith is not centered on mistakes and sins, but on forgiveness and new relationships. We see David speaking with confidence that God would restore to him the joy of salvation and that God would not despise a broken and contrite heart. It is with the same confidence that we should approach God. If we apologize with sincerity and strive to live a better life, we too will not be despised. So, as we remember our sins and our shortcomings, let this Ash Wednesday be an opportunity for growth rather than guilt. Give us the courage this Lenten season to begin repairing the broken relationships in our lives. And, lastly, pray that our individual apologies and the collective apology of the Church will become a catalyst for a new and deeper relationship with God and others. Reflection by Cheryl Rice, International Volunteer Beginning on Ash Wednesday, the Tobar Mhuire Team will be offering short reflections on the weekly psalms, in keeping with our seasonal focus on storytelling!
Check back here every Wednesday for the latest instalment, or sign up to have the weekly reflections emailed directly to you by following this link: http://eepurl.com/vbvH1 Claire Hill singing one of her own compositions as she opens for THE ONCE at the recent concert in Tobar Mhuire. Claire is from Portstewart Co. Derry. and is currently studying Bio-chemistry at Queens University. |
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