While reading the office for this evening at
DailyOffice.org I found myself highly intrigued by
Psalm 27.
Imagine yourself surrounded by a hoard of walkers or zombies and clinging to life by a hair's breath.
Smell the stench of rotting flesh. Hear the moans of hungry foes. See the flickering candle, your only source of light in the deep night. Taste the salty sweat dripping down your face from your brow line. And then read the psalm below...
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? *
the LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?
When evildoers came upon me
to eat up my flesh, *
it was they, my foes and my adversaries,
who stumbled and fell.
Though an army should encamp against me, *
yet my heart shall not be afraid;
And though war should rise up against me, *
yet will I put my trust in him.
One thing have I asked of the LORD;
one thing I seek; *
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life;
To behold the fair beauty of the LORD *
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he shall keep me safe in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.
Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.
Therefore I will offer in his dwelling
an oblation with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Can you imagine, dear ones, what it must have been like for the psalmist? When they composed this song of love and trust they must have been in the midst of a terrible war! Yet even in the midst of crisis, they raise this song of praise knowing that God is truly the One who will deliver them.
Are we, in the midst of our daily struggles, able to offer such praises? Can we sing songs of trust and love while we are surrounded by terrors of the night? I desire with all of my heart to say yes. I want to stretch my hands up in the air and trust that God will deliver me from the pains and struggles of this life.
Let's pray, dear ones, that we might experience the uplifting of our minds so that we, too, can sing with joy in the midst of the trial. Let us run to the holy places where the Spirit of God is magnified, so we might feast on our Maker rather than one another. Let us gather in the sanctuaries and be renewed by the Living God who enters into our midst and brings peace to us - body, mind and soul.
Let us sing and make music before the Lord. And then, dear ones, let us go into the hoard and do our best to offer the antidote of Christ to our zombie brethren, for we all know what it is like to have a hunger for flesh. But we know the One who can fully satisfy this hunger and bring us (and all to whom we minister) peace and life to the fullest measure.
