For God alone…
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:5-8
Those of you who have met me for more than a few minutes know already that it’s hard for me to do anything in silence. To be completely honest, many times when we have silence in worship, I am counting in my head, because I know that more than 10 beats of silence are usually too much for a congregation to bear.
Things wait for us in the silence. There are things we can know that may not be as understandable in the noise and busy-ness of ordinary life. When I quiet my soul, when it rests like a content child in the arms of God our perfect parent, there are things I learn that I can’t know any other way.
I adore the Psalms, the prayer book of our ancient ancestors in the faith. Have you read this thing? It’s got everything, as Stefon from SNL would say – anger, grief, delight, wonder – the whole expanse of human experience is there for us. It can be a comfort when we can’t find the words or somehow think that we are the only ones who have ever felt this way. Nope – there’s nothing new under the sun.
And so in this piece of Psalm 62, we’re invited to remember that God is God and we are not. God is steady as a rock, a safe place, the one who saves us. People will make mistakes, let us down, hurt us (on purpose or not). But God never fails, never gives up, never leaves us. That’s why we can entrust ourselves to God in ways we may not be able to trust many people. We can pour out our hearts to God and there’s nothing we can say or do that will make God love us any less.
This morning, I decided to dust off the yoga mat again. I spread it out, laid my body down, and focused on my breath. I was silent. I reconnected with myself and with God.
Beloved, I pray you find those places where your soul can wait for God, where you find your grounding and know yourself loved, loved, loved (because you are!)
I’m praying for you; I hope you’re praying for me. This week in worship we’ll take on another half-truth – “God helps those who help themselves.” I look forward to worshiping with you!
peace,
Jessica.