Today's Meditation - Friday, October 23, 2020

 Today's Meditations

Read Psalm 88

¹O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,

²let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.

³For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

⁴I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,

⁵like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.

⁶You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.

⁷Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

⁸You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

⁹my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah

¹¹Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

¹²Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?

¹⁵Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me.

¹⁷They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me.

¹⁸You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness.

    Due to some technical difficulties I was not able to write a meditation yesterday.  But today's passage spoke to my heart about all that we are going through - with the pandemic, with collective grief over natural disasters that have struck, loved ones who've died, our ache to touch and see one another in close intimate friendships the way it was less than a year ago, the closure of businesses, the lack of travel, and so many other things.

    We are broken.  Spiritual leaders call this "the dark night of the soul" and this psalm conveys that deep depression of anxiety and sorrow.

    Dr. D. W. Ekstrand wrote;

"What Is 'the Dark Night'? What happens to our faith in the night seasons? We know that faith is simply being fully persuaded that God will do all that He has promised to do in His timing and in His way. We also know that God continually pushes us to the limit in order to strengthen our faith and transform us into His image. When we willingly allow Him to purge our souls of sin and self, He can then easily accomplish His will. However, when we block and prevent God from doing these things in our lives, either out of ignorance or disobedience, He sometimes will take matters into His own hands; i.e., the night seasons."

    I'm a firm believer that God loves us deeply and only wants the best for us, but sometimes we refuse to see it, to understand what it is that we need, what we should be striving for and so we go off on our own, believing that we know best.  Perhaps, just perhaps we have more to learn and that our own ways really aren't best.  But we can only take this moment and learn from it.  What is it that we need to re-establish our joy?  Where have we gone astray?  What will bring us back to health, wellness and safety?

    For me it is following Christ's commands - "To love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself".  My have we strayed from these two things!