Welcome friends to this last part of Psalm 89.
As you arrive into this Lexio Divina,
I invite you to find a comfortable position.
Settle into your space,
Begin to arrive into your body taking some deeper wider breaths.
Find your feet on the ground and have a sense of being rooted and supported.
Let your attention slowly move from your head into your body,
Into the still space of God's love and goodness.
Let thoughts dissolve and drift away.
When those thoughts return and you find yourself distracted,
Enter once again into your breath,
Into your body.
Can you soften?
Can you release and let go?
Can you let your shoulders drop and your legs be heavy?
And can you open to love,
To the flow of the divine towards you in and through you at this moment?
God is waiting here to find you and to offer you hope and encouragement through these words.
I'm going to read the whole part of this psalm once and then focus in on a few verses twice more.
Psalm 89.
So often you seem cast off and rejected as we your people separate ourselves from love.
We renounce the covenant made with you.
We choose the ego's fear-filled way.
We build walls to defend ourselves.
Walls that lead to loneliness.
The world is rampant with violence.
Neighbors striving to outdo one another.
The nations compete for worldly riches,
Oppressing the weak with deceitful promises.
Yes,
When we turn our backs on love,
We become deaf to the word,
Longing to be heard.
We live according to gratification of our senses,
Forgetting the treasure hidden in the silence of our hearts.
Be merciful to us,
O Holy One.
Melt our hearts of ice before the hour of reckoning comes upon us.
How long,
O people of Earth,
Will you hide yourselves from love?
How long will your self-centered ways keep you fearful and living in darkness?
Remember,
O friends,
The values that are eternal.
For vanity withers the soul as a husk of corn dying in autumn.
Who will come to the banquet,
The feast of heaven here on Earth?
Who will abandon themselves into the hands of love?
O beloved,
Your steadfast love remains sure and faithful.
Your promises endure forever.
Awaken us,
O Holy One,
And humble us so we are compelled to cry out for forgiveness.
In your mercy,
Help us to release the fears that veil your light.
For you alone are the Holy One.
You alone are our loving Creator.
Let all who would be free from fear commend their lives into your hand.
Blessed are you,
O loving companion presence,
For ever and ever.
Amen.
I'm going to read those last few verses again and invite you to notice any words or phrases that capture your attention.
O beloved,
Your steadfast love remains sure and faithful.
Your promises endure forever.
Awaken us,
O Holy One,
And humble us so we are compelled to cry out for forgiveness.
In your mercy,
Help us to release the fears that veil your light.
For you alone are the Holy One.
You alone are our loving Creator.
Let all who would be free from fear commend their lives into your hand.
Blessed are you,
O loving companion presence,
For ever and ever.
Amen.
This final reading offers you the opportunity to let those words or phrases go more deeply into your being.
What do they offer you?
What do they stir within you?
Is a response wanted or needed?
Do they simply encourage you and bring you hope?
Let these words come as the gift that they are.
O beloved,
Your steadfast love remains sure and faithful.
Your promises endure forever.
Awaken us,
O Holy One,
And humble us so we are compelled to cry out for forgiveness.
In your mercy,
Help us to release the fears that veil your light.
For you alone are the Holy One.
You alone are our loving Creator.
Let all who would be free from fear commend their lives into your hand.
Blessed are you,
O loving companion presence,
For ever and ever.
Amen.
May you,
My friends,
Be blessed.
May you know hope and encouragement through these words.
Return to them if you need to.
And go in grace and excessive kindness.
Amen.
