Deliverance

The Psalm for this day is one of my favorites - Psalm 124.  It is a Psalm of Ascent.  Eugene Peterson wrote a book about the Psalms of Ascent and I picture people walking (up) to Jerusalem and speaking these words aloud as they walked.  With the words within them because they were so familiar.  Kind of like I know some Beatles songs and my daughter Kacey knows Taylor Swift's.  The words live in us and are a touchstone.  Here is the Psalm:

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side

    —let Israel now say—

 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,

    when our enemies attacked us,

 then they would have swallowed us up alive,

    when their anger was kindled against us;

 then the flood would have swept us away;

    the torrent would have gone over us;

 then over us would have gone

    the raging waters.

6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the hunters;

the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

It is about remembering the deliverance that the children of Israel received from Egypt.  The images are graphic - enemies attacking, a flood sweeping over, a bird caught in a trap.  Can I remember such a time in my life?  Yes, there have been times of great challenge in my 73 years when I felt caught in a trap (maybe of my own making) or attacked by others.  And yes,  - in retrospect - God did protect and guide me through it all.  Often through the prayers and help and kindness of people along the way. I can easily say   I know about deliverance. 

At the same time I am very aware that there are people who are experiencing this right now.  I cannot imagine the suffering of those in the Ukraine right now, or those trapped in the grip of addiction, or people who have no home and no income and no family. 

So, part of Advent meditation is remembering our own deliverance but also having the awareness of the multitudes who are in places of poverty and oppression right now.  Today is "Giving Tuesday" after the feasting of Thanksgiving and the material purchasing  of black Friday. small business Saturday and Cyber Monday. 

 I will give today - to some of my favorite causes.  But my prayer  is for a deeper awareness of the needs around me and the way that God is calling me to be generous  this season.  I know this sounds preachy but really I am always talking to myself in this blog.  I am into the Christmas spirit and  i know that the circle of care needs to be wider than just my family and friends.

Here is a wonderful Prayer by Marion Wright Edelman

God did not call us to succeed

God did not call us to succeed,

God called us to serve.

God did not call us to win,

God called us to work.

God did not call us to live long,

God called us to live for Him.

God did not call us to be happy,

God called us to be hopeful.

God did not call us to fame,

God called us to faith.

God did not call us to seek power,

God called us to seek peace.

God did not call us to loot the earth and each other,

God called us to love our earth and each other.

O God take our tiny acorns of service and turn them into towering oak trees of hope.