Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 20, 2021
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 7 in which the psalmist’s weakness is laid before the Lord’s strength. The very first verse sets the tone:
A plaintive song of David, which he sang to the LORD…
Psalm 7:1-2
LORD my God, in you I trusted;
save me; rescue me from all who pursue me
At times in our lives most of us feel “pursued” by some inimical force … financial worries, relationship concerns, family upsets, health challenges, work problems, the deficits of aging …. and on and on.
Life is challenging to say the least!
David felt that kind of stress too and asked the Lord to do something about it:
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
Psalm 7: 9-10
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
David seems to be claiming God’s favor because of his own innocence and justice. Actually, though, reading the entire psalm, we get a wider picture.
David realizes that his soul’s equanimity must be grounded in a just and reverent life. Given that, he will be able to meet life’s stresses with peace and trust in God.
A shield before me is God,
Psalm 7: 11-12
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
Who is not angry with us.
We can learn a lot from David’s plaintive song.😉
Poetry: No, my life is not this precipitous hour -Rainer Maria Rilke
No, my life is not this precipitous hour
through which you see me passing at a run.
I stand before my background like a tree.
Of all my many mouths I am but one,
and that which soonest chooses to be dumb.
I am the rest between two notes
which, struck together, sound discordantly,
because death’s note would claim a higher key.
But in the dark pause, trembling, the notes meet,
harmonious.
………………… And the song continues sweet.
Music: The Lord is My Strength and My Shield – Hosanna Music
Lavish Mercy 