What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
“Indeed, we cried as we planted our seeds,
Now let us reap a joy-filled harvest.
We cried on the journey to plant our seeds,
But now we will celebrate and sing
As we return with an abundant harvest.”
-Psalm 126, translated by Amanda Diekman
Read the whole psalm
My memory is too short. My imagination is too dull. It is too hard for me to remember hope when I am in the middle of despair. In my moments of forgetfulness, grief and anxiety overwhelm me, and hope slowly slips away. Joy feels far off, and I want to do nothing. In these moments, I long for delight and joy. I beg and plead with the Lord for restoration. I ache for something different.
But there is hope.
The psalmist in Psalm 126 remembers his past joy and imagines the coming harvest. Instead of sitting in his despair, the psalmist plants seeds of hope and waits for them to spring forth. He proclaims the joy he felt in the Lord’s deliverance and declares the future harvest. Watering the seeds with tears and anticipating a harvest, the psalmist gives praise to God. In the middle of despair, he waits for God’s restoration.
Waiting on the Lord is hard. As we light Advent candles each week, we are reminded that at one time we were overcome by darkness and in a desolate land. But with each lit candle, light and joy break forth. Where we once felt alone, we realize that God was with us all along.
During Advent, we anticipate our future hope and Christ’s return in glory. But we rest in the fact that God has always been with us.
Whether you are full of joy or sadness, God is with you.
This Advent, remember and imagine. Remember the great things the Lord has done and God’s deliverance. And anticipate the coming of our Lord.
Come thou-long-and-expected Jesus, come,
Charlene
“the bonds of death hemmed me in
the torments of sheol found me
i came upon trouble and grief”
(translated by Franklin Golden, read Psalm 116 here.)
Out of the depths of suffering and confusion, we grow anxious. We often feel hemmed in by the mountains of our sin, unfaithfulness, and faithlessness. We are overcome by fear. There is not enough room to move. So we breathe shallow breaths. And experience increased worry. In this place, we are reminded that we cannot save ourselves.
Instead of crying out in our weakness, sometimes we are tempted to stay. We do not believe that God can hear such a cry from someone like us. But God’s faithfulness, (even when we are faithless) is evident over scripture and in the life of the church. When we feel far from God, God is still near.
The psalmist shows us another way in the midst of his own grief,
“then i called out in the name of the lord, ‘lord, i pray, save my life!’ […] i was brought low and he saved me”
There is no depth too low for the Lord to grab hold of us. At a place of lowliness, the Lord hears the psalmist and intervenes with compassion, grace, and justice. In this intervention, the Lord frees us from bondage and raises us up to new life marked by worship and thanksgiving.
The prophet Isaiah said it best, “The Lord’s hand is not to short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” Wherever you find yourself this week, whether you are low and feel hemmed in or you are on high ground in a place of gratitude– may your soul rest in the One who both delivers and keeps you.
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
- Psalm 115:4-8, Translated by Franklin Golden, Read the whole thing
I once heard a pastor say, “Idols are good things that we turn into God things.”
He explained that we take careers, health, money, beauty, worship and even Church—and turn them into gods. We hide our treasures and our hearts in these items. Idolatry leaves us with tunnel vision, focusing in on our own enjoyment and gratification for the moment.
We often find enjoyment and gratification in worship as an event — a worship service held on Sundays at 11am brought to you by your local church. Our worship can get overly-predictable, stagnant, and stale. It provides enjoyment for the hour, but it dulls our senses to the explosive way God moves in the world. Psalm 115 describes that dull state when idols take our God-given senses of speaking, seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and walking and put those senses to sleep. We become numb, no longer able to perceive or participate in God’s redemptive power.
Idolatry attempts to convince us that we are satisfied, and Psalm 115 warns against this. The truth is, our souls and bodies long for something intimate and sincere. Worship should not dull our senses. Worship is a time to awaken and re-calibrate our senses to God in the world.
Remember, worship is not just an event; it is a way of life and living. Worship is an openness and trust in the Lord, so that we will be awakened to God’s movement, God’s steadfast love, and God’s blessing now and forever.
Peace to you,
Charlene
(A very gracious thank you to Amanda Diekman for her editorial additions and insights, amen).
Psalm 37
Prayer is hard. I sometimes find myself praying half-hearted prayers that I do not really believe. I know God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” but the circumstances and outlook don’t look like they will be in God’s favor (Eph 3:20). Instead of praying with confidence, I plead for something close to satisfactory to protect God, but mostly me.
Yet, when I read the psalms, I am moved by the faith of the psalmists. Their prayers are full of fear and worry but at the same time coupled with a courage and confidence to claim God’s love for them and creation. I imagine the psalmist repeating their words, poems, and prayers until it enters into the very depths of their being. The psalmist repeats the words for as long as it takes for them to believe that God is moving in the world.
When I read Psalm 37, I picture the psalmist claiming the truth of God and at the same time trying to persuade him or herself of that truth.
Trust in the Lord. Do not worry.
Delight in the Lord. Do not be envious.
Wait Patiently for the Lord. Do not fret.
And what I learn is that faith is not simply a matter of “do not.” It’s a matter of learning: “do” place your trust and hope in the risen Lord when all else seems unfair and unstable. Sometimes we will have a hard time believing in God’s truth, but I hope this week, you will pray the kinds of prayers that require courage and trust in the Lord.
Grace and Peace to you as you pray the psalms,
Charlene
