Psalm Photos - 77 - Stories

Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.

I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. Selah

You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.

I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit:

“Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?

Has his steadfast love ceased forever? Are his promises at an end for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.

I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?

You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.

With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled.

The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; your arrows flashed on every side.

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.

Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen.

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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I married into a family of storytellers. I am so thankful for the many nights spent around dinner tables and on porches telling the same stories over and over. There is great blessing in these stories as they shape our identities and continue to connect us to who has come before. I love how my kids continue to ask to hear the same stories and there is laughter in all the same places.

In the sanctuary at PCW, I love the three large stained glass windows that surround the sanctuary. One has a cross at its focus, one has a dove, and the third has this image of the Scriptures. The words in the Bible are just words without illumination just as this stained glass is dark without the light to shine through. But when the light shines through, the image is illuminated and shines forth. So it is with the stories of Scripture - when the light of God illuminates the Word, it becomes The Word and not just ink on pages.

In this Psalm, the writer speaks several times of the stories of old and refers back to the ways that God has moved in the past and asks for that same movement in the current moment. I love in the Jewish tradition how "remember" is so important - remember and retell the stories of those who have come before so that their stories become our stories and our stories become our children's stories.