Reflections
Psalm 116: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (Read}
“He has freed my soul from death."
It is said that Jesus called out this prayer
on the night He was betrayed, and went
to His death with these words on His lips.
The psalm is a simple prayer of thanks to
God that the psalmist might have used after
escape from the “snares of the netherworld,”
as he called upon God, “O Lord save my life!”
But unlike the psalmist, our Savior does not
ask to escape death; instead He begins to
teach the disciples that the Son of Man must
suffer greatly and be killed. Jesus summons
the crowd and begins to preach on the redemptive
value of His death, saying that 'whoever loses his
life for my sake will save it.' (Gospel, Mark 8: 31-35)
Having become the prayer of Our Lord on the night
of his Passion, the Psalm says to us believers that
there is hope, that we too will “walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.”
In Sunday's first reading, the prophet Isaiah reminds
us that the suffering servant is not disgraced, is not
put to shame. (Isaiah 50:7) It is that same spirit of
defiance in the face of death that empowers the
suffering servant to set his face like flint, knowing
that the Lord God is his help.
Because we are little and “brought low,” we depend
on our God to “incline His ear” to us when we call.
We cannot raise up ourselves; we are at the mercy
of God's grace. We cannot become divine, and
therefore God in His love for us became like us
and inclined Himself to our humanity
For this we are grateful, and we join with the
psalmist who celebrates as we do, “For the Lord
has freed my soul from death.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist says that the "Lord has freed my soul from death." Speak about how the Lord has worked in your life to give you hope that you are saved and raised you up away from the "cords of death."
2. The Psalm says, "The Lord keeps the little ones." Are you one of His 'little ones?' Explain how by humbling yourself you have a better chance of being pleasing in the
eyes of God.
I am definitely a “little” one. Let’s add ... lost, silly, wayward, prideful and selfish to that list.
ReplyDeleteI love the image of our loving Shepherd and how He would leave his flock of 99, to seek after the one little one who strayed from the path.
We all stray... over and over... and the Lord lovingly calls us back. He scoops us up where we are and gives us a fresh start. We just need to look up for Him and be held. Sometimes, even when the Lord is there trying to stop us, we continue in our stubborn, wrong footsteps.
Last night, a very special person in my life reminded me of a beautiful song, by Chris Rice. Let’s just say I bawled. I was so humbled that I was literally lying flat on the floor... and the Holy Spirit sent me these healing lyrics to hear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PANiveIKVX0
I was weighed down in my anxiety about my world, and was at my lowest when this sweet invitation pierced my heart.
Praise Jesus for coming to me in my vulnerable and humble moment, in an unexpected way.
He has freed my soul from death
ReplyDeleteI meditated on the above passage thinking how God has freed my soul from death. At first his statement occurred to me as a paradox. But with the help of His grace I could figure out the meaning of Jesus’ point of view here.
Without any suffering and personal death, taking up an individual personal cross like Jesus did for us, we could not be saved. He himself was a suffering servant for mankind. He has greatly suffered and was killed. What does it mean?
What does his goodness do for us ?
Certainly his death has redemptive value. And He emphasized this by saying, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." And so we have freed our
soul from death. Like the psalmist did we can do the same, by crying out, "Lord save my life,” when the cords of death entangle us in anguish by trouble and sorrow.
The believer has hope and may walk before the Lord in the land of the living, because the Lord is gracious, righteous, full of compassion.
He will deliver my soul from death, my feet from stumbling. He will raise me up high, not disgraced ever, and I am not put to shame.
Instead I will earn life after suffering. That is his promise to us. And so in turn, I worship Him with a thankful heart and give him a thanks offering for what He has done for me. Praise the Lord all my soul! I will lift up the cup of salvation. You have freed me from my chains!