Psalm 27 (1-6)
The Lord is My Light and My Salvation.
This past week I had an appointment with a team of surgeons. I made the
mistake of looking around the room and noticed the stainless steel tray full of
medical tools. Up to this point, I had been pleasantly chatty with the staff. The full
realization that all of that gear was going to be used on my head for the next three
hours quickly overcame me.
Chit chat was replaced with a look of sheer terror. The assistant told me, “Don’t
be afraid.” I had heard that line proclaimed often during the past few weeks.
Suddenly, I was feeling a true kinship with those frightened shepherds, who were
innocently minding their own business that night, on the hillsides outside of
Bethlehem. Before I could comment to the scripture quoting nurse, my mouth was
screwed opened and I was in la-la land.
In verse four, the psalmist admits to making a surprising request from the Lord of
Light. The request is the warrior’s life goal and quest:
One thing I asked of the Lord only;
And that I will seek after;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to say prayers in his temple.
Verse five expands the idea of the Lord as a fortress. The Lord’s tent of protection
is far greater than an entrenched army of foes:
For he will hide me in his shelter
In the day of trouble;
The Lord will protect me under the cover of his tent,
The Lord will set me high upon a rock.
Fortified, and strengthened by the relationship he has cultivated with the Lord, the
poet concludes the psalm with pure elation:
And now I lift up my head,
Above my enemies round about me;
And I will offer in his tent sacrifices of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
I am not a soldier, or a king. But I do have many enemies and they are
encamped within me. To all who wage war against disease, afflictions and ailments
of all types, take courage! The Lord is still the Lord of Light and the Creator of
Light. Radiation and X-rays are gifts of salvation (wholeness). The next time I
meet with my surgical team, I am going to pack this psalm in my bag. To ensure my
confidence, I am going to think of hymns and songs and I am most definitely not
going to look around the room at any instruments I can’t play.
Delma Rouleau
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
23 January 2011