Read the Psalm

As we pray Psalms 124-125, we are reminded that we have a companion walking with us as we orient ourselves toward home. God is our home as well as our companion on the way. Referencing Joshua 1 as well as Psalm 27, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that God “has said, ‘I will never leave you not forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

It is quite a comforting truth to be able to say that the Lord never leaves us or forsakes. However, that truth can simply stay in our minds and not reach into all of who we are, including body, heart, and spirit. For this beautiful truth to have the impact of being able to say “what can man do to me?”, specificity is required. If His presence and companioning in our lives stays abstract, it never becomes dynamic and life giving.

In the 16^th century, Ignatius of Loyola formalized a prayer called the Examen that is very reminiscent of what we see in Psalm 124. In this psalm, the prayer is a recounting of how the Lord had walked with them. The Examen has often been described as a prayerful review of our life, noticing how God has been with us. In prayer, we are encouraged to notice areas of consolation (in which we were aware of and responsive to His presence in the moment) as well as desolation (in which we did not have awareness and lived with either distraction or resistance).

As we engage in a prayer of examen, we sharpen our sense of God’s presence in the past in ways that have ramifications for how we live in awareness in the future. In encouraging the people of God toward maturity in Christ, the writer of Hebrews suggests that “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (5:14) What is good and evil? Good, as described in Hebrews, is awareness of God’s voice and responding to His voice. (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15; 4:7) Evil, then, would be to ignore God – to resist His presence and love in our lives.

Psalm 124 recounts difficult circumstances in which the people could have been “swallowed up” or could have been “swept away” by a flood. Even so, this prayer expresses an awareness of God in those hard places: “if it had not been the Lord who was on our side …” The psalmist isn’t saying that the Lord is on one side or another like in a sporting event but that the Lord was present with them, companioning them. God did not take away the difficulty but did give a way of escape.

This is the beauty of the Examen: we see the ways that mercy or “help” (124:8) is in the name of the Lord. He is present. He is loving us, even in the dark moments. Our ability to see and respond in trust is enhanced by a prayerful review of our day, or any period of time. As we review that previous day or period of time in prayer, God redeems our day in a sense. In His mercy, He helps us see how he was with us all along. This further trains our discernment to distinguish His voice in the coming days.

Songwriter Rich Mullins sang these lyrics (“I See You”):

Lord, You’re leading me      With a cloud by day 
And then in the night      The glow of a burning flame 

And everywhere I go, I see You      And everywhere I go, I see You 
And You take my hand       And You wash it clean 
I know the promised land       Is light years ahead of me

And everywhere I go, I see You      And everywhere I go, I see You

May that be increasingly our reality … that we see Him everywhere we go. May we see the humble God of the universe who does not force Himself on His creation or sing His own praises. May we see Him as He companions us day by day as we pilgrimage toward home.

Reflection questions: take a few moments today and engage in a prayerful review of the last day. Where did you see God’s presence? Where did you miss it? How did you respond in the moment? Is there anything to confess in terms of resistance? How are you looking ahead to the coming day?

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, may we see You everywhere we go. Thank You for companioning us on the way. Amen.