GOD THE LIFELONG COMPANION - From a life journey perspective, this is an instructive and inspiring psalm. Life’s stages all belong to God-our birth, "from my mother’s womb" (v. 6), our youth, "from my youth you have taught me" (v. 17), and from our aging lives, "Do not cast me off in the time of old age . . . So even to old age, and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me" (vv. 9, 18). From beginning to the inexorable aging of our lives, the psalmist sees God’s care and comforting presence as our constant companion.

STRUCTURE - In one sense this is a typical psalm of lament; that is, a cry for help. But the arrangement is anything but routine. This psalm moves from petition / complaint (vv. 1-4) to trust / praise (vv. 5-8) which is all very nice and expected. But what is unexpected is that this psalm repeats this lament form three times. Why? According to one psalm-scholar the rhetorical effect of repetition is that "the psalm radiates tremendous assurance." [1]

OCCASION FOR THE PSALM- Possibilities for the occasion of the psalm-the psalmist was ill (v. 20) or was experiencing the painful process of aging (v. 9, 20) or . . . What is clear is that the psalm knows that his/her life depends entirely on God. That’s what the word, "refuge" would have communicated-a strong place, a safe place, an ageless place on which to build one’s life.

 

Think rock. Not pebbles or stones. But boulder-sized rocks. Go back through your life and recall those strong rocks that you’ve been awed by; rocks you’ve played on or climbed atop of our envisioned as you’ve gazed on a mountain range.

Think rock, but this time of figuratively. Think of places / persons of refuge and strength that made you feel supported and protected. What persons have been a rock to you as you aged through your youth and career?

Now think of rock and God. How has God been your refuge and strength?

Try playing with the "connections" reflection above. That could offer a form on which to build a sermon.

You might-in preparation for this homily-hike through a rocky area near your home. Or go to the library and look at boulders in some of the geology books. That’s what this psalmist did-just reflected on the rocks that he encountered and then said, "That’s what God is like!"

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible IV (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), page 958.