“They hide themselves… they wait for my soul.” 

21Jul
My enemies would daily swallow me up:

for they be many that fight against me, 
O thou most High.

When I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust;
will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Every day they wrest my words:
all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They gather themselves together, they hide themselves,
they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

-Psalm 56:2-6 (NKJV)


“They hide themselves… they wait for my soul.” 


These words bring a frightening awareness to those who would seek to separate me from the fundamental tenet of my faith, that God is love and through love we find God. 


There are several different translations of that last line. One says that “they” wait for my “life,” another “to kill me,” and another for my “nefesh” (which literally means “throat,” but in the Jewish faith refers to our “vital spirit”). All of these point back to a “they” that lack love and the vitality love affords, and like a parasite, seek to leech it from those around them, even to the point of destroying the host: a dark image that if not considered through Christ would produce some equally dark protections for the “I” in our Psalm. 


However, the beautifully paradoxical end is that we “defeat” the “they” by loving them as God loves us, by living through God. We forgive; we forgive again, and we love even more deeply. We consciously live love, and thereby live in and with God. 


Musical Reflection - Trust in You - Lauren Daigle


Gracious God, welcome me into your love and renew my faith in your creation. Awaken me to an awareness of my trials. Guide me to help those around me know the peace and joy that comes from your loving

PsalmsLovePentecost

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