And welcome to this Lectio Divina meditation on Psalm 46,
Where we consider God being our refuge and our strength.
Before we reflect on the Psalm,
I just want to make it really clear that I don't think that when we are fearful and worried about things that simply reading a Bible verse magically makes it disappear,
I'm not naive enough to know that that's the case.
And so I would encourage you that if you need to,
That you do seek good counsel and speak to somebody,
Talk to someone about what it is that's making you anxious.
However,
I do think that there's a place for listening carefully and being encouraged by the words of scripture,
Particularly from the Psalms.
And as a Benedictine monk,
The Psalms are very important to me because the Psalms make up a majority of my praying of the daily office at every stop and prayer stop of the day,
Morning prayer,
Midday prayer,
Evening prayer,
Compline,
That the Psalms are a significant portion of what we recite in those offices,
So much so that as we go through,
You know,
Once in years we've prayed these Psalms and many of these Psalms have become prayers of our very own,
That when we recite these Psalms,
We're not just reciting the words of somebody else,
That many of the words of these Psalms have become prayers from our own heart.
And this one's one of those that people have rested on,
That God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in times of trouble,
And it features those beautiful words,
Be still and know that I am God.
And so the portions of the Psalm that we'll be focused on in this Lectio are Psalm 46,
Verses one through three,
And then from verse seven through to verse 11.
And I invite you to make them a prayer,
A cry,
A voice to God from your own heart,
And that you'll also hear the voice of God speaking to you at the same time.
It's like this dual direction,
This dual carriageway road where we are giving these words and our troubles to God,
And yet God is also speaking deeply to us through that motion as well.
And so find a nice,
Quiet spot where you can sit,
Where you can be still,
And I invite you to enter into this time of Lectio on Psalm 46.
Through the meditation,
The Psalm will be read a number of times,
And in a moment,
I'll just open with a prayer and then leave a bit of silence where you can still yourself and breathe and sit and rest and invite God's Spirit to come and to speak to you through the psalmist's words today.
Let us pray.
Gracious God,
Only you know the truth that lies in the depth of our hearts.
Only you can feel what we are feeling and know what it is that we carry into this time of meditation and contemplation on your Word.
And so we ask that in this moment,
That at the very least,
We would know your presence with us,
That we would know that you are hearing us,
And that as we reflect on the words of this Psalm,
That we would know that you are working in us,
And that we would know that we can trust,
And that our hearts,
Our emotions,
Can be at least for a moment still because you are here with us,
And you are God.
Amen.
What is our refuge and strength?
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear.
Even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling,
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
What is our refuge and strength?
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear.
Even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling,
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is with us.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is with us.
Therefore we will not fear.
Even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling,
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
And know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
And so,
Gracious God,
As we rise from this time of prayer,
May we know that the Lord of hosts is with us.
May we know that he is with us.
May we know that he is with us.
May we know that he is with us.
And so,
I say to you,
God,
God who is love is with us always.
Amen.
Amen.
