Read
(A song for worship.)
The Lord's People Are Safe
1Everyone who trusts the Lord
is like Mount Zion
that cannot be shaken
and will stand forever.
2Just as Jerusalem is protected
by mountains on every side,
the Lord protects his people
by holding them in his arms
now and forever.
3He won't let the wicked
rule his people
or lead them to do wrong.
4Let's ask the Lord to be kind
to everyone who is good
and completely obeys him.
5When the Lord punishes
the wicked,
he will punish everyone else
who lives an evil life.
Pray for peace in Israel!
Reflect
As God’s people travel en masse up to worship their God in Jerusalem their pilgrim song rises more strongly, more clearly. It is a song that encircles the people and draws them together as one voice.
Have you ever been in a crowd that is heading someplace? Like a crowd streaming into a big hockey game or a hot band concert or a march of protest or a celebration parade?
I remember a cold, blustery winter night when my husband and I were living in Kiev. We were returning home on the tram system along with a crowd anxious to get home to warmth. When the already-full-to-capacity tram came, we thought we would wait for the next tram. I tried to step back from the tram when I suddenly felt myself lifted off my feet—literally—and carried with the crowd into the tram. My feet never did touch the steps or the floor during the entire journey! Mildly terrifying as I saw pictures of myself falling backwards through the door at the next stop—but didn’t. I was jammed between a rather rotund, well-coated derriere in front and an equally rotund belly behind . . . not exactly the mountain of Jerusalem! But carried I was.
I get that sense of being carried and surrounded in this psalm. Those who trust in God are surrounded by the unshakable mountain-like solidness of the Lord. The people sense God is present—they know that rock-solid stability embracing them and wedging them into that elusive, mysterious trust in God right in the middle of life’s most difficult circumstances.
And the people’s response? Their song challenges God: be good to your good people, God, to those whose hearts are right. Corral and contain the incorrigible evildoers!
As one, God’s people sing a song invoking peace in their land.
Respond
Rock-solid God, surround us by your presence as you did with the pilgrims. And God, we too are weary, and yes, frightened, of the wicked who create violence and chaos all around us. Bring peace, Lord. Peace. In the name of Jesus who is our peace. Amen.
Elaine Pountney
Integration: a key word in Elaine’s life. Integrating a Science Degree into Counselling; integrating healing and wholeness into effective team building in an international business context (e.g. Sony Canada, Ontario Hydro, Schonbek LIghting); integrating counselling concepts with a Biblical understanding of what builds healthy communities and relationships with groups in the Caucasus, Africa, Brazil and the Arctic. Is it any wonder that she now works with leaders across Canada ‘bringing the pieces together’ toward Spiritual Integration? Publications: Reclaiming the Wonder of Sexuality. Trafford Pub: BC, Canada. 2008; “Reclaiming the wonder of sexuality: toward a Biblical understanding of male & female” teaching manual.