I even set these words to my own music:

16May
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my terror. Look upon him and be radiant, your faces shall never be ashamed. I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me and saved me from all my troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: how blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
- Psalm 34: 4-8

When I was a young opera singer, hired for my first two-year contract in a German opera house, it was pretty scary. I knew I had the training, but my German wasn’t too good, and I didn’t know a soul. My voice teacher had given me a Bible with her kind words written in the front. I still have that Bible, and sometimes I find my little notations from those first few months in Kaiserslautern, underlining encouraging verses in the brown ink pen I was using at that time.

One of the Psalms marked with a heart and a star is this one, Psalm 34. You can easily see why. I wanted to hear those answers from God, and to be delivered from my terror! I longed to be radiant, and I hoped my face wouldn’t be ashamed, as I struggled through the tough rehearsals with relentless stage directors and the opening nights.

When one is relying completely on God, because there doesn’t seem to be much else, then it’s possible to feel his closeness. I tried to picture the angel of the Lord encamping around me. I even set these words to my own music, to help me remember them.

Going alone to live in a foreign country, especially before email or cell phones, one felt completely cut off from family and friends. I guess I just loved music so much that I put up with the way of life it demands. The joy of singing was almost like being able to “taste and see that the Lord is good”. Soon I was cast in an opera with a wonderful baritone, Phil Frohnmayer– and what a blessing that was.

Musical Reflection - O Taste and See - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Lord, knowing that you are there, helps me to put my troubles in perspective. Thank you for the gift of our senses. Let us taste and see, hear and feel, and inhale deeply the fragrance of your blessings today. Amen.
PsalmsRefuge
Tags
psalms, radiant, refuge

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