Category: Advent

Author: Elizabeth Rogan

Psalm 25

Reflection: v. 2, ‘O my God, in you I trust’

Psalm 25 resonates with me because it depicts the journey of a wandering and lost soul seeking comfort and reassurance in God. I’ve had many blessings in my life, more than my share. But I’ve also experienced hardships and sorrow and made decisions I regret deeply. For most of my adult life I wandered lost and struggled to understand why I couldn’t find comfort in God, as so many others do. The answer has come to me as I spend time in the Mercy community: I was not opening myself to God. I was not trusting that God would forgive my transgressions and accept me as I am. I was not letting God teach me and guide me.

As the simple words of the opening stanzas of Psalm 25 teach us, though, we need only open ourselves and trust, and the Lord will be there:

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul; O my God, I trust in You.

The Psalm continues with its message of faith as the path to forgiveness:

Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. According to Your mercy, remember me.

Psalm 25, verse 10, concludes with the assurance that those who trust in God will find comfort, as I have:

All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth for those who keep His covenant and His decrees.

The simple message of Psalm 25 for me: Open yourself and don’t hide from the past. Have faith and trust in God. He is there for all who believe.

Prayer God, help us to open ourselves and not dwell on our transgressions. Teach us to trust in you, and guide us in your love and mercy. Amen.

Author: James King

Psalm 25

Reflection: v. 1, ‘To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul’

This psalm sounds like a beautiful love song: ‘To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul, in you, O Lord, I put my trust. Do not let me be put to shame.’ These are signs of protection, security, and love. To me, that sounds like a beautiful love song, a love story. ‘Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths,’ that is an image of love. I feel that kind of love toward God. It is hard out here on these streets. God looks over me when I lay down. I sleep over there in the park across the street [from the church]. It can be so peaceful. There is nobody walking over me all night long. Nobody is all up on me while I sleep. You can hear the birds sing and the crickets singing, too. You can look up at the sky and see all the heavenly stars and see the full moon. It is so peaceful over there, and I know God looks over me. So, yes, I do care for God and I do love him. He means a lot to me, because the Good Lord looks over me and keeps me. Pretty soon I’ll be 65 years old and I’m not taking ten bottles of medication! I only take one bottle that I need, but that’s it! After that, I’m pretty much healthy. I can relate to this psalm, the love in this psalm, very much, because I know God loves me and watches over me.

Prayer Lord, I know that you watch over me always. Thank you.

Author: Brittany Fiscus-van Rossum

Luke 21:25-36

Reflection: v. 31, ‘you know that the Kingdom of God is near.’

Jesus describes some wild times in this passage–the earth in distress, nations confused, signs in the sky, and the roaring sea. ‘Pay attention,’ he tells his followers, for these things will happen, yes, in your own lifetime, and they mean that the Kingdom of God is near. Now, I am not a doomsday ‘the end is nigh’ kind of preacher, but it is hard not to hear Jesus’ words and compare them to our own generation’s struggles. It is hard not to read this passage and think of the very times we too are living in. Nations confused? Check. Roaring, rising seas? Check. Fear ruling over us? Check. The earth in distress? Need I go on? You get where I am going with this. While I do not espouse a rapture-style apocalypse, it’s hard to look at our groaning planet, it’s hard to look at God’s hurting people, and not say, ‘Yeah, I see the signs in our generation, too.’ So what are we to do? Are we to succumb to fear and hopelessness as we stare into the void of climate change, war, global poverty, and violence? No. Jesus tells us we must pay attention. We must see and acknowledge what is right before us, and we must make sure we haven’t numbed ourselves to it all. We must make sure that we are alert and ready to respond however we can–which is likely with love, compassion, and action. The Kingdom of God is near. That part shouldn’t scare us though. In fact it should assure and encourage us. Look around. Pay attention. There is much to see and much to do. And when we are paying attention, we may also notice all the ways that the Kingdom of God is pouring out and surrounding us–it is within our reach and oh so very near. How can we help bring it in?

Prayer Help us to pay attention, O Lord, that we may do what we can for your planet and your people. Help us to care about your Kingdom.

Author: Brittany Fiscus-van Rossum

Psalm 25:1-10

Reflection: v. 2 ‘do not let me be put to shame’

‘Do not let me be put to shame’ the ancient writer of this psalm asks of God. I find it reassuring and at times amusing how some things never change. Some things seem inherent to human nature–always relatable. I reflect on this phenomena often when reading the psalms, so full of the wide spectrum of relatable human emotions. How could someone living in such a different context and culture so long ago convey with these old ancient words the same feelings and emotions I experience, too? It must be that some things never change for human beings. As I read this psalm today, it is the prayer for acceptance and freedom from shame that strikes me as relevant. Still today, like all those many years ago, so many of us struggle to find acceptance and belonging. So many of us plead not to be put to shame. And yet many of us are shamed for things beyond our full control–our poverty, our mental health, our gender, our bodies, our upbringing, or our addictions. We are shamed for things for which there should not be shame attached, and in turn we too often shame one another, wielding our own hurts and disappointments like a jagged heavy sword. But like shame and fear and the plethora of other human emotions that inhabit us at different times, dignity is also something that is inherent to human beings. We must remember that we are lovingly and intentionally created in the image of God–perfectly suited just as we are. And in that image there is great dignity. We must internalize the voice of our loving creator and ignore all others that would shame us. And when that doesn’t work? When the voices around us would judge us and ridicule us for being who we were created to be? We, like the psalmist, can ask God to step in and remind us of who we are. We can ask God to remind us of our inherent dignity. And in our own honest self-respect, may we too participate in the godly work of not putting others to shame.

Prayer God, do not let me be put to shame, and do not let me shame my neighbor.