Daily Worship

Resting in the garden

Lily Cathcart April 19, 2020 0 4
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Psalm 16: 6-9 (NRSVA)

6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    I have a goodly heritage.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
    my body also rests secure.

In times like these I find it comforting to think of the world as a garden and to think of God as a its gardener. As with people, our world is more unpredictable, chaotic, beautiful and full of potential than we can ever truly know. But while I draw comfort from this image of the world changing and rearranging as life moves forward it is not so easy or comforting to imagine myself moving through it. I find I need a guide, someone to advise me to keep topping up my store of hope.

Luckily God is that guide, that advice, that hope. Psalm 16 talks about pleasant places and a glad heart: a future in which our souls can rejoice and our bodies rest secure.

In times like these I find it comforting.

PRAYER:

Almighty Gardener,
You have created and you love this world even in its moments of chaos
Draw the boundary lines around us
Help us to see a future in which we can rest
Secure and glad with you and each other
Amen.