Midday Meditation: Scripture often uses imagery of rootedness as a picture of health and connectedness—the tree rooted by streams of water from Psalm 1 or Jeremiah 17, Paul’s encouragements to be rooted in God’s love, etc. But here is an imprecatory/lament psalm that uses this imagery—telling God “YOU planted us! Now take care of us!!” Do these words resonate for you, this feeling of being uprooted like the nation of Israel was as the psalmist wrote these words? How does your soul join in the longing to be rooted and cared for? If this feels familiar, let this psalm join you in whatever lament you are carrying, naming that you want things to be different, inviting God to tend this plant God loves. “Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River. Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it. Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the branch you have raised up for yourself. (Psalm 80:7-15) How does it feel to you to express these kinds of emotions and desires in prayer? How does God respond to you in your lament?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2023-09-15 17:30:34 UTC