Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Dr Linda Stargel, Academic Dean and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Language, for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 4 (NRSV-UE)
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Tremble and do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.
6 Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
Devotional
Boundless Space in the Midst of Distress
At the beginning and end of this Psalm 4 (v.1, 6-8) a faithful psalmist converses with God. He begins with a plea for help and closes with a declaration of faith. Enclosed in his conversation with God is a conversation with hostile and dispirited associates. The psalmist cautions them to orient their lives more fully and faithfully toward God. This centre section makes it clear that the psalmist’s life is not a bed of roses, justifying his plea “give me relief from my distress” (v.1). A more accurate translation of this petition—illuminating the contrasting word that are present of the Hebrew—is “give me ample room in my narrow constraints.”
We, like the psalmist, have experienced feeling caged in by life’s stresses and anxieties and seeing no way out. When we call out to God for help, we envision God removing us from the metaphoric cramped space and relocating us in a new place of ample room. Instead, however, God often enlarges our heart, our spirit, and our perspective so that we might find God’s boundless space in the midst of the distressing situation. By means of nourishment and a still, small voice God created this vast space for Elijah in the midst of his despair in the wilderness. God made ample space for Daniel, in the midst of his time of confinement in the lions’ den. In Psalm 4, the psalmist acknowledges that it is God alone who grants ample room where he may lie down and sleep in peace and security. He discovers this in conversation with God. Similarly, we can envision finding God’s peace, rest, and reassuring presence and help in the midst of our distress. May we not confine him to a particular response we imagine and desire.
Prayer
Lord, give us ample room in our narrow constraints. Give us eyes to see and hearts to perceive the boundless space you provide. As we converse with you, may you fill, enlarge, and transform our narrow constraints with your presence, that we might find peace, rest, and security.
Shalom,
Linda M. Stargel (Academic Dean, Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Language)