Walk Before Him

A Reflection on the Psalm for February 28th, 2021:
Second Sunday of Lent

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​Psalm 116

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

I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. 

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

O Lord, I am your servant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. 

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

I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. 

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

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

The experience and understanding of God has had something of a circular quality for me. I have been compelled by the mystery, within which His power has shown itself, which, also mysteriously, has healed and transformed me and my life. This, in turn, has filled my heart with gratitude and love for Him and for the mystery, which has led me into further surrender.  As I consider the way I have experienced this world of peace and the power of God, I am reminded of the children entering C.S. Lewis’ Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis). This psalm makes me think of the way in which those children came back from Narnia to their lives on the other side of the wardrobe, back into the “land of the living”, walking before, or under the authority of, the power of their experience.

When I have truly received and been transformed by the gifts of God — revelation, forgiveness, healing — I have come to know more deeply that anything is possible for Him. Not that He will necessarily prevent my suffering, but that He can make it into something better than I ever thought possible in this world (and even more fully in the next). This knowledge is what it means to me to walk before Him in the land of the living — to walk in the understanding of His power, under His jurisdiction, with faith in His great love for me and for everyone.   

We all know that the land of the living is full of pitfalls and snowstorms and mountains to climb. Every day I am challenged by the temptations of the world to participate in what draws me away from Love or to despair over its scarcity in the lives of others. To walk before Him in thanksgiving helps me, especially when no one around me understands, to remember why I make the difficult choice to go against the current. His transformative love has made all the difference; more than striving for the fickle respect of people ever could. It is only my lack of faith and courage that prevents me from even greater access to what He has in store for me, and from realizing the plans He has for me. 

I pray this psalm with my whole heart, for myself and for everyone: that we might keep our faith, that our bonds would be loosed, that we would offer ourselves in thanksgiving, and that we would walk under the authority of the great love of the Lord in the land of the living.

Amen.




Lindsay Elford

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