Humbled and Healed

A Reflection on the Psalm for September 12th, 2021:
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 116

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, save my life!” 

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. 

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
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​This psalm of thanksgiving for the Lord’s saving grace and healing power, humbles and challenges me.


As a Christian, I know through lived experience that God loves me, and when I call upon Him, He works miracles in my life and the lives of those for whom I pray. I could fill pages with examples of this truth. I have had times in my life when I have been literally brought to my knees, on the cusp of losing everything that truly matters to me and feeling completely lost and alone. Thankfully, I knew in those moments that my only recourse was to cry out to Him and hand my will over to His care.


Sometimes the outcome surprised me because it was so much bigger and better than I could ever have imagined in my human frailty. Other times, it surprised me, because while His plan was not at all what I imagined, as time went on I found that I held no sadness, anger, or disappointment because He had replaced those human emotions with acceptance. He had truly saved me.


The truth of His saving grace and healing power in times of despair humbles me.


The truth of His saving grace and healing power also challenges me in the area where I need the most work — publicly acknowledging Him as my Saviour in gratitude and action. When I am healed from anything, the pain and memory of the event fades. And as it fades, the mystery of the miracle can be relegated to just being a life event like those we see on social media all the time. They show up as, “got a new job,” or “started a new relationship”. It can be easy to forget that I cried out for help when I was miserable at work and the Lord provided. Or that after a marriage fell apart, the Lord brought the spouse He had intended for me all along.


I’m not suggesting that we have to wallow in our pain in order to proclaim God’s mercy. I am though, reminding myself that after He has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, I am called to walk before the Lord in the land of the living, proclaiming His greatness, introducing others to Him, and letting them know He can work miracles for them too (even if the miracle doesn’t quite look like what they think it should look like).




Let us pray:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right If I surrender to His will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next.




Sandy Graves

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