A Meditation on Envisioning and Feeling God’s Presence When Life Feels Threatening in Psalm 143

In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical view/perspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.

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Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma)

“We all know what happens when we feel humiliated: We put all our energy into protecting ourselves, developing whatever survival strategies we can. We may repress our feelings; we may get furious and plot revenge. We may decide to become so powerful and successful that nobody can ever hurt us again. Many behaviors that are classified as psychiatric problems, including some obsessions, compulsions, and panic attacks, as well as most self-destructive behaviors, started out as strategies for self-protection.”

Psalm 143:3–4 ESV

3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground…

4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

Psalm 143:6 ESV

I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Psalm 143:8–9 ESV

8 …For to you I lift up my soul. 

9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge.

Psalm 143:11–12 ESV

11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 

12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

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This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.