Rest in the shadow

Anyone who has received an e-mail from me will know what my e-mail signature line is. It comes from Psalm 91:1 -

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

It is a verse that I found greatly comforting during a difficult time in my life a few years ago. I would not necessarily say that that difficult time is over and I wouldn't say that I always feel Psalm 91:1 to be true. But the thing about dwelling in God's shelter is that it requires trust in Him, not having it all together ourselves. It is fitting that the latest album by Sons of Korah, which concludes with this Psalm, is entitled Wait. The title comes from Psalm 27, which is essentially the centrepiece of the album, occupying four of its thirteen tracks. But the concluding lines of the album also perfectly capture the element of waiting:

With long long long life

I will satisfy him with long life

With long long long life

I will show him my salvation.

While finishing with such a hopeful line, the rest of the album seems to deal with the all-important question: what do we do while we wait for this?

There is such a rich tradition in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, of voicing pain and suffering, of expressing confusion before God. This used to be a subject that I devoted quite a lot of space on this blog to talking about. The focus has become less, perhaps because once I understood it I needed to talk about it less. But I'm not sure that's the whole picture. I think there's a real temptation in all of us - in me particularly - to seeking out the perfect formula to fix all problems. For some, praying and declaring truths loudly in faith is the "answer". For some, the answer is to deny problems because to acknowledge them is to speak out of fear not love. I think I expected that my problems would dissipate if I acknowledged them. They didn't. But God still calls the broken and the weary to His side. He still calls them to cast their burdens on Him. And He calls them to wait.