Thoughts for the Day

Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence

O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and the 40 days leading up to Easter (not counting Sundays!). It's a time of spiritual introspection; a time to renew or restore our relationship with God; and a time to reset our connection with others. But it's also a journey - a journey we travel with Jesus as he moves towards the end of his life. So Day 2, today, starts with words from Psalm 63. King David is fleeing from his son Absalom who seeks to take the throne from him. He has left Jerusalem, seemingly with his closest supporters which includes some families, travelled across the Kidron Valley, up the Mount of Olives, and into the Judean wilderness. In the light of this you might want to read the psalm again, noting David's amazingly confident attitude to God.

On one of my trips to Israel we travelled through the Judean wilderness with its barren crags on one side and sheer drops to the valley floor on the other side. It was almost monochrome with sand-coloured, wind-shaped rocks everywhere. There were no plants, no greenery, no trees, just the blue sky above and the rock below. My mouth was dry, the heat was unbearable, and I desperately needed a drink - but this was years before we took to carrying bottles of water and I simply had to endure.

David understands the heat of the desert and the lack of water. He's had to escape to the wilderness often in his life. The only way he can describe his longing for God is therefore to equate it to the life-giving need for water that is experienced by someone in a desert. He cries out: "My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." But this is no cry from a defeated man, it is a cry of triumph. His faith is absolutely solid that Yahweh, the God he has known all his life, will rescue him.

During these 40 days may we turn to God with such faith, no matter our circumstances, as we begin our journey through Lent.

Heavenly Father,
may our souls thirst for You
as those who need water in a desert.
Just as our bodies cannot live without water,
so our souls cannot thrive without You.
Give us the faith to be steadfast in this conviction,
and remind us when we forget.
Then may we travel on,
renewed in spirit.
Amen.