Psalm 42: Longing for God’s Presence
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
The Bodleian: Hebrew Psalter
As we have explored God’s yardstick in the measure of our lives, we have discovered that God’s love and mercy are infinite, healing and present to each of us. Today we respond to Christ’s loving call to join him in this Spirit of love. We ask to live in God’s presence.
As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.
Like the doe seeking water to sustain her young, we move through our days in search of God’s presence.
Wait for God, whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God.
We are pilgrim people, wandering the deserts of our lives on our way to the land promised us by God. We are a people in exile, waiting to return to the temple, living out our hope in Babylon.
Send your light and fidelity, that they may be my guide.
There is no other source of light or life worth pursuing.
And bring me to your holy mountain, the place of your dwelling.
There is no other place worth seeking except God’s holy presence. As adopted sisters and brothers of Christ, we now hold that temple within our hearts and God has written the great promise of love on our hearts. Touched with the mark of Tau as God’s faithful, we are called back to God’s holy place.
Then I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
There is no other song worth singing except the song which praises God’s bounty to us. There is no other grace so blessed. No other gift worth receiving.
Wait for God, whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God.
We wait, we watch, we witness. We are a people of hope. We are a people of justice. We are a faithful and faith-filled people. We are a people of love.
As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.
Amen.
The Revised Grail Psalter
Many of the Psalms were written during the forty years that Israel wandered in the desert. Many more were written by David when he spent years evading King Saul when he sought David’s death. Still other Psalms were written during the Babylonian captivity. Today, the Hebrew Psalter (differing slightly in numbering from the Greek translation) contains 150 beautiful hymns of lament, praise, thanksgiving and petition. These songs describe our own journey of life. Psalm 42 is the cry of one longing to be in God’s presence.
For more on the Grail Psalter, click on the image above or visit: http://communio.stblogs.org/index.php/2008/12/the-revised-grail-psalter-conc/
For more information on Psalms, visit: http://biblehub.com/dictionary/p/psalms.htm
For more reflections on The Mark of Tau, use the blog search bar and explore.
Image of the Bodleian Psalter from: https://www.eurojewishstudies.org/digital-forum-showcase-reports/footprints-in-frankfurt-tracing-the-circulation-of-early-hebrew-books/
Adapted from a reflection written on October 21, 2007.
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