“These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?’
As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
‘Where is your God?’
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.” Psalm 42:4-11
Top-lit by a high half-moon wedge, the pre-dawn sky seems to roll like waves above the horizon shore, pink-tinted foam softly scalloping its edges, inky turbulence below. A planet floats like a single sparkling gem, tethered like a tiny twinkling buoy in the current of cloud.
There are days when we are cast down- by circumstance, illness, sorrow. There are days when the deep of grief and fear keep calling to the deep in us, carrying on a conversation we’d rather not. There are times when the breakers of hurt and loneliness shroud our light and almost break us… yet our Savior walks the waves to our rescue. Gracious and steady is He. (Matthew 14:23-27; John 6:19-21)
“When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say,
‘It is well, it is well with my soul!’
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live;
If dark hours about me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.” ~Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888)
Have we lost our footing, or are events threatening to undo us? Do difficulties drive mood swings that dictate our demeanor? Do resentment, anger, or stress unsettle us? Would we be honest about these disappointments and deep feelings, and check to secure our hope in Christ? By His grace we can anchor our longings and heartaches to His steady, stable strength and steadfast love. His salvation is our certain heavenly hope. (Hebrews 6:19)
Lord, would every wave of beauty, every swell of emotion high or low, every current of Your Spirit inside, move me to wonder and praise and deeper trust. You are the Keeper of my soul.
As the rain and snow 