Monday, October 19, 2020

Psalm for Sunday, October 25, 2020


Reflections



“The Lord Lives!”


The Psalm is saying that 
the Lord is present to us, 
here and nowjust as 
He was when He delivered 
our psalmist 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, 
the horn of my salvation, 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 descendants,
“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?


2 comments:

  1. God reveals Himself to me through ball.

    Every day presents new challenges, especially now that our season has started. Six times per week, I wake up and think, "There will be some point today, either at a team weight-lifting session, running session, or actual basketball practice where I am going to get yelled at, I'm going to mess up, and I'm going to get discouraged."

    Some days, nothing ends up going right. I go home, frustrated or angry at the result. Other days, I bounce back, make a good play, receive some praise, etc. I'm still learning that while it feels good to play well and receive the credit for it, life is bigger than praise from a coach or person in authority.

    Sometimes, I'll ask God to help me in practice, and it will go well, and I think, "God was with me today." The very next day, I'll call upon God for help, and it seems like He wasn't there. This has shown me that God won't grant wishes just because I ask or pray about it. I'm beginning to realize that God probably doesn't care who wins in a drill, scrimmage, or game (although I do very much). It's important for me to praise Him whether things go the way I want or not, trusting that His plan and timing are perfect, and that my time to shine will come. That might be tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year.

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  2. J Kim5:36 PM

    In general, I lead a safe and calm life. I have a comfortable home and my husband has provided for our children and for me, with funds to spare. We enjoy great blessings and remember to thank God for them daily.

    However, if I think a little deeper, the enemy constantly poses a threat. He truly does "prowl around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) He can hurl an onslaught of lies in a moment and leave me feeling anxious and hopeless without even having gotten out of bed in the morning. Or he can stir up doubt in my mind about my health, the well-being of my family, or sometimes, even of my own salvation.

    In all instances, I must immediately say the name "Jesus," because I believe in His authority and the power of His Name. I must also picture Jesus and call on Him as "my strength... my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" as we see in Psalm 18:2-3. Whether it's spiritual, mental, emotional, or physical, the battle against evil is real.

    In our Gospel reading this week, Matthew quotes Jesus as referring back to the Old Testament shema prayer, in Deuteronomy 6:5. "...And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." I have always been intrigued by the different ways we are to love Jesus. There is an emotional/heart disposition component, a spiritual and mental connection component, and a physical component of good works, only capable with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

    We are multi-dimensional beings with a heart, soul, mind and body; we are to love God with all manner of our being. This is the first of the two Greatest Commandments. When I feel attacked and therefore prevented in loving God fully, I call upon the "horn of salvation" and every other image of God as my protector. In this way, I am able to overcome the nonsense, the dark lies, the imagined difficulties, or whatever weapons the enemy thinks he is throwing at me. Instead, I can walk in peace and victory, knowing that "the Lord lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation..." vs.47.

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