Everything And All That We Need

15/12/2021

A Reflection on the Psalm for December 19th, 2021:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Psalm 80

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Stir up your might, and come to save us.

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand has planted.

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

But let your hand be upon the man at your right, the son of man you have made strong for yourself. Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.

R. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

In this season of Advent we encounter passages from the Old Testament that sharpen our anticipation and point us toward Jesus. They do this by showing us that, well before Jesus’s birth, God was planting an awareness of the coming of the Saviour among His people. Now some of those readings are wonderful, but I don’t mind admitting that other parts are a bit more obscure to me. There is an occasional week when I read the scripture but I struggle to take it in.

In those moments I have to discipline myself, remembering that God speaks to us through scripture and that, if I bear down and listen closely, I will discover that He has given me something compelling to unpack.

This week’s brief psalm, with its familiar language of praise, is like that. Digging deeper into the psalm reveals more than the usual praise and/or importuning of God. The psalmist is saying profound things about the nature of God, God’s presence in the world and, most stirringly, His relationship with us.

When I read these few, brief lines carefully and prayerfully, I began to notice things — how the psalmist addresses God and how his words comprehend the presence of the divine among the earthly. The psalmist is surrendered and unashamedly dependent on our infinite and infinitely loving Creator.

Our God is not remote. God is everywhere — in the arts and sciences, in nature, in others, in ourselves. When I encounter God, I know I’m in His presence because of the “wow” factor, that moment of speechless focus and stillness when my soul says, “Wait a minute, there’s something familiar here …” and God says, “Hello, Donna, I see you’ve noticed me. Yes, I am here, even in this place.” God is subtle.

Our God is interested. His notices everything about us. His care for us is meticulous — feeding us, protecting us, and attending to our healthy growth. Every hair on our head He has counted. The Shepherd of Israel knows every sheep in His flock. He walks daily in the vineyard He has planted, pruning and shaping the branches to bear great fruit. When it comes to tending His people, God is all in, all the time.

Our God is the Lord of hosts. Every creature is His to command and every power is His to exercise, and none can stop Him. His throne is carried by cherubim (not chubby baby angels but sword-bearing guardians), and from this throne God oversees all He has created. At His right hand sits Jesus, the Son of Man, who came to live among us and left us His Holy Spirit as a comforter and guide.

God is light. There is no darkness in Him and no darkness He cannot overcome. Although we may be tempted by the darkness, when we call on God, His light restores us, and by it we are saved.

We surrender unashamedly to our infinite and infinitely loving God, who is everything and all that we need.

Donna Davis

5 Comments

Suzanne LeBlanc

15/12/2021 08:18:19 am

Thanks for this, Donna. You’ve given me something with which to mine this Psalm and others. I did always think that cherubim were those chubby baby angels but a quick lookup enlarged my vision.

❤️❤️

Donna Davis

15/12/2021 05:08:34 pm

You and I both learned something new, Suzanne! God may be in "the arts and sciences, in nature, in others, in ourselves," but he doesn't seem to have much to do with chubby baby angels! 😃

Lisa Matheson

18/12/2021 08:03:55 am

Donna, you did such a good job at describing that moment when we distinctly know we are in the presence of God:
"...I know I’m in His presence because of the “wow” factor, that moment of speechless focus and stillness..."
There's something exhilarating about knowing that the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe sees ME! And He is with me in everything - lighting the flame in my heart. <3

18/12/2021 11:51:53 am

Oh, and here’s one last thought that just popped into my head as I was running my eyes over the website. The psalm says, “Restore us, O God,” and the wood wide web and new coral reef are perfect examples of how God restores in nature. If His eye is on the sparrow, what more will he do for us? He is truly our redeemer.

18/12/2021 11:32:48 am

Bless you, Lisa! He really is with us in everything that gives life, and there are so many more wonderful mysteries that we have yet to discover. That truth lodges itself more firmly in my brain as time passes. Two of the most recent big mysteries for me are the “wood wide web” (https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/exploring-the-underground-network-of-trees-the-nervous-system-of-the-forest/) and the massive, newly discovered coral reef in Australia (https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/news/schmidt-ocean-detached-coral-reef/). God is in places and systems we haven’t even discovered yet, busily working away, and we have no idea. We just have to trust in God’s love and goodness. We may not see it, but it’s there to see.