Psalm 107
"1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south..."
We live in troubled times. In this, as in so much of being human and in relationship with Divinity, we are not alone.
I argue with scripture like a beloved, close sibling: I get passionate, and, because I know that this relationship is too precious to walk away from or treat lightly, I come back no matter how hurt, frustrated, and angry I feel. The voices transcribed in our scriptures are so precious to me because they are so often written by other struggling, striving hearts seeking to be true.
In Psalm 107 I hear someone writing to a community so immersed in struggle, so overwhelmed and surrounded by the worst humans and nature can do, and so unable to see hope in the future that the author turns to the past. If part of your Faith life involves doubt, you will never be alone. My relationship with God is life-long, and, because it is a long-term relationship, there are highs, lows, and plateaus.
There are times when I NEED to remember God's love and miraculous presence in my own testimony and the testimony of others in order to also remember how to hope. The Psalmist starts where we need to end up: continuing the testimonies of scripture, speaking the goodness of God outloud, sing the goodness of God, dance the goodness of God, and share what each of us have received for both ourselves and for anyone within the sound of our ability to share who cannot see how to hope for tomorrow.
Use the goodness of God to trouble the waters of despair and surrender. Let it be so.
Seth Stout (Rev.)
they/them, he/him
Pastor