Rector’s Reflections
Friday 15th March 2024
Psalm 62: A Psalm of Comfort for Times of Stress
Have you ever found yourself worrying what other people are thinking about you? It is only natural to wish to obtain and retain a good reputation among our peers. We like the feeling of being respected by others. When we are feeling stressed because we have made a mistake or done something embarrassing, much of the stress we feel can be due to our worry about what other people will think about us. Our natural instinct in such circumstances is often to cover up our mistakes and our failings, and hope that they remain hidden from sight. I think part of good leadership in an organisation is to foster a culture in which it is ok to make mistakes, and it is ok to be honest about our failings. Such a culture fosters honesty, reduces stress, and provides the opportunity for improvement.
You may be surprised to learn that the author of Psalm 62 has something to say on this topic. Concern about our status among others is clearly nothing new. Verse 7 of the psalm, as translated in the New Revised Standard Version, reads as follows:
“On God rests my deliverance and my honour; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God”.
We can easily place our sense of self-worth on external matters, such as the money we have; the role we have in an organisation; our titles; or our academic qualifications. If we hear that someone has “received an honour”, we might naturally assume this meant that they have been given the right to add some letters at the end of their name. But the psalmist challenges this view of honour. For him, our honour rests on our relationship with God: “on God rests my deliverance and my honour”. This in turn means that our honour does not rest on the public approval of the powers that be, not does it rest on what other people think of us. Our honour rests on our relationship with God.
So at those times when we might be worried about what other people think of us, we need to remind ourselves that our true worth is safe in God’s hands. However awkward or embarrassed we might feel, our honour is safe. God will give our wounded ego the protection it needs; and He will also give us the humility and courage we need to be honest about our failures. It can take time before we feel able to be fully honest, with ourselves or with others. But the time will come. It is part of our healing, and healing is one of the ways in which we experience the ever-present love of God.