Remembering is helpful to a point. When it brings to light those who have served faithfully as parents, grandparents and great grandparents, we rejoice. When it brings us down and we can’t move forward, it is better to “pray through it” (like the Psalmist) or at times simply leave it behind.
The Psalmist (Sons of Korah) struggled with being physically removed from that which meant most to them. The songs of ascent (Psalms 120-134) referred to here were normally sung on the way to worship together as a community in Jerusalem. Yet, this description shows the Psalmist is in a very dry place (spiritually, like a famine). It appears the cause for the famine was a result of being physically displaced and much farther north in the country of Israel near the great Mount Hermon (described as Mt. Mizar- insignificant and small in comparison to the greatness of God’s presence -Kidner, p. 166). The Psalmist was separated from his spiritual community.
I was touched this week by the life and death of a beautiful saint from our home church in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Shirley Salo). Remembering when we lived near her family, I am filled with good thoughts of a time period when our lives revolved around a vibrant church community. As a child, all the adults (particularly Shirley) knew who I was (not something the children of the megachurches today can say). This makes me grateful and yet sad for my grandchildren.
Wherever we may be physically, God is near us. Nevertheless, no matter how beautiful the physical surroundings, our hearts can be even more irrestably drawn to a place in our memory where we once felt a sense of belonging.
His greatness breaks through the clouds of our doubt. His refreshment successfully satisfies us through memories or simply by moving on and seeing what we have learned through our history that will serve to nourish our future generations.
Even when others don’t “see” us or don’t seem to care, God’s presence is astounding. He is not only a rock but He is our salvation!- Teresa #hopeforfuturegenerations #fellowshipcanbe2ormoregatheredinHISname
Psalm 42:1-11 (ESV)
42 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?[b]
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation[c] 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
1. Derek Kidner, An Introduction and Commentary Psalms 1-72 (London: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 165-168.
Reconnection 