Image created by ChatGPT based on a concept by Shan Gao

Every Wednesday we invite you to Pause & Pray with us. Today’s reflection was written/curated by Shan Gao.

Meditate:

Psalm 9, Rewritten for Our Time: A Lament for the Displaced (Adapted for Those Facing Deportation)

1 I will praise You, O Lord, though my voice is weak, I will tell of Your justice in the land of the weary.

2 My heart will cling to Your name, O Most High, For though walls rise and borders harden, You remain our refuge.

3 When powers stand against the stranger, When laws cast out the ones You love, You see, You hear, You remember.

4 You sit enthroned in justice, O God, Not in the halls of rulers, but among the outcast.

5 Nations write their judgments in stone, Yet You overturn them with mercy.

6 They build fences to divide, But You break the chains of the oppressed.

7 The cries of the exiled are not forgotten, Their tears are counted in Your hands.

8 The earth may reject them, but You will not, For You are the shelter of the wandering soul.

9 The Lord is a refuge for the displaced, A stronghold in times of trouble.

10 Those who know Your name will trust in You, For You do not abandon those who seek You.

11 Arise, O Lord, and see their sorrow, Do not let the stranger be trampled.

12 Remember the fatherless child, the mother in fear, The family torn apart by decree.

13 Let the nations see their own frailty, Let rulers tremble before Your justice.

14 For the kingdom of God is not built on borders, But on love, on mercy, on welcome.

15 The plans of the mighty will fade, But the Lord will establish a home for the forgotten.

16 The poor will not be left in despair, The exiled will not wander forever.

17 For You, O God, dwell with the oppressed, And You will make a way where there is none.

18 Let the displaced lift their eyes to You, For You are their home, their hope, their salvation.

Listen:

“Refuge” by Elaine Hagenberg