Elmhurst CRC

Sunday's Comin' #149 - Psalm 16: 1-2

June 23, 2022 Elmhurst CRC Season 1 Episode 149
Elmhurst CRC
Sunday's Comin' #149 - Psalm 16: 1-2
Show Notes Transcript

Caryn Rivadeneira, Director of Care & Worship Planning

Caryn Rivadeneira  0:08 

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose the Word of God. It's Thursday, June 23 and Sunday is coming. This is Caryn Rivadeneira. I serve as director of care and worship planning and I'll be reading Psalm 16, 1 through 2.

Caryn Rivadeneira  0:21

Keep me safe, my God for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. Apart from you, I have no good thing.

Caryn Rivadeneira  0:32

Earlier this week, we headed out to the arboretum for a late afternoon walk. The day was hot, very, very hot, and so we chose a densely forested area to walk through. To get there, however, required a short walk through an open meadow - uphill - in the full blazing sun. Though the meadow was surely lovely - all prairie grasses and wildflowers glistening on a summer afternoon - it was impossible to enjoy or appreciate under the oppressive heat. When we reached the shelter of the woods, however, everything changed. We took deep breaths, our shoulders and strides relaxed. Though it was still hot, though our legs still had to propel us forward and though we still had hills to climb, under the canopy of trees, we could appreciate the journey and the beauty of everything around us. As I walked, I thought of these verses, and how David connects God's protection with God's provision of every good thing. Of course, God is still the giver of good things, even when we are unsafe, even when we are targeted, even when the world feels more rickety and oppressive than we can manage. But it's in the times when we recognize that we are under the canopy of God's protection, or as the Bible often puts it, under the protection of God's mama bird wings, that we can take those deep breaths that we can relax and give thanks to God for the beauty and goodness of this world and of each other. That we can give thanks for all that God provides and for the ways that God protects.

Caryn Rivadeneira  2:00
 
Our prayer guide this week encourages this practice. Remember a time when summer's outdoor activities left you vulnerable to weather and perhaps running for cover? How did finding refuge make you feel? Now imagine any current weather in your life. Perhaps stresses are dangerous and seek God with you. With God's arms wide open, ready to shelter you, how does that make you feel? I pray that no matter what arrows or dangerous or oppressive heat, the world may sling your way this week. You feel at ease and at rest under the canopy of God's grace.