Your Turn for 07/01-02/2023 - Psalm 62:1-4
Welcome to the weekend, Seeds of Faith community!
Because this is a reflection on scripture using the SOAP method (Scripture-Observation-Application-Prayer), part of the purpose is sharing an example of what you might practice in your own scripture reading. So, the weekend invitation is to practice your own SOAP reflection.
Each weekend, I share a passage of scripture to work from. If you’re up for sharing in the comments, I’d love to see what you come up with. This week the prompt is Psalm 62:1-4, which you’ll find below. If you share, please copy and paste the sentence or phrase you are reflecting on.
Brief guidelines for a good practice:
The Basic Method. Pick a sentence or phrase in the scripture passage that stands out to you. Write down something you observe going on in that sentence or phrase. Reflect on how that observation gives insight that might apply to your faith and life. Write a short prayer about that.
Observe Well. Think about what the sentences and phrases are saying and not saying. Take care also not to extrapolate more than is there.
Stay Balanced. Focus on the particular scripture while keeping the whole witness of scripture (as well as you know it) in mind. Isolating a verse or passage from the whole can lead us to heresies, but reading each verse or passage deeply and well makes for a robust understanding of the whole. This is one purpose of the early creeds (Apostles’ and Nicene)—they summarize the major points of Christian scripture and doctrine so as to help us read individual biblical passages faithfully.
Psalm 62:1-4
1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
3 How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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SCRIPTURE:
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
OBSERVATION:
When the whole world seems to be floundering around us, we should feel the assurance of our “rock” in Jesus Christ and the fortress of our faith in Him. Our unshakable faith will protect us and help us during trying times, just as it did David, author of this Psalm.
APPLICATION:
Place in faith in our rock and fortress every day. He is there listening, ready to shield us. Prayerfully ask.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, cover me in your grace and protection during stressful and needy times. Comfort me. In Christ’s name, Amen.