Listen

Many people say, “We can’t find goodness anywhere. The light of your face has left us, Lord!” But you have filled my heart with more joy than when their wheat and wine are everywhere! I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.

Psalm 4:6-8

Think

The Psalmist reports what many people are saying: “We can’t find goodness anywhere. The light of your face has left us, Lord.” There are times when it seems that God is completely absent. This is a familiar lament, especially in our pandemic-riddled world.

The Psalmist reminds us though that when the many are saying one thing, our faith tells us something else. “The light of your face has left us, Lord” refers to a covenant blessing from Numbers 6: “The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.” God gave Moses this blessing language with instructions to deliver it to the people as an assurance of God’s presence. We have been given language to express the joy of God’s presence and the sorrow of God’s seeming absence.

The Psalmist has already experienced God’s presence: “You have filled my heart with more joy.” And the Psalmist anticipates even more: “I will lie down and fall asleep in peace.” God has already done what God promised, and God will provide abundantly more than we can imagine.

Katie Cashwell

Pray

Author of Life, fill my heart with joy and give me peace. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Amen.

Go

We in the church have a message beyond all comparing:
Christ is alive and brings life to the lost and despairing.
He takes our sins! Easter assures us God wins!
Ours is the good news for sharing.

from “We Are His Witnesses” by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (2015)