Windy days over Warley Woods
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
until the destroying storms pass by.
2 I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me,
he will put to shame those who trample on me. Selah
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
4 I lie down among lions that greedily devour[a] human prey;
their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
6 They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my path, but they have
fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
8 Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O
God, above the heavens. Let your
glory be over all the earth.7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
8 Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the clouds.
Trust is a precious thing. And when trust is broken, to whom can I turn and find refuge? This psalm continues some of the propelling force of Psalm 55. The psalmist is calling out in complaint and lament because opponents seem to have the upper hand. They are like an army that trample (vs3); they are like lions with tongues like swords, greedy to consume prey (vs4); they are like hunters who dig a deep hole in the psalmist’s path or wait with a net which cannot be seen because their victim is so bowed down with concerns (vs6). Indeed, the psalmist is so very vulnerable he or she is lying down with the lions, in their den. It is as if they are the psalmist’s own household.
There is a claustrophobic feel to this complaint. Whether at home or out and about, the psalmist feels surrounded by those who seek to do harm. Yet in the middle of those verses comes the refrain: ‘Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, let your glory be over all the earth.’ (vs5)
In this period between Ascension and Pentecost, Christians around the world are being invited to join together in prayer inspired by the words of the Lord’s Prayer – Thy Kingdom Come. It is a time when we look out beyond our circumstances, our own claustrophobia, to the broad horizons of God’s kingdom which is both ‘here and not yet’. We seek refuge, like the psalmist, under the ‘shadow of the wings’ of God’s kingdom while this storm passes. And we cry out for this kingdom of love and justice and peace to become more apparent, more present, more real for each of us even in the shifting uncertainties of this pandemic age.
We began this prayer on Ascension Day by looking to the skies, to the eternal horizon of the heavens. And today the psalmist picks up a triumphal theme of God’s exaltation even in the midst of what we are living through. Though surrounded, the psalmist finds his heart is steadfast because of a profound sense of finding refuge in God. And this refuge is found in the freedom of living under God’s skies. This safety and freedom sparks song that even wakes the dawn (vs8) and inspires the psalmist to tell others (vs9) of a love that reaches to the clouds (vs10).
Spend some time today out under God’s sky. Look up to the clouds. Imagine the height represents the extent of God’s faithfulness to you, to those you love, to those who you consider your enemies, to all peoples, to nations, to the globe, to all creatures and plants, hills and valleys, seas and life under the sea. In the vastness of this thought, seek refuge. And may trust be renewed. Precious. Lifegiving. Merciful.
[1] New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
(NRSVA) New
Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.
Footnotes: Psalm 57:4 Cn: Heb are aflame for
Footnotes: Psalm 57:4 Cn: Heb are aflame for
I did spend some time outside today under God’s sky and my attention was very quickly drawn, not up to the clouds, but to the patches of very tall uncut grass being blown about by the strong and gusty wind. And I was drawn to go and simply stand still in among the grasses as they were buffeted about. Although it wasn’t exactly the “destroying storms” of the psalm the strong wind was in one way symbolic of the storms of this pandemic. We are all being tossed about by uncertainty and anxiety, and like the individual grass stem I pulled up to hold and touch, we can feel vulnerable, even fragile, in the face of its “spears and arrows”. And yet, today, like the psalmist, I did not stay in the mindset of fear but, very quickly, my heart was “awakened” to praise. For in the fast moving, wind blown grass I could see the most beautiful patterns of swirling different shades of green. And I was captivated watching and standing within this dance of new life, energetic and liberating. The wind of God, the Creator Spirit, was giving me a visual display that all is held in God’s renewing life and love. And it was at that point, standing in the midst of fragile grass, I looked upwards and praised God the Creator, the Lord of all. Yes, our nation, our world is in trouble, but we can still find, sometimes literally, through the clouds, the wind and the storms, that God is our refuge and our hearts are ready to praise for the new dawn will come.
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