Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Psalm 61:1-4 – Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.  From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.  Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings.  (NRSV)

When we are afraid, we long for something, anything that will make us feel secure.  As we remember the events of September 11th twenty-two years ago, so many emotions flood our hearts – fear, anger, confusion, sadness.  The attacks sowed destruction on a scale that was hard for our minds to process.  Over-loaded, we couldn’t always tell where to turn.

The psalmist reminds us that our true security comes from God.  And yet, even here, we see a reflection of the difference between our human ideas of security and God’s.  The psalmist compares God’s protection to “a strong tower” in one verse, but in the next, asks merely to abide in God’s tent.

Any of us would assume a tower is a safer place than a tent, but our experience has taught us that even towers are not guaranteed to protect us.  The tent of God, on the other hand, is not so much about defense as presence.  It reminds us that God is not kept in one, heavily guarded place, but that God is everywhere; God is on the move.  God is wherever God’s people are, in safety or in danger, offering the loving wings of refuge.

When our hearts are faint, God’s love can feel like a strong tower.  As we remember in these days, we are called to carry that true security throughout the world, for truly it has the portability of a tent.  We are both invited to find refuge under the wings of God, but also to become those wings, embracing all those who cry to God with the love and care we have been given ourselves.