September 22 — Psalm 144

“Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me. O LORD, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow. Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke. Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them. Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false. I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David. Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false. May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets. Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the LORD.”

“They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.”

A shadow is created when light is disrupted; for when no object intercepts the light of the sun, or when the light of the sun has faded, no shadow is produced. In like manner, the state of our existence is made up of both light and shadows.

When you were little, you may have played a game I like to call “shadow tag”. The idea was to play a game of tag, but the way to tag someone was to step upon their shadow. Now, you mention to a young child about stepping upon their shadow, and they may ask “Won’t that hurt?” Of course, even though a shadow seems to be something, in reality it is nothing. If you try to grasp it, you soon realize it is nothing but emptiness. A shadow never remains the same, for either we are in motion, or the earth continues to spin. Eventually, the earth will move in such a manner that, at length, all shadows around us will finally and certainly cease.

A life, depending upon where that life may currently reside, usually has the chance to exist for at least three score years and ten (that would be seventy years for those not raised in the 19th century). Of course, each life has no promise for anything — not the next second — not even our very next breath is secured. There will be people in our lives who will seemingly come and go with the suddenness of a shadow — it is the way of this life.

Though our lives, like our shadows, may seem to come and go at the whim of fate — Lord we pray that our lives leave a trace of our existence through our love for you and for our neighbor. May our presence offer shade for those burned by the heat of hate and suffering — and may our love for you shine like the sun, so that nothing over-shadows our love.

Let us Pray:

Generous and bountiful God, give compassion to the prosperous and comfort to those in need, that all people may come to love and praise you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.