27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Written by Clint Carton
Today’s psalm begins with a simple invitation to “come” and join in “joyful song to the Lord.” When I find myself in a particularly joyful or grateful mood I will often begin to sing; often without even realizing that I am doing it. Song expresses our deepest joys and hurts in a way that nothing else can. For that reason, all throughout scripture and to this day, song has been central to man’s praise of God. And so we “come into his presence” singing songs of praise and thanksgiving.
For the longest time I thought the reference to God being the “Rock of Salvation” in this psalm simply meant that he was a steadfast God who was unchanging, never wavering in his love for us. Indeed that is true, but there is more.
The psalmist cautions us to prepare our hearts to receive God lest we have hardened hearts like the Israelites, who continuously tested God, and failed to hear his voice. In the psalm God says, "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works." (v. 8) This is a reference to Exodus 17 where the Israelites had been freed from slavery in Egypt by God and led by Moses into the desert. The locations named, Meribah and Massah, mean “place of strife” and “place of testing” because as the Israelites came to these places they turned on Moses and God complaining that they had no water and that God had brought them into the desert to die. The Israelites challenged God and argued with Moses. They hardened their hearts and failed to trust in God, even though God previously gave them miraculous daily bread from heaven to sustain them when they were starving. Remaining faithful, Moses turned to God for help. God commanded him to strike a rock with his staff, and Moses obeyed. God made water flow from the rock which gave the Israelites the nourishment they needed to continue their journey through the desert.
So in our psalm, we are invited to praise God for being the “Rock of our Salvation” who provides for us in times of struggle as we make our own journey “through the desert” towards the promised land. The psalmist calls us to recognize that God not only created us (v.6), but he is also our shepherd who will provide for us.
As we reflect on this psalm, we are challenged to remember the faithfulness of God even in the times when we don’t recognize Him or when we don’t feel like He is near. But in those moments, rather than being like the Israelites who said, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” (Ex. 17:7), we are to respond differently. In times where God feels distant, or as though He has abandoned us, we are to continue to praise Him, recalling the times when He was faithful. We are called to trust that, though we don’t see Him, He is with us and He will not abandon us. By remaining faithful in times when we do not see or feel Him we begin to soften our hearts, and when the day finally comes when we hear His voice, we will be prepared to receive Him.
As we pray this psalm this week, let’s call to mind the faithfulness of God and ask ourselves, “Where have I seen God working in my life in unexpected ways?”
Clint Carton is recently married and has worked as a youth minister in Houston, TX for over 5 years. He is obsessed with Tolkien and all things outdoors. He is the former host of the podcast The Christ-IN Culture where he and his co-hosts reflected on aspects of media and pop-culture as a means of God revealing himself even in the most unexpected ways. Follow the podcast anywhere podcasts are found.
Pray with today’s psalm.