Although they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not heard
Psalm 19:3
Okay, THAT sounds pretty good, right?
I can think of a few people that I wish had no words or language. Whose voices are not heard.
And it is reasonable for all of us, in times of conflict, to feel this way about our enemies. I am grateful for scripture that helps us process our joy and our anger. Our fear and our dread.
But if we expand this Psalm and read the whole thing — it may offer us some real hope.
Psalm 19
1The heavens declare the glory of God, *
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
2 One day tells its tale to another, *
and one night imparts knowledge to another.
3 Although they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not heard,
4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, *
and their message to the ends of the world.
5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.
6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again; *
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect
and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the Lord is sure
and gives wisdom to the innocent.
The world is very LOUD right now. Life is noisy. And worrisome. And fraught.
And it might feel like God is not speaking to us.
But Psalm 19 assures us that the Heavens are speaking, singing, in a great chorus, the glory of God’s handiwork! And while that song has no language or sound or voice — it goes out to all the lands — nothing is hidden from its heat.
In LOUD times however it can be hard to hear that still small voice. Which means we need to take extra time to pause, step back, reflect, and hear a God’s voice. If you are able I encourage you to take 15 minutes every morning and listen for God. One easy way to do this is to pray the Daily Office at prayer.forwardmovement.org or listen to the Morning at the Office podcast; you can find the podcast here: https://amato.podbean.com/
The world is not going to get quieter anytime soon, so if you want to stay close to God and to each other, we have to get quieter.
But we should not be silent either. There are many injustices in the world. Some being propagated by the highest office in the land. We need to boldly and clearly denounce those evils and work to undo them. Our moments of quiet and prayer help to sustain us in that work and ensure that our responses come from a Godly place and not a human place.
So, friends, for the next few weeks let’s practice a rhythm of quiet prayer and vocal action. In so doing we bring our prayers to life and we hope bringing a better world to life too.