Category: Hope

Joy in COVID times? A COVID Psalm

We are hassled, bothered and bewildered during the COVID pandemic. We wonder what the heck the escape route is. In Psalm 57, King David is in an even worse fix.  He’s holed up in a cave, in fear for his life. How does he react?

Somehow, he maintains a deep and sublime hope in God.

 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
    for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
    until the disaster has passed. (Psalm57:1)

The annual Getty Sing! conference was online this year because of COVID. My wife and I attended virtually. The theme was singing the scriptures. When we do that, something begins to happen. Our joy and trust in the Lord increases, even though what we want to happen has not happened yet.

  My heart, O God, is steadfast,
    my heart is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music. (Psalm 57:7)

I used parts of Psalm 57 and Psalm 63 as a springboard to express hope in a COVID Psalm.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of COVID pass by.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a virus filled land
 where there is no vaccine.

 So even in an online church service,
     I behold your power and glory.
 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you til the cure is found

 My soul will be satisfied as with sharing food at a rich buffet,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
 when I remember you when anxious,
    waking in the middle of the night,
Longing for the end of COVID.

For you have been my help,
 My soul clings to you;
   for in you I take refuge.

Just as you cared for King David
Holed up in a dank cave
Who took refuge in the shadow of your wings
    until his disaster had passed
May we take refuge in the shadow of your wings until COVID has passed.

How long, O Lord, how long?
When will COVID cease?

Like David we say
 My heart, O God, is steadfast,
    my heart is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music.

I sing with virtual choirs worldwide
Making music onto you.
Though the cure we long for
Still has not yet happened
Yet nonetheless filled with hope
We Praise you Lord!

OK Now I am Free and Without Defect —- But there’s a Pandemic!

In my last post, I showed how we are declared without defect and freed because of what Jesus did, and we got permission to enter God’s Most Holy Place.

And I promised to explain some of what that meant in real life in my next post, and I would have talked about a refreshed Christian life during normal times. But there’s been quite a change since I wrote that post.Within two weeks, we suddenly entered a time of pandemic, lockdowns, and panic!

Within two weeks, we suddenly entered a time of pandemic, lockdowns, and panic!

I did not have a particularly good start adapting to that change.  My attitude was Boo-hoo, there’s so much I can’t do. I miss March madness! I can’t go to the restaurant with my wife! I can’t join my friends in fellowship groups! Indeed, I saw a video from last month of one of our worship services – did you ever take the greeting time for granted? Oh the handshakes and hugs!  

So what does entering into the holy place have to do with the corona virus?

First, I needed reminding that that following Jesus is not a guarantee that we have a stable life with no unexpected changes. I was not able to find a verse where Jesus says if you keep his commands you are guaranteed to have health and wealth and no Corona virus.

But I can find where Jesus talks like this:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27)

In the middle of writing my blog the dove in today’s picture was at my window cooing. Perhaps he’s a reminder that we will come out of this and there will be a time of peace………

Following Jesus leads to the joy of walking intimately with God and having peace outside of the crazed events that are happening. That’s a peace that endures during ongoing tests and trials.

And I like being reminded that I am not on my own. I am thankful that online communities using Zoom and Google Hangout are springing up to cut down on our isolation.

At our church, our services are now online only, with only the pastor and worship team there live.  A chat scrolls on the right side of the screen, allowing us to see a virtual congregation. Here is the link for our streamed services: https://thechapelnj.churchonline.org/

 Scripture doesn’t command me to thank God for this season, but it does ask me to keep thanking God during this season.  My prayer is that anyone reading this can take courage. You are not on your own!

Breathing in Bugs

Finally our long hot humid oppressive suffocating summer has ended, and fall has begun. Towards the end of summer I set an unpleasant, unofficial, new personal record. Running in Mountain Lakes early one morning, I sucked in yet another bug. Reminded me of when my wife and I went to a bluegrass concert in Overpeck Park in the Meadowlands back when we lived in Bergen County. One  band had to stop their set early—-the poor woman who was their lead vocalist had breathed in one bug too many !

My bug-breathing led me to reflect more generally on when things seem to just happen to us.  Where it is not our choice—and yet —stuff happens. Yes, my bug-sucking is  a picture of what it means to be living in a fallen world.  After all, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they didn’t have to worry about breathing in bugs on their morning runs.

My bug-sucking is an example of what economists calls a negative externality. It’s when someone else’s activities harm you and cost you and you’re not compensated — like a  nearby factory that creates stinky toxic smoke that you breathe in. Or someone doesn’t clear their yard of places where bugs breed.

When that happens, what are  our choices ?

Sue the bums? Call the EPA?

Or just put up with it?

You mean we can’t always fight it? Yes, sometimes we need to put up with certain crappy things that are out of our control.

At first glance that sounds pretty depressing, doesn’t it ? And it would stay so if we didn’t believe that things will be finally set right. I’m not advocating inert passivity when we should act — but sometimes there really is no action we can take. (I mean, should I have run with a netting over my face?)

But we believe that Christ will set all things right, if not in this life then in the next. We have cause for optimism in spite of the slop. That’s what Christian hope is all about !