Praying with the Saints

The psalm for morning prayer today is Psalm 46, which as I read it felt very timely for our present circumstances: 

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Today is also the Feast day of St. Joseph in the Church, so we remember his life and how he cared for Jesus and his mother during their most vulnerable time. And as I read Psalm 46 this morning, I imagined Joseph praying this psalm as well. I remembered the countless men and women who have gone before us, throughout history and around the world, who have claimed these promises of God during seasons of trial.  

Joseph had a pregnant wife to care for on a long journey to Bethlehem. Then they faced a shortage of beds when they arrived. After the birth of Jesus, he was warned that Herod was plotting to kill his newborn son, so they had to flee to Egypt to hide; they were displaced for a number of years because of forces beyond their control. It’s easy to imagine the vulnerability and powerlessness he felt in the midst of these things— these forces that alter the course of our lives, that disrupt our plans and our hopes and our sense of control or even safety. “The nations are in an uproar, and the kingdoms are moved.”  It was true for the psalmist and it is true today.  

But it’s comforting to know that we are not alone in this. We belong to a people who have lived it before; who’ve been afraid and who have suffered and who have cried out to God in the midst of it all. We belong to the communion of saints, throughout history and around the world. So we join our voices with theirs when we say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, thought the earth be moved; though the the mountains be moved to the heart of the sea…The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Amen.