Bring Me Peace

A Reflection on the Psalm for January 12th, 2019:
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Psalm 29

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendour. 

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the Lord, over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The God of glory thunders, and in his temple all say, “Glory!” The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 

R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

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I wasn’t always a Christian.

When I was a young adult, I went through a time when I thought that the idea of God was a little archaic. I had gone to church my whole life but never really knew who Jesus Christ was, so when I went to university and my faith was put to the test, well, it just couldn’t stand up. So I gave up on God and began to live my life the way the world said I should.

From the age of 17 to the age of 23 I made a lot of bad decisions. I was allowing my emotions to rule over what I knew to be right. I became very unhappy and unsatisfied with where I was going, so I self-medicated in all the worst ways in an attempt to feel better but all I ended up feeling was lost, alone, and empty.

When I met my husband, I was intrigued by something that I saw in him but couldn’t put my finger on. When I asked him how he could be so happy all of the time he said, “Because I have God in my life.”

This simple comment started me on a path of discovery. What I’ve found on that path is peace. The refrain of this psalm is, “The Lord will bless His people with peace.” When I’m asked what God has done in my life, my first answer is always that He has given me peace. Where there was chaos, doubt, and fear, I now have peace. That doesn’t mean that I never have chaos, doubt, or fear, but they don’t reign in my life anymore. When they sneak into my heart I can always cast them out with a prayer for the Holy Spirit to bring me peace. When I gave my life to God and became one of His people, He blessed me with His peace.

A friend of mine recently said, “Sometimes I think we live as if Jesus hasn’t already won.” Verse 10 of this psalm says, “The Lord sits enthroned as King forever.” Jesus is on the throne! He has already won!

In this new decade let us trust in this Truth, and let the King bring us the peace that surpasses all understanding! ​



Maxine Brown

Photo by Tamara Menzi on Unsplash

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