Lent 3
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
Psalm 63 is particularly well-suited for helping Christians take stock of their commitment. Oftentimes, as we take a long, inward look, we become aware that we have lost or laid aside some of our passion for God. This does not necessarily mean we have left the church. There are many who sit in the pews week after week, visibly faithful and plugged in, who are nevertheless spiritually fatigued.
The psalmist gives poetic expression to this fatigue. Drawing upon the common experience of those who live in an arid region, the psalmist compares waning spiritual passion to thirst. "My soul thirsts for you," he writes, "as in a dry and weary land" (v. 1).
The loss of spiritual passion, often called burnout, actually has many causes. For instance, spiritual drought can result from doing too much: too many committees, too many jobs, too many roles. If we are not careful, God gets crowded right off our calendars by all the things we are doing for God.
A barren spiritual life can also be the result of doing too little. We are aware that there are legitimate things we should be doing -- maybe just the basics of prayer and worship. Maybe it's some calling, some task for which we are uniquely suited. It could be something we agreed to do but then failed to do it, or failed to give it our best effort. The guilt that comes from doing too little can have an eviscerating effect on our souls.
We can become barren from success. Consider what happened to Elijah after defeating the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). After his astounding accomplishment, he was apparently so spent that the feeble threat of Jezebel sent him scurrying to the wilderness to hide and die. There is a strange deflation that may occur after we get what we want. Finishing a task can leave us feeling that we can do nothing else, or that we have nothing else to do.
And, of course, failure can leave us feeling barren and dry. When we make an effort, do the best we can, but fall on our faces -- it can wipe us out. The pain of failure can create in us such a sense of powerlessness and incompetence that we may be tempted never to try again.
Regardless of the way we get to spiritual drought, whatever it is that makes us thirsty, the psalmist reminds us that it is God for whom we are really thirsty. It is not busyness, or success or failure that really makes us dry -- it is the absence of God in our lives. In order to find all God's refreshing and life-giving potential, we must be willing to find God in the way God wants to be found.
"So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory" (v. 2). It is not in busywork that God is found, but in worship. It is when we stop and focus mind and heart in devotion and adoration that we can expect renewal to come.
And if it is failure that has dimmed our hope, it is in the sanctuary that we will find forgiveness. We must school ourselves to believe that God's "steadfast love is better than life" (v. 3). Once we learn that, we will be able to say with the psalmist, "I will lift up my hands and call on your name" (v. 4), and "My soul is satisfied" (v. 5).
-- J. E.
The psalmist gives poetic expression to this fatigue. Drawing upon the common experience of those who live in an arid region, the psalmist compares waning spiritual passion to thirst. "My soul thirsts for you," he writes, "as in a dry and weary land" (v. 1).
The loss of spiritual passion, often called burnout, actually has many causes. For instance, spiritual drought can result from doing too much: too many committees, too many jobs, too many roles. If we are not careful, God gets crowded right off our calendars by all the things we are doing for God.
A barren spiritual life can also be the result of doing too little. We are aware that there are legitimate things we should be doing -- maybe just the basics of prayer and worship. Maybe it's some calling, some task for which we are uniquely suited. It could be something we agreed to do but then failed to do it, or failed to give it our best effort. The guilt that comes from doing too little can have an eviscerating effect on our souls.
We can become barren from success. Consider what happened to Elijah after defeating the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). After his astounding accomplishment, he was apparently so spent that the feeble threat of Jezebel sent him scurrying to the wilderness to hide and die. There is a strange deflation that may occur after we get what we want. Finishing a task can leave us feeling that we can do nothing else, or that we have nothing else to do.
And, of course, failure can leave us feeling barren and dry. When we make an effort, do the best we can, but fall on our faces -- it can wipe us out. The pain of failure can create in us such a sense of powerlessness and incompetence that we may be tempted never to try again.
Regardless of the way we get to spiritual drought, whatever it is that makes us thirsty, the psalmist reminds us that it is God for whom we are really thirsty. It is not busyness, or success or failure that really makes us dry -- it is the absence of God in our lives. In order to find all God's refreshing and life-giving potential, we must be willing to find God in the way God wants to be found.
"So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory" (v. 2). It is not in busywork that God is found, but in worship. It is when we stop and focus mind and heart in devotion and adoration that we can expect renewal to come.
And if it is failure that has dimmed our hope, it is in the sanctuary that we will find forgiveness. We must school ourselves to believe that God's "steadfast love is better than life" (v. 3). Once we learn that, we will be able to say with the psalmist, "I will lift up my hands and call on your name" (v. 4), and "My soul is satisfied" (v. 5).
-- J. E.
