Praying the Psalms
-
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. -
Yoked in
Personal Invitation
Thank you for your welcome. Introductions: From Northern Ireland, living on the Isle of Wight, ex-Healthcare Chaplain. Brief word about the car accident that left me disabled. My testimony is about lifting up Jesus, he must have the pre-eminence Colossians 1:18, as John the Baptist said, ‘he must increase that I may decrease,’ John 3:30.
I have been a wheelchair user since that Road Traffic Accident (RTA) in 1979. During that time I was visited in Hospital by Chaplain Roger. I was discharged after eight months. Much later, I felt called to ordination and challenged to give up my accountancy business and study at Durham University Cranmer. Not only had the accident changed me physically, it changed me spiritually. I became more reliant on the word of God for daily strength and sustenance.
The Psalms were a rich resource. There are Psalms of the Sufferer 13, 22, 55:1 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught.’ 102:1 ‘Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you.’ Psalms of Refuge: Ps 46 ‘God is our Refuge & Strength, our ever-present help. Ps 91 I you Lord I have taken Refuge.’ Ps 71, Those who dwell in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.’
At the time of my accident, I couldn’t get these words out of my head –’Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.’ Luke 23:46 is also a quote from Psalm 31:5. The Holy Spirit was praying the Psalms for me!
Those visits from Roger had made an impression on me. I became an Honorary Chaplain at Pinderfields in 2000, then in 2006 I was appointed Chaplain at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) and in 2011 I became Lead Chaplain for the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, serving patients in both a hospital and hospice setting.
I encounter people seeking meaning and purpose in life post-trauma. Assumed ‘givens’ – independence, mobility and good health - are stripped away and life looks different for many patients following illness or trauma. Then along comes the chaplain in a wheelchair. And, because that young twenty-three-year-old was trapped under a car off Honister Pass – broken and traumatised – he finds an immediate rapport.
This weekend is themed Lake of Tears - the name of the book which I will refer to (occasionally). I would like us to look at the rich resources of poems and prose, prayer and songs that we have in the Psalms as a way of expressing emotions, longings and declarations of confidence in God who promises that he is ‘our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble’ Ps 46:1.
I hope I can express this ‘withness’ by describing a Chaplaincy encounter:
My pager buzzed, and the hospital switchboard tells me a leading pastor’s wife has been rushed into hospital. I immediately went to MAU and her condition was deteriorating. The medics said I could not remain at her bedside, they needed to act rapidly to save her life. I prayed silently and they transferred Karen to the helipad and flew her to Portsmouth for emergency surgery. She had tumours pressing on her cranium. I contacted my chaplaincy colleagues in Portsmouth who sat with her in ICU reading Psalms softly but aloud at Karens bedside. Karen made a miraculous recovery. Afterwards, she told me that, when she was in a coma, she could hear a voice in the distance softly reading Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou are with me..’
This is how our Lord tends and cares for even in our darkest valleys, he is with us.
This sets us up nicely for our weekend theme which includes Corpus looking at Ps 56 which has that verse, Psalm 56:8 which says you hold my tears….It is a picture of God connecting with brokenness…not in a patronising way but participating …holding. Corpus is the community’s Sunday HC service.
