You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
APRIL 28<br />
I AM NOT ALONE<br />
“I am filled with love, for the Lord will hear the voice of my supplication.<br />
Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call upon him as long<br />
as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Hades laid<br />
hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the<br />
Lord…” (Ps 114/116: 1-4, according to the Septuagint)<br />
In the Psalms I find the whole spectrum of human experience on<br />
the journey of faith; From intense love and joy in the Lord, to intense<br />
sorrow and fear, like “the pangs of Hades” surrounding the soul – all<br />
these experiences are expressed here, in the Psalms, in prayer, and thus<br />
presented or handed over to the Lord.<br />
As I chant the Psalms today, I am reminded that there is nothing, absolutely<br />
nothing, new or unique about any sorrow, fear, or trouble I encounter on<br />
my cross-carrying journey in the present day. I need not feel alienated or<br />
separated from what I imagine to be the experience of “the saints.” It is a<br />
human experience, which includes love, joy, fear, sorrow, and tribulation,<br />
all handed over to the Lord in the prayers of many generations, day after<br />
day, and shared with me in the witness of the Psalms.<br />
Today whether I stand or fall, I know I am not alone, when I refocus and<br />
join my voice to the many voices before me, who handed all this over<br />
to the Lord. “I am filled with love, for the Lord will hear the voice of my<br />
supplication,” as He heard theirs.<br />
123
Change language