Presence

Dear Lord, You have called me by my name. You have carved me in the palm of Your hand. May I grow in trust and never give in to despair.

Scripture

1 Kings 8:10-13

And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell forever.”

Reflection

The image of the Lord dwelling in a dense cloud is found more than once in the Scriptures. We encounter it in Psalm 18:11: “He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.” We come across the image again in Deuteronomy 5:22: “These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly at the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness”. 

At first, it seems a contradictory image. However, the message is a reassuring one. We are being told that when we are at our lowest, when we feel most alone, when the way forward seems unknowable, God is there in the heart of the darkness. 

However, and this is a very important message, God will never force himself upon us. He waits until we call. 

Prayer

Lord, 1,000 years before your birth, your mother’s ancestor, David, composed Psalm 130 at a time of great personal distress. Three millennia later, I make King David’s prayer my own in the certain knowledge that it will be heard.
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

Amen

Glory to you, Father, source of all being,

to you, Jesus, Word made flesh,

to you Holy Spirit, Comforter,

as it was before time began,

is now and shall be into the future.

Amen.