Today’s Lectio Divina: Excerpts from Psalm 94. (MsgB)
How blessed the man You train, God, the woman You instruct in Your Word,
Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil, while a jail is being built for the wicked.
God will never walk away from His people, never desert His precious people.
Rest assured that justice is on its way and every good heart put right.
Shhh.
Quiet.
Look over there, in the corner of the room.
See that little bubble of peace?
That small tiny speck of silence?
Yeah, I know, it’s really hard to see amongst all the clutter of the room. But it’s there. See. Look deeper in. Past the noise surrounding us. Beyond the buzzing and all the blabber. See it now?
What is it, you say?
Oh, that’s God’s Circle of Quiet.
Kinda hard to spot it when you first come into the room. So much noise. So much confusion. So much hustle and bustle. You almost miss it, it’s so small. But fear not, it’s there. It’s always been there. It never moves.
Yet, interestingly enough, God’s Circle of Quiet never seems to call attention to itself. Doesn’t promote or call out, trying to sell itself to prospective customers. You’d think that it would need to shout out “Here I am…over here!” since the room is so full of noise, noise, noise. But it doesn’t. I guess that would be self-condemning…contrary to its God-given nature.
As I see it, God’s Circle of Quiet is one special place. A place only men and women who are in training with God get to go. Most earth-dwellers don’t even know God’s Circle of Quiet exists. Oh, they’ve heard rumors about it, but few have the time or interest to pursue it. Quite honestly, even most church-goers ignore God’s Circle of Quiet, believing that now that they are believing adults, they just don’t have any need for further training from the Master. Sadly, those who lead the church are the worse offenders of all. So often they will talk about God’s Circle of Quiet as if they were regular attenders, but alas, most never find time in their busy ministry schedules to ever go there themselves.
Too much business to conduct. Church business. People business. God-business, they believe. I call it 3-B business. Business about building bigger (B)uildings, gathering in more (B)ucks for the operation, and packing more (B)utts into the seats on Sunday morning.
Sadly, the Circle of Quiet often has empty chairs; waiting for someone to be wise enough to shut up, walk away from all the noise, noise, noise of the world, taking a seat in God’s presence. The Psalmist was right. How blessed is the man God trains, and how honored is the woman God instructs in His Word.
Yet, God’s Circle of Quiet awaits. Still available to the few folks who grow tired and weary of all the noise and clutter of World Business and Church, Inc.
Hmm.
I see a few empty chairs over there right now. A new session with the Master is about to begin. Excuse me, if you would. I’d really like to have a seat and listen to all He has to say today. Wanna join me?
Shhh. The session is about to begin.
My prayer: Father, at times, my life becomes so full of noise, noise, noise, I lose track of Your Circle of Quiet. Seems as though it fades away midst all the clutter. Thank You for reminding me that it’s always there, waiting for me to step in, sit down, be quiet, and prefer and defer to You and Your Word. For Your Name’s sake. Amen.
My questions to ponder: So what noisy distractions are keeping me away from God’s Circle of Quiet today? What excuses am I using for not stopping what I’m doing right now so that I can go over to God’s Circle of Quiet and start enjoying His peace and presence?
So what is God speaking to you today as you ponder the Psalms?
Over a 50-week period, you and I will take a deeper look at The Psalms: God’s Songbook of Prayers. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Contemplating the Psalms home page for ease of use. Keep in mind that one of the best ways to explore the on-going applications of this blog series is to walk alongside a biblically-based, Christ-centered spiritual director who is familiar with how to make material like this part of your overall spiritual formation in God. Many of our directors in our Contemplative Activist network are available to companion you in your journey with Jesus. Click here for more info.
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