Reflections
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9Our Psalm is about obeying and worshiping God.
We are urged to bow down in worship before our God,
whose sheep we are (remember we are his well-tended flock).
We are instructed to be alert for his voice
and to be receptive to his teachings (we need to be good listeners).
We are not to harden our hearts or test the Lord
(as the Israelites did at Meribah).
We are to humble ourselves and open our
hearts to the Lord; this sets us free;
we are no longer constrained by the
things of this world,
and we can be open to his love and his teachings.
Having called upon the Lord to speak to us
through one of our own kind (recall the lst reading from Deuteronomy),
then we had better listen to God’s son, Jesus.
His works should be sufficient to convince us of his
saving power and grace.
St. Paul tells us we need to be free
from anxiety and distractions;
not an easy thing to do when we are caught up
in the things of the world.
We would all benefit
from an authoritative cleansing of our hearts,
and a removal of unclean forces that distract us
from praising the Lord.
One thing we can all probably use is a
spiritual housecleaning (recall what Jesus did for that man in the Gospel),
Then we can make room for Jesus to fill our hearts
and remain in us.
Amen
1. Our Psalm tells us not to harden our hearts
if we should hear the Lord's voice. What causes you
to harden your heart in the presence of the Lord?
What can you do to become a better listener
when you hear His voice, and how do the verses
of the Psalm help you in that regard?
2. Our psalmist says, 'We are the people he shepherds.'
What does it mean to you to be one of God's sheep?
1. Disobeying God and not listening to his teachings led me to harden
ReplyDeletemy heart because I was caught up in the things of this world and full
of anxiety and distractions. In this context, it is not easy for me
to open my heart to God and to listen to his teachings. But, first of all
with his saving power and grace I have to keep cleansing my heart and remove any
evil spirits that are causing me confusion. And then I can hear his voice and obey and worship him.
By continuing to resist God's will and disregard His teachings, and with an ungrateful
heart, testing God because of my stubborn doubts, keeps me from God's blessing.
Do not harden your hearts. Do not quarrel. Do not test God. "Let us bow down
in worship and let us kneel before the Lord, my Maker, My God; we are the
people of his pasture, the flock under his care." That's why I have to be a good listener
and hear His voice and obey and worship God.
2. Worship him with thanksgiving always because we are the flock under his care.
It is a blessing to be one of God's sheep. I am marked as belonging to Him.
I recognize my shepherd's voice. And so I have to follow him. He'll lead me along
the right path. I won't go astray. I'll be safe and well protected from the
evil ones if I am alert to his voice and his will and his teachings.