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Sunday 16th May 2021 Psalm 43
Send out your light and your truth, let them lead me;
Oh, let them bring me to your holy hill.
Send out your light and your truth, let them lead me;
Oh, let them bring me to your holy hill.
Lead me, O LORD, in the way everlasting:
Oh, lead and guide me to your holy hill.
Lead me, O LORD, in the way everlasting:
Oh, lead and guide me to your holy hill.
1912 Psalter, Public Domain altered.
Reflection
“Living with the Psalms” by John L. Bell (2020) is one of the books about the Psalms I am reflecting on just now
showing how the Psalms relate to daily life. This book draws on stories and personal testimonies to help us to rejoice, grieve or draw encouragement.
Psalm 43 is a prayer for justice in the face of injustice. The Psalmist believes that God not only commands holiness but enables it by sending out light and truth to lead the people along the way. Because the Psalm concludes with a refrain from Psalm 42, Psalm 42 and 43 are sometimes treated as a single unit and are often sung or prayed together. Psalm 43 serves as a reminder that relationship with God includes both lament and praise. Life in its totality has both aspects.
The words “lead and guide me to your holy hill” remind me of a wonderful pilgrimage to Sinai and hearing one of the pilgrims singing the words, “Santo, santo, santo” at the summit of Sinai. It was indeed a holy moment.
Let us pray that wherever our pilgrimage of life takes us this summer that the wise words of the psalmist calling for God to send out light and truth may help us to communicate messages of justice, peace and reconciliation to those we meet on zoom and in our communities.
Prayer
Gracious God,
When our upside down world is dark and people cry out in pain,
fill our hearts with your joy and help us to listen and respond in love.
Amen
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