Psalm 59:16-17
But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge on the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
I invite you to read the entirety of Psalm 59 (Click here) and see what stands out for you. For me, it was the repetition that caught my eye.
Time and again, the psalmist prays to God…and then reiterates the prayer using slightly different, but still connected, words.
For example,
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.
Protect me is a reiteration of deliver me.
Those who rise up against me is a reiteration of my enemies.
12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 consume them in wrath;
consume them until they are no more.
The sin of their mouths, the words of their lips is repeated as the cursing and lies that they utter.
Let them be trapped in their pride is emphasized and clarified: consume then in wrath; consume them until they are no more.
The psalmist is in trouble. Enemies are threatening. Maybe we can relate, especially in these COVID days.
Though the situation is dire, though enemies prowl in the night, though life itself is at risk…the psalmist trusts God to act, remembering how God has been a fortress and refuge in the past.
16 But I will sing of your might;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been a fortress for me
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
In this bold proclamation, the psalmist continues their noted pattern of repeating a thought as a way of clarifying and expanding it.
Here, not only is fortress reiterated as refuge, but might is reiterated as steadfast love.
God’s might is steadfast love!
God’s strength is vulnerable love born in Bethlehem. God’s power is self-emptying love kneeling to wash the feet of friends and enemies, offering forgiveness from the cross, emptying hell and rising from the dead so that all creation might rise with him.
Let us sing of God’s might! Let us sing, this morning, of God’s steadfast love!
Come, Jesus, come. In you, the might of God is revealed. Let your steadfast love be our fortress and refuge in the face of all that threatens us this day. Amen.
Today’s accompanying song is There Was Jesus by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton.