By Andrew Hartzler, associate professor of accounting
Scripture: Psalm 130 (NRSV)
My mind races like a runaway train, thoughts crashing into one another. Twisting and whirling, stress, worry and unresolved issues search for a place to come to rest. They seek a place where issues are resolved and certainty reigns. The mental war wages as these thoughts cannot be quieted, they roar in my ears like a thousand waterfalls, drowning out my cries for rescue…
So I shout at the top of my lungs, Lord Jesus Come With Power!!! Stop these runaway trains, quiet these shouting voices, bring me back to your place of rest.
My stomach tosses and turns with queasiness, an unease that eats away at me from the inside out. I search for relief, trying to ignore the unsettled feeling that things are out of balance. I desperately search for the goodness around me; the warmth of the sun on my face, the smell of the earth after the rain, the glow left behind by a shared smile with someone you love, the comfort of the embrace of a friend.
I say it again, Lord Jesus Come With Power!!! With the Psalmist, I plead, “out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.” My soul longs for the touch of your spirit as I seek you in the silence around me, a silence that can drown out the noise of my thoughts.
Lord Jesus, wash over me with your morning light, enfold me in your loving embrace, restore me to your place of rest.
Scripture: Psalm 130 (NRSV)
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
3If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
4But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
5I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
7O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
8It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.