May 29, 2023 — Psalm 43 

“Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 43 

“When reading Psalms such as this, do you see the danger in telling Christians that they have the abundant life and will be happy all the time? Yes, they have the abundant life, but they are not always happy. As a matter of fact, most of the Psalms are spent agonizing over our sin and/or the sensible lack of God’s presence. Yes, God is always with us; but that doesn’t mean we always feel that presence! It’s much easier to feel like a Christian when everything is going great in our lives. However, our faith is tested and grows during the difficult times when God seems far off.” (devotional-reflections-from-the-bible.com; Psalm 43)

The Psalm prayer for this Psalm brings us the mention of “our joyful participation at your altar” — or as I interpret this, our participation at the table with Holy Communion. As per our “right practice” as Lutherans, we cannot consecrate the communion elements in isolation from the physical gathering of the community of believers — it is part of our understanding of Jesus coming t0 be a part of the bread and wine.

Yes we are to put our hope in Christ, but agreeing with the Psalmist here, we also trust that “the Lord directs his love” — and there are no barriers that can come between that love — whether it is through prayer, through worship, through mindfulness, or Holy Communion. But in the end, I believe we trip all over ourselves walking over and around the road bumps of “right practice”. Perhaps this is the best that has come out of the pandemic – that we have found many ways to once again gather as a community, whether virtually or within the church building, we continue to joyfully participate at the altar of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

Prayer: Almighty Father, source of everlasting light, send forth your truth into our hearts and pour over us the brightness of your light to bring us, through our joyful participation at your altar, to your eternal dwelling on high, where you live and reign now and forever. 

Amen.