there are somethings that should just be read out loud- they sound different to the ears than to the eyes. today mike read the 46th psalm as part of our morning prayer. i've read it before. a lot. but hearing it was different. hearing it today was powerful.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever present help in trouble.
therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way,
and though the mountains fall into the
heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her,
she will not fall;
God will help her, at the
break of day.
The nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see the works of the Lord,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
He burns the shields with fire.
Be still, and know that I am God
i put my favorite parts in italics. the parts that spoke the most- and it's the parts about non-abandonment. about the Everlasting Arms in the midst of chaos. about Presence in trauma. about help and holding and not needing to worry.
my favorite favorite part, is this.....
the nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts His voice, the earth melts.
because nations are in uproar- real nations, and real people, and real families, and parts of me and parts of you. because kingdoms fall, all around us. and people fall. we fall sick and we fall down and we fall far and we fall away. He lifts his voice. that is all. He speaks. even in a whisper, even in the wind, the earth melts. everything that 'matters', everything that is so huge and magnificently bad and overwhelming, melts away. it makes me feel so small and so safe and so silly and so thankful all at once. it's all held in those arms. we are held in those arms.
i had a moment. i had the 30,000 foot view. i had this awareness that when you boil it all down, when you distill life, when everything is awful or completely wonderful or almost destroyed or being rebuilt- we are loved. i am loved. we have a fortress, a safe place. the one who just lifts His voice. and so in that, only in that, can i perhaps finally, be still.
in the knowing. in the trusting. in the remembering.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever present help in trouble.
therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way,
and though the mountains fall into the
heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her,
she will not fall;
God will help her, at the
break of day.
The nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see the works of the Lord,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
He burns the shields with fire.
Be still, and know that I am God
i put my favorite parts in italics. the parts that spoke the most- and it's the parts about non-abandonment. about the Everlasting Arms in the midst of chaos. about Presence in trauma. about help and holding and not needing to worry.
my favorite favorite part, is this.....
the nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts His voice, the earth melts.
because nations are in uproar- real nations, and real people, and real families, and parts of me and parts of you. because kingdoms fall, all around us. and people fall. we fall sick and we fall down and we fall far and we fall away. He lifts his voice. that is all. He speaks. even in a whisper, even in the wind, the earth melts. everything that 'matters', everything that is so huge and magnificently bad and overwhelming, melts away. it makes me feel so small and so safe and so silly and so thankful all at once. it's all held in those arms. we are held in those arms.
i had a moment. i had the 30,000 foot view. i had this awareness that when you boil it all down, when you distill life, when everything is awful or completely wonderful or almost destroyed or being rebuilt- we are loved. i am loved. we have a fortress, a safe place. the one who just lifts His voice. and so in that, only in that, can i perhaps finally, be still.
in the knowing. in the trusting. in the remembering.
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