Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. – Psalm 102:25
A quick glance though the history books, and we quickly realize that though we feel as though what we are going though is brand new. Something like it has happened before, and chances are will happen again. A little over a hundred years ago people faced an outbreak of influence, about five hundred years ago society faced the black plague, and plenty of other times has an unseen force caused society to stop, to fear, and to pray.
The psalmist wonders about the longevity of an eternal God, knowing God has put everything together. Perhaps this is why with great wisdom the writer of Ecclesiastes would say that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Even as we become more educated, and our curiosity at gazing at the stars leads us to study and acquire knowledge we still find ourselves in awe of the cosmos. We wonder about what was before, and what will be long after. When we stretch our imaginations in such wonder, what we find in our faith should be an infinite God, who has seen it all, and been present for it all, and experienced it all, and leads us through it all.
We can realize that in all the times in which society faced great loss in the past, that loss was to total. I don’t say this to discredit the grief of loss, for loss of life in any regard is tragic. We grieve for those whom we lose every day, for our loss is a part of this life. What we can focus on, however, is the hope of caring for one another who remain. We can and should care about life. We should care about our sisters and brothers in this humanity.
Our psalm reminds us that though it seems that God hides his face from those in distress, God is still with us. The psalm reminds us that God is enthroned forever and endures to all generations, and God has heard his people in the past, come down from Zion and answered. Therefore in faith we know God will answer us once again.
Our current distress, the distresses of our society are not new, yet they remain a tragedy in which we live. However, God has made things right before, and we know God will make them right again. My hope is that we learn to love one another as an act of praise towards God, that we care for one another as an act of worship for God. That when God comes to answer our prayers, God finds us living and working to create a society that cares for one another, as Jesus has taught us to do so.
Grace & Peace,
Sam