Lenten Meditation: March 14, 2024
Daily Scripture Passage: Psalm 69:1-23,31-38
I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; my eyes have failed from looking for my God. I will praise the name of God in song; I will proclaim his greatness with Thanksgiving. — Psalm 69:4,32
Doubt is not a sin, it is a trial. Faith is not an emotion, it is a decision.
Psalm 69 is the one psalm that accurately prophesies Jesus’ Passion, foretelling his agony while undergoing physical torture, the bitter rejection by those he came to save, and—worst of all—his suffering from the conviction that he has been abandoned by God. Yet Jesus still chooses faith even as he dies: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” While not literally echoing the praises at the end of the psalm, this statement is one of trust, of faith—after all, if God does not love or even care about his child’s suffering, why would Jesus commend his soul to God? This powerful affirmation is what we can seek to emulate, even as we suffer trials in our lives.
We, too, can make the conscious decision to believe that God does care for us, no matter our circumstances. For many, this means rejecting the belief that our trials are God’s terrible punishment upon us for our sins. The correction for that perilous spiritual path is Jesus’ Passion.Though utterly sinless, Jesus still suffers the very worst that life has to offer, yet he makes the decision to choose faith on the cross, overcoming the powerful temptation to doubt.
We too can choose faith while suffering, even while tempted by doubt, and even while we do not feel in the least faithful. This, alongside our atonement, is the work of Lent.