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 this Sunday's
Gospel. (Mark 12: 28-34)
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 and the clutches
of King Saul. David has been rescued by
that same God of compassion and mercy
that spoke to Moses in Sunday's first reading.
(Deuteronomy 6: 2-6)
David says, “You have shown kindness to
your anointed.” God promises to hear us
when we cry out to Him as our psalmist
does.
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. Our psalmist exclaims, 'The Lord lives!' Speak of how
the Lord is present to you and why you believe He is your rock,
your fortress, here and now.
2. The Psalm makes it clear that David loves the Lord and
that the Lord is the source of his strength. Describe your love
for the Lord and how you have been led to serve Him and
praise Him.
The Lord lives! And He is my rock, my fortress, here and now.
ReplyDeleteA friend who is a priest once asked me "What is the most significant event in the history of the world?" After a few bungled attempts, he answered for me: the Institution of the Eucharist. He explained that through the living Body of Christ, any believing Catholic, anywhere, for all of time as we know it, can be one with Jesus.
The sacrifice he made, once and for all, is still alive -- dynamic, healing, nourishing, and beckoning.
Indeed, the Lord is most present to me through my partaking of his Body and Blood, especially on days when I am cognizant and present to receive him. But I would also argue that even on days when I am not fully paying attention, just receiving him brings me back to awareness of the power of communion with him. If I am not in a state of grace, and fold my hands to receive a blessing instead, something is missing. I am separated. And it's a lonely and vulnerable place to be.
The longing for Christ and his protection is what I know and crave. He fills my heart with whatever gift I am needing for any given season of life. It can be strength, love, peace, steadfastness, comfort, or an affirmation of faith. He never changes, though I am whimsical. His authentic love is always there. Like our Psalmist, David, I can cry out, "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is 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." (V. 2-3)