Reflections
Psalm 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 (Read)
“The Lord Lives!”
The Psalm is saying that the Lord
is present to us, here and now, just as
He was when He delivered David
from his persecutors.
The really key revelation for us is
that the Lord lives. He lives among us;
He is present in the Word. Jesus is
in fact the Living Word; He is present
on the inside of us through the holy
Spirit. He is alive in the Eucharist.
He humbled himself to share in our
humanity, so that we might have a
share in His divinity!
So Jesus is alive and well, standing
by us as our “rock of refuge, our
shield, our saving horn.” We join
with David in praising God and loving
Him with all our heart and all our mind,
as Jesus reminds us to do in the Gospel.
(Matthew 22: 37)
How do we apply the Psalm's verses to
our lives? We turn to our Lord to equip
us for the battles that we fight against the
evil one. Jesus becomes our fortress!
In this Psalm we hear David, crying out
to the Lord, as one cries out to his savior.
“My God, my rock of refuge, my shield,
my saving horn, my stronghold.” David
has just emerged after being saved
by God from his enemies. David has been
rescued by that same God of compassion
and mercy that is present to us.
David praises his savior in language that
is familiar to us as his spiritual descendents,
“The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock!
Exalted be God my savior!”
For David has been delivered from the
forces of evil that surrounded him.
And that same deliverance is available to
us, so long as we surrender ourselves
to God and love God with all of our heart
and soul and strength.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm affirms for us that our Lord lives! Tell of how
the Lord is present to you in your daily life. How does He reveal
Himself to you?
2. Our psalmist extols God our savior, and speaks of the Lord
as the horn of salvation. When and how do you turn to the Lord
as your rock of refuge?
“The Lord lives among us.” “Is He present to you in daily life?” My wish is that I had the closeness and interaction with God that David had. I would say that my relationship is a more distant relationship…..like telephone or computer contact. So, I guess that’s my job….I’ll have to work on it.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the warfare imagery here. In verse two alone (NIV), David describes God as 'his rock,' 'fortress,' 'refuge,' 'shield,' 'horn of salvation,' and 'stronghold.' The battle for our minds, souls, hearts, and bodies is a daily one. We don't always see it in the physical, but we can feel it in the spiritual, especially when we start losing our peace. The reassuring and wonderful conclusion is that our ever-present God is there and 'saves us from our enemies.' Praise the Lord for His compassion on us sinners and His ability to save us over and over.
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