Hello friends and welcome to this Lectio Divina on Psalm 69,
Broken into two parts so this will be part one.
I invite you to arrive into this space,
To settle,
To get comfortable,
To shift around,
Until you gently begin to come to stillness.
Make sure that you're comfortable and attentive.
Orient yourself to the room,
To the floor or the chair.
Let yourself be here in this moment,
In this space.
Gathering yourself in from the day and letting every part of you be here.
You are so welcome just as you are.
Know that the beloved welcomes you with compassion and grace and kindness.
And breathe.
Notice your breath filling the lungs as you inhale and exhale.
Gently closing your eyes if you want to.
Letting your attention draw down into your body,
Into stillness and rest,
Into a place of being held and supported and fully seen.
So I'm going to read the first part of Psalm 69 once and then return to a few verses twice more.
Come to my aid,
O beloved,
For my fears threaten to drown me.
I sink in the mire of confusion,
Where there is no foothold.
I have entered deep waters,
And the flood sweeps over me.
I am exhausted from weeping.
I thirst as in a desert.
I no longer see the path while waiting for your return.
More in number than the hairs of my head are the fears that I carry.
So mighty are they.
The walls that I built can no longer withstand them.
What must I do,
O merciful one,
To be at peace once again?
O life of my life,
You know my pretenses.
The wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
Let those who search for you not use me as a guide.
O heart of all hearts,
Let those who seek to do your will abandon themselves into your keeping.
O loving counsellor,
For in turning from you have I borne the consequences.
So that doubt and loneliness now companion me.
I have become as a stranger in my own home,
An alien to my inner being.
O that zeal for your truth might consume me,
That persecutions assailing me might be for your sake.
Let me humble my soul with mind-fasting.
O beloved,
Create within me a clean heart.
Let me live simply,
Sharing what I have with those in need,
That the abundance of your creation might be reflected.
Let me speak out of the silence,
That through the words given others will learn of you.
Come to my aid,
Gentle healer,
For my prayer is to you,
In your perfect timing,
Beloved,
In the abundance of your love.
Answer my cry.
With your strength,
O rock,
Lift me up.
Let me not sink into the mire.
Let me be delivered from my fears as from deep waters.
Let now the flood sweep over me,
Or the deep swallow me up,
Or the abyss overwhelm me.
So I'm going to return to those loves few verses and read them twice more.
And the invitation is to notice a word or a phrase that captures your attention.
To notice what it is about that word or phrase that's drawing your attention.
How's it making you feel?
Does it stir within you?
Does it invite or offer?
Does it cause you to want to respond in any way?
Simply welcome the word or phrase to bring its gift.
Come to my aid,
Gentle healer,
For my prayer is to you,
In your perfect timing,
Beloved,
In the abundance of your love.
Answer my cry.
With your strength,
O rock,
Lift me up.
Let me not sink into the mire.
Let me be delivered from my fears as from deep waters.
Let now the flood sweep over me,
Or the deep swallow me up,
Or the abyss overwhelm me.
Come to my aid,
Gentle healer,
For my prayer is to you,
In your perfect timing,
Beloved,
In the abundance of your love.
Answer my cry.
With your strength,
O rock,
Lift me up.
Let me not sink into the mire.
Let me be delivered from my fears as from deep waters.
Let now the flood sweep over me,
Or the deep swallow me up,
Or the abyss overwhelm me.
You may of course return to me,
You may of course return to these words and I invite you to carry them with you beyond the listening of this Lectio Divina,
To let them continue to bring their gift and their grace to you.
May you go from this place knowing that you are loved,
Knowing that the presence of the beloved is with you.
May you be blessed and know grace.
Amen.
