Week 23 - The dark night
Theme:
The moment of truth dawns for Jesus in the dark of night.
He loses everything he had. He is tested to the limit.
What I might wish to ask:
I may wish to ask to be given the ability to keep watch with Jesus; that I am able to understand what it means to remain faithful to the very end; and that the darkness in me will be overcome.
Music:
Abendlied – Josef Rheinberger (1839 – 1901). Voces8.
Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden.
Und der Tag hat sich geneiget.
Oh, bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden.
Stay with us, because it is almost evening
and the day is now nearly over.
Oh, stay with us because it is almost evening. (Luke 24, 29)
Text:
Psalm 69, 1-16
1 Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
With deep respect, I look back at dark periods during my life.
Where did I look for and find help and salvation? Which people saved me?
*
3 I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
….
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.
Feeling abandoned by God and the people around you. To be tested to the very limit. What does it mean to me to know that Jesus also went through this?
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.
The psalmist complains bitterly to the one who knows him more deeply than anybody else. Jesus cries out to His Father. Who do I turn to with my lamentations: with my sorrows?
9 It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
….
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help 14 rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
….
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.” The psalmist has not let go of God: not yet. Staying faithful to the very end and in this way conquering the darkness, longing for safety and security.
Where and with whom do I feel safe, secure, at home?