The Divine Teacher

We continue exploring the Psalms, looking for descriptions of how God cares for us. We are still in Psalm 18, which is a psalm pleading for help against our enemies. The enemies mentioned in the Psalm are actual war-time enemies who were attacking David. In modern times, each of us has to identify who are our own personal enemies—which temptations, weaknesses, tricks of the devil—wage war against us.

Our last study ended with verse 20 of the Psalm: He saved me because he loved me. We continue reading the Psalm:

You, O Lord, are my lamp,

my God who lightens my darkness.

With you I can break through any barrier,

with my God I can scale any wall. (vv 29-30)

·         Imagine yourself walking through a dense forest on a dark night, holding a flashlight. The flashlight helps us to see the next couple of steps we have to take, but nothing more. That is an example of how God shows us the way(s) we must travel.

·         It is up to each of us to identify the barriers and the walls that are before us, and turn to the God who does such things for us as a sign of His love and caring.

. . . you upheld me, trained me with care.

For gave me freedom for my steps;

my feet have never slipped. (vv. 36-37)

·         What are the means by which the Lord trains us? Note the care of the Divine Teacher.

·         How are we free today that wasn’t perhaps true a year ago?

·         When are those moments of confidence in our lives, moments when we knew we were standing firm in the Lord’s grace?

The next psalm contains a beautiful set of verses which draw a portrait of God the Teacher that we noted above. Here are just a few of the qualities of this “teaching” that are operative in our lives—if we allow them:

The law of the Lord is perfect,

it revives the soul.

The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,

it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

they gladden the heart.

The command of the Lord is clear,

it gives light to the eyes.  (Psalm 19, vv 8-9)

So in them your servant finds instruction;

great reward is in their keeping. (v. 12)

·         What is required of us is humility and docility. We must be in a spiritual state where we are open and willing to be instructed by God through whatever means he uses in our lives. The resistant gain nothing. It is the humble, attentive student who is cared for so richly.

This meditation on the role of God the Teacher calls to mind (for me) the opening of the Rule of Saint Benedict:

Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it and faithfully put it into practice.  (Prologue, verse 1)

If you have a chance this day, you would do well to read all of Psalm 19 for your own lectio divina, keeping St. Benedict’s invitation to heart. You will be blessed.

God bless you.

He saved me because he loved me.

We continue our exploration of the psalms, selecting images and verses that speak about the many ways God cares for us. But before we turn to the psalms today, let’s consider lines from the Gospel for today’s Mass:

 “. . . I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:2-3)

·         This is a particular wish of Christ, to have us be with him for all time. He also prays for this in the High Priestly Prayer (John 17):

“I pray that those, also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (v. 24)

·         Jesus prays this pray for those who will believe in him through the word of his disciples—in other words, he prays for us in these blessed words. This is our destiny; this is where the trajectory of our life will ultimately lead us, despite all the dark valleys and times of weakness and failure. This is how he cares for us. It is especially poignant to realize that Jesus prays this prayer for us shortly before He was going to the garden to be betrayed and arrested.

Psalm verses for today’s reflection:

In Psalm 18, the Psalmist calls out to the Lord for deliverance from the sufferings he is undergoing:

The waves of death rose about me;

the torrents of destruction assailed me;

the snares of the grave entangled me;

the traps of death confronted me.

In my anguish I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help. (18: 5-7a)

·         This psalm is dramatic and epic in tone. The Lord answers the plea for help in extraordinary and tumultuous ways, and this is how He cares for His beloved:

From on high he reached down and seized me;

he drew me forth from the mighty waters.

He snatched me from my powerful foe,

from my enemies whose strength I could not match. (17-18)

. . .

He brought me forth into freedom,

he saved me because he loved me.  (v. 20)

·         Remember this the next time you find yourself in difficult, perilous or oppressive circumstances, or when you feel that the temptations and trials of life are too powerful and overwhelming for you.

God bless you.