Companionship of the Lord

In our culture that is addicted to fast solutions and technological convenience, God offers something different — a long-term and transparent relationship. All too often, I find myself scanning Facebook statuses or reading friends’ blogs in the hopes of finding some relational connection. However, these mechanisms do not allow for the immediate and two-sided interactions with people who are physically present with me.

God continually invites us into relationship. In today’s Scripture, the psalmist says that he loves and calls on the Lord because God heard his cry and prayers. God listens and we, yearning for authentic relationship, must respond with thanksgiving and humility as we hold up our side of the relationship.

God’s companionship has been a comfort to me as I’ve felt the emotional distance from family and friends created by long-distance and international travel. During my semester abroad in Peru, I initially felt disoriented by my separation from so many people who I normally relied on for support. Turning to God for relationship, through reading the Bible, praising with the church I was working with, and moments of stillness, deepened my awareness of the mutuality expected by God.

As we experience emotional alienation and yearn for true relationship, let us remember the Lord, who hears our voice and answers with love.

Scripture: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 (NRSV)

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.

²Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

¹²What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,

¹⁴I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

¹⁶O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.

¹⁷I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.

¹⁸I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,

¹⁹in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!