Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Our reading from Psalm 116:1-14 speaks to the distress we feel when we are confronted by threats of death. The cause of the Psalmist’s grief is unknown. What we do know is that he was in jeopardy. There may have been illness, opposition, threat of a plague. In any event, death is on the horizon and the horizon is closing in.
Where is our courage? We find our courage as we look to the LORD, the true God of Israel. Looking for strength inside ourselves won’t work. It may give us some peace, at least temporarily. But it will not provide the lasting confidence we need to face the end. In verse 11 the author speaks about not trusting in people. This may well suggest either a human opponent or the failure of medical treatment. What is critical to the Psalmist is that we trust in the LORD, not in anybody else.
Maybe for some people it does take a threat of death and destruction to provoke a turn to God. For others, the LORD has always appeared near at hand and welcoming. Regardless, our Psalm reminds us in no ucertain terms that the salvation we look for is from the LORD. It is not our own attempt at working out our problems by ourselves. It is trust in the LORD that delivers us.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.