Scripture Reference: 7 7: 19 (Please read Psalm 77 in its entirety}
“Your way was through the waves, You crossed the deep-sea, But Your footprints could not be seen.”(RSV)
This Psalm is for the lethargic of spirit when it seems that God is just beyond the reach of a human’s present experience. It is a Psalm that comes readily to mind when the din of the world is making it impossible to detect the gentle footfall of God. Look, and listen to the confusing wonders, and the constant buzz in this technological world, and you will likely hear an expression of longing for some simpler thoughts. Thoughts that are not unlike those enshrined in the words of the poet, William Blake: ” And Did Those Feet?”
” And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?” William Blake (2)
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?” William Blake (2)
Psalm 77 is a lament by one who finds that things are not as they once were. The ‘Glory Days,’ when God was a Presence, walking in a Garden, in the cool of the day, are over. Rigor Mortis of the soul has already set in. Hints of despair are everywhere and touching almost everyone. Who are they after all but,
“Infants crying in the night,
Infants crying for the light,
And with no language but a cry?” Alfred Lord Tennyson (3)
Infants crying for the light,
And with no language but a cry?” Alfred Lord Tennyson (3)
It is this melancholy mood that triggers the soul to ponder whether or not it is “a kind benevolence” that sits upon the throne of the universe. Hear this poor man’s unrefined utterance of despair: “Will the Lord reject us forever? Will He never show His favor again? Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time?”( v. 7)
But what does one do when there is only a mocking silence from everything that previously served as powerful mantras?
The author of Psalm 77 evokes deep pathos in us by his efforts to find the way back to the vibrant expressions of yesteryear’s faith. There is irrefutable evidence of God’s Omnipotence in the annals of Hebrew history. Would not a visit, at least in thought, to the beaches of the Red Sea, be an antidote against their present doubts? For it was there that God had won, for this man’s forebears, a dramatic victory against the Egyptian enemy.
The author of Psalm 77 evokes deep pathos in us by his efforts to find the way back to the vibrant expressions of yesteryear’s faith. There is irrefutable evidence of God’s Omnipotence in the annals of Hebrew history. Would not a visit, at least in thought, to the beaches of the Red Sea, be an antidote against their present doubts? For it was there that God had won, for this man’s forebears, a dramatic victory against the Egyptian enemy.
The appeal to history, on its own, proved insufficient for him. The sound of the natural ebb and flow of the ceaseless tide sounded like a funeral dirge to his expectations. The tell-tale signs that their God had been vindicated, by an epic feat against the Egyptian foe, were altogether absent! The footprints of the Divine are invisible to the physical eye. All that they have now to remind them of that intervention by God, are the legends told by the Sages and the Prophets.
But what about their more recent incidents of God’s omnipresence? Where is that irrefutable evidence in answer to their skeptics, who inflicted torment on them with their unrelenting demand to know: Where is your God? No such experiences come immediately to this man’s mind. Those he can recall are now conveyors of painful nostalgia: ” I remembered You, O God, and I groaned, I mused, and my spirit grew faint.” (v 3-6)
Now memories, as abiding as they may promise to be cannot, by themselves, be depended upon to be a cure for the loss of faith’s vitality. As troubling as this thought may be, it is true that memory may become like footprints in the sea.
Frail memory can never take the place of a living Faith!
It must remain clear in our minds, that the main Character, in this incident from Old Testament Scripture, is living before the advent of the Christian Gospel. The Gospel introduces an entirely new approach to the spiritual quest undertaken by the individual. While there is no overestimating the critical role that this man’s memory of past encounters with the Divine, plays in his spiritual journey, memory itself is now transcended by ‘ A Presence,’ the Presence of the Risen Christ. No more is there an existent danger that His footprints will become completely obliterated from the sands of time.
It is noteworthy that one of the thieves dying on a cross next to Jesus makes the request: ” Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Jesus dismisses the ” memory part” of the dying man’s request, and replaces it with absolute positive assurance,” Today you shall be with me in Paradise.” It is the Faith revealed by the dying man’s belief that Jesus could, and would do something for him that enabled Jesus to respond as He did! ( Luke 23:42)
Jesus dismisses the ” memory part” of the dying man’s request, and replaces it with absolute positive assurance,” Today you shall be with me in Paradise.” It is the Faith revealed by the dying man’s belief that Jesus could, and would do something for him that enabled Jesus to respond as He did! ( Luke 23:42)
Earlier, Jesus’ disciples in their battle with a vicious storm, observing Him walking to them on water, never permit themselves to ponder which physical laws His action is violating. It is the fact of His loving Presence there with them that completely occupies their consciousness, not whether or not His footprints are marking the waves. Those footprints, for those disciples, are the starting line of a new Spiritual journey. And the truth remains forever, that because of the Resurrection, no generation will ever discover that the ebb and flow of time will ever obliterate those Footprints that are beside them!
His footprints are the current markings of the Risen Christ who walks beside every journeying pilgrim on the sea of life.
His footprints are the current markings of the Risen Christ who walks beside every journeying pilgrim on the sea of life.
One final observation demands our undivided attention. In time, the ancient Hebrews learned that WORDS were not enough to ensure a relevant, living, pertinent faith in God. The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah foretold it: ” For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ( Isaiah 9:6)
It is to our commission, as followers of Jesus, to ensure that”The WORD that became flesh” (John 1: 14) never becomes just a word in the world again! If that happens, Faith slinks away into the shadows, and the Resurrection of Jesus is declared to be null and void.
“And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long ‘
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Hallelujah!
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Hallelujah!
But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day;
The Saints’ triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way
Hallelujah!
The Saints’ triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way
Hallelujah!
From earth’s wide bounds from oceans farthest coasts,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Hallelujah!
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Hallelujah!
You are invited to make the following prayer your own
O Christ, You stand in our world in Resurrected Glory. Behind You there stands Your tomb now emptied of the contents placed within it on Friday; To Your right hand, stark against the skyline, there are three crosses atop of Golgotha! We implore You now, Living Lord, to teach us again the lessons You desire us to bring into the thirsty, broken world that is our home.
Raised from the dead by the Hand of God,
Jesus my Victor,
You desire each one of us to sit at Your wounded feet and learn anew from You, the Wisdom that sets all people free. Free us from the chains of prejudice, greed, hatred, and ignorance. And as God broke the chains of death that held You captive, so may God on our last day liberate us from the grip of death
Behind You, there is Your tomb empty now
Jesus, my Saviour,
may every burden be lifted from my weary soul; every consuming worry about the future; every unkind thought that cripples each offer of present happiness, may all these find a place in Your empty tomb, to be sealed away from me forever?
You see people in our midst still carrying their crosses.
Jesus, Cross Bearer of the world,
we see those people too! They still stand as virulent symbols of “man’s inhumanity to man.” Wherever little children are separated from their parents because of war, or by famine or by the corrupted will of man, there stands a cross. When men and women are persecuted because of the color of their skin, there stands a cross. Wherever anyone is treated as being of lesser value, or as being less deserving than we ourselves, there stands a cross.
Help me, Lord Jesus, never to treat another human being unkindly.
On the day when I stand before You, with all those whom I’ve encountered on my life’s journey, may I not feel shame when You say to someone I considered undeserving, “Verily, verily I say unto You today you are with Me in Paradise.”Rather, as undeserving as I, myself may be, in Your mercy, and for Your Love’s sake, grant me a place in Your Kingdom. Amen
Hymn: For All The Saints **
EDITORIAL NOTES
1.(To gain a complete understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the whole of Psalm 77 will be most helpful in addition to John 20: 24 – 31.
2. William Blake,” AND DID THOSE FEET” .https://hymnary.org/text/and_did_those_feet_in_ancient_time
3.Alfred Lord Tennyson,” IN MEMORIAM”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45341/in-memoriam-a-h-h-obiit-mdcccxxxiii-54
4.Photo: Michael’s Harbor, Newfoundland – Scene taken from our patio, at “SHALOM ” 2018.