Read: Psalm 118
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes
This psalm begins with an announcement repeated three times (v. 1-3) and closes with the same pronouncement (v. 29): God’s steadfast love endures forever. What a remarkable pronouncement! What a thing to say! Especially in a world that can seem unloving, where we can be overwhelmed with work, family troubles, illness (mental or physical), or unjust or inefficient social systems. All of these troubles can feel like being “surrounded by bees” which blaze like a fire of thorns (v. 12). Like the psalmist, the situations of life can “push” us so that we feel as if we’re lost or falling (v. 13), and yet the psalmist proclaims “The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.” (v. 14) Somehow, miraculously, God is still present in moments of despair.
Yet in this psalm God’s love doesn’t just remain in dark moments, but that love that “endures forever” actually defeats the darkness. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (v. 22). In the life of this author, in our lives, and most assuredly on the cross, God does not just hold us in dark moments, but leads us from darkness to light. The triune God takes us from our trapped and empty confidence in the systems and powers of this world in the “broad place” of God’s eternal power and love (v. 5). This God makes the cross and the empty tomb good news, and as another psalm says, turns “mourning into dancing.” (Ps. 30) Thank you Lord, for your steadfast love endures forever.
Eternal God, give those who weep today the knowledge of your love, help us to put our confidence in your transforming power rather than on the powers of this world. May our mourning and our celebration likewise draw us closer to you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
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