Psalm 46 take 3

 

We return to Psalm 46.  Wait, you think, there are 150 psalms, why do we keep coming back to this one!?!  I am so glad you asked.  So often in our life we keep searching for the splashy and spectacular.  We want what is new and different.  Returning and repeating a psalm a few times can cause the words to go deeper than just one or two readings.  So, read aloud the words below with attention and intention, slowly saying each syllable.  I invite you to notice which of the words travel from your lips to your ears to your heart and soul.  Read aloud, with openness to which words leap from the tip of your tongue and immediately cause you to think, “Say what!?!”  Notice where you emphasize words and where you emphatically disagree or don’t feel much at all.  Read with me Psalm 46 from the Voice Translation.

God is our shelter and our strength.
    When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and God is ready to help.
So why run and hide?
No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails.
    When the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless.
    When mountains crumble and the waters run wild, we are sure and fearless.
Even in heavy winds and huge waves,
    or as mountains shake, we are sure and fearless.

[pause]

A pure stream flows—never to be cut off—
    bringing joy to the city where God makes His home,
    the sacred site where the Most High chooses to live.
The True God never sleeps and always resides in the city of joy;
    God makes it unstoppable, unshakable.
    When it awakes at dawn, the True God has already been at work.
Trouble is on the horizon for the outside nations, not long until kingdoms will fall;
    God’s voice thunders and the earth shakes.
You know the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, surrounds us and protects us;
    the True God of Jacob is our shelter, close to God’s heart.

[pause]

Come, gaze, fix your eyes on what the Eternal can do.
    Amazing, God has worked desolation here on this battlefield, earth.
God can stop wars anywhere in the world.
   God can make scrap of all weapons: snap bows, shatter spears,
    and burn shields.
“Be still, be calm, see, and understand I am the True God.
    I am honored among all the nations.
    I am honored over all the earth.”
You know the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, surrounds us and protects us;
    the True God of Jacob is our shelter, close to God’s heart.

[pause]

What did you hear yourself saying today?  What thoughts rumbled within you as you read?  What emotions did you feel?  What questions do you have today?  What was provoked and evoked in the psalm in this translation?  I love the closing four words of this translations, “Close to God’s heart.”  That is what I seek and where I long to permanently live and how I want to approach this day.

God, You fling wide open Your heart as You greet me today.  Continue to hold me and help me notice that where I am, there You are as well.  Let this truth make all the difference this day and this week.  Amen.