Steadfast

20Oct
My heart, O God, is steadfast;
I will sing and make music. 
Awake my soul! Awake harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn. 
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 
-Psalm 57: 7-10 


These words bring me back to 1977, when as a young singer I first traveled alone to take a two-year contract in the German opera house in Kaiserslautern, Germany. If that name is familiar to anyone, it may be because you have someone in your family who served in the military. There was a big American army base in Kaiserslautern (“K-Town” the Americans called it)–it was near the American air force base in Ramstein. 

My first night in my new town, before I had even shown up at the opera house, I was catching some dinner in a restaurant. At the next table I heard American English being spoken, and after some hesitation I walked over and introduced myself. “I’m going to be singing at the Opera Theater here,” I said. They looked at me blankly. So I took a deep breath and continued, “Do you know of a church nearby where they speak English?” It was Saturday night, and I thought it might calm me to get to church the next morning. 


The Americans smiled and said “Yes! It’s right down the street from here!” They told me there was a German/American Bible church where they would meet me the next morning. 


It turned out to be an unfamiliar sort of church for me: an evangelical denomination which centered on Bible study. But I loved it–the minister was a great teacher, and his kind family invited me for dinner, and kind of adopted me that first year. They sang songs I didn’t know; not from the hymn book I had grown up with. One I particularly loved had the words of this Psalm. 


When I moved on to my next job, at a bigger opera house, I knew enough German to seek out a German church with lots of young people. They sang wonderful songs, and a favorite was set to the German words “Great is your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” 


Now as I read “I will sing of You”, I remember that I took it literally that my opera singing, my making music, was always directed to God: whatever the plot of the opera might have been, in my mind I was always singing for and to God. That approach gave me courage when I was lonely in that very different culture, different language–when I felt way out of my comfort zone! 


Today I reread that first line, “My heart, O God, is steadfast”. “Steadfast” means loyal, determined, unwavering. Looking back over the years, I see many things in my life that have changed, things that have come and gone. But steadfast is this: I keep praying, I keep going to church, I keep studying God’s Word. And when I waver, God helps me to keep steadfast.

Musical Reflection - Great is Thy Faithfulness - Piano Violin rendition by Roy & Rosemary


Steadfast God, you have taught us how to stay loyal and determined in times of distress and unwavering in offering love and hospitality in this world. Thanks be to You! Amen.

PsalmsPentecost

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