Reflections
Psalm 116: 10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 (Read)
“ I believed, even when I said, I am greatly afflicted.”
This Sunday's Psalm recalls words Abraham might have
prayed when he was called on to sacrifice his son Isaac.
“I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving; I will pay my vows to
the Lord.” Who else could have kept the faith at a time like that?
Yet Abraham’s devotion to the Lord did not waver. (Genesis 22:10-12)
We may not be called upon to offer up so heavy a sacrifice,
but we are commanded to listen to our God and pay our vows.
Abraham may have used words like those of our psalmist,
“I believed even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.'”
God relented and provided a substitute for Isaac,
“Too costly in the eyes of the Lord is the death of the faithful.”
But God did not spare His own son, as St Paul reminds us in
Sunday's 2nd reading. (Romans 8:32)
And for whom did God sacrifice His son Jesus? It was for us
that God handed over His beloved Son. Jesus’ death on the
cross has given us life. As people of faith we are chosen by God
for life. We pray that we are not put to the test as Abraham was,
but we might at least, as the Psalm says, “Pay our vows to the
Lord in the presence of all His people.”
The psalmist says, “O Lord, I am your servant; you have loosed
my bonds.” We too are made free by becoming the Lord's servant.
That is how it is when we follow His commandments and do His will.
It is not something that binds us. Rather, it is something that sets us free.
We take delight in serving the Lord.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist speaks of the power of his faith, even in the darkest of times,
"I believed, even when I said, 'I am greatly afflicted.'" Give an example of
how your faith has strengthened you in difficult times.
2. The Psalm says, 'O Lord, I am your servant; you have loosed my bonds.'
Explain how it is that, having been freed from your chains, you wish to serve
the Lord and become yoked to Him.
"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living": These were the grateful words of the psalmist after his deliverance. They were also the confident words, sung in faith, by Jesus before his agony of the coming cross. He went to the cross with full confidence that having been rescued from falling feet, He would once again walk in the land of the living.
ReplyDeleteFor us Christians who read Psalm 116 it is the celebration of deliverance from death. It is not read as testimony to what God has done in the past so much as it gives hope for deliverance in the future. The psalm’s images of death now apply to the coming suffering of Jesus. The celebration after deliverance draws us into the suffering of Jesus as his offering to God and to us. Jesus himself has become a sacrifice and we now benefit from his faithfulness to God.
I am not sure I can walk the walk of Abraham and display such dutiful obedience to God, even though I know He only wants what is best for me. In my darkest of times, I feel that I am more likely to crumble and focus on my own afflictions. Perhaps being more like Abraham, can be a goal of mine.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, I have walked through valleys before and felt God's test -- His stretching of my faith. Nothing has refined me by fire more than being a parent.
By the world's standards, both of my children seem well-adjusted and goal-oriented. However, I know their inner insecurities and how God has called each of them to trust Him. One child has had to learn lessons through "the school of hard knocks" -- he was humbled early in life by feeling the need to switch schools often and overcome a series of physical injuries. My other child has had her dreams crushed and needed to pivot away from an old identity in order to find a new path for herself.
As a mother, my heart broke as I heard their cries and frustrations and carried them with me. I remember times of not understanding why the Lord had closed a door.
Prayer and our responses to God can be learned habits. When the Lord says "no" or if I am in His "waiting room," I have trained myself to proclaim that I will trust Him because He will answer in a way that I cannot yet see. I am reminded here of Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to Him be the glory..."
God's ways are always greater, higher, and for our very best. When we surrender to Him our desires, our plans, or the future happiness of our families, we can be like the Psalmist who says "I kept my faith, even when I said, 'I am greatly afflicted.'" We can also be like Abraham, offering up our precious children and placing them in God's hands, and in so doing, receive blessings forever.