and Your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by Your name,
O Lord, God of hosts."
Jeremiah 15:16
I wonder how it was meant to be, before we fell for the words of a lie and the thing You made was broken. I wonder what it was like, the words leaping from Your lips into the void, one by one, each sound birthing a miracle?
When your God is a God whose every word breathes life, you'd think we would learn to listen.
You'd think we would do anything for those words, sacrifice anything, go anywhere, do whatever it takes to gorge ourselves on the life-giving love of a good and gracious and powerful Creator.
Oh, what we were meant to be.
What we would be if we ate Your words like we were starving, clung to the sound of Your voice like it was the only thing we need. If we believed that every single word is what we are made for.
We have fled into silence, and instead of returning we starve ourselves with noise.
Our hearts are ringing from the clamor of the lie: You are not enough.
Your words are the lifeline You give us to draw us through the void. We think that You are absent, that You hide, but You are always here if we stop to listen. And when we listen, You call us by name, which is Your name, for we are Yours.
Your word is who You are. It is joy, it is delight, and it is enough. It makes me enough for this place. It gives shape to suffering. It satisfies.
It is the only thing that satisfies.
Teach us to listen. To still. To breathe in Your breath as if our lives depend on it, for they do.
Psalm 63
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;my soul thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you,as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,when I remember you upon my bed,and meditate on you in the watches of the night;for you have been my help,and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek to destroy my lifeshall go down into the depths of the earth;
they shall be given over to the power of the sword;they shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
