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Morning Meditation
July 7, 2025
Psalm 34 – The Book of Alternative Services, The Anglican Church of Canada, 2016
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; *
the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth.
2 I will glory in the Lord; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord; *
let us exalt the name of God together.
4 I sought the Lord, who answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.
5 Look upon God and be radiant, *
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6 I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear God *
and will deliver them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; *
happy are they who trust in God!
9 Fear the Lord, you holy ones of God, *
for those who fear God lack nothing.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger, *
but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good.
11 Come, children, and listen to me; *
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who among you loves life *
and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?
13 Keep your tongue from evil-speaking *
and your lips from lying words.
14 Turn from evil and do good; *
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, *
and the ears of God are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, *
to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them *
and delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted *
and will save those whose spirits are crushed.
19 Many are the troubles of the righteous, *
but the Lord will deliver them out of them all.
20 The Lord will keep safe all their bones; *
not one of them shall be broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked, *
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
22 O Lord, you redeem the life of your servants, *
and none will be punished who trust in you.
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
The Rev. Dr. Julia Gatta has a book on Parish Ministry entitled The Nearness of God. When I first read this title, I was a college student and was perplexed by the wording. I have traditionally thought of God as a being that physically exists very far away. I would describe this in the same way that I might say that Australia is very far away from Pennsylvania, or Mars is very far away from Earth, as if one could visit God if you had a powerful enough spaceship. You just have to get through all of the galaxies and God will be there waiting for you.
I should clarify that I am speaking primarily of the First Person of the Trinity, as God the Creator certainly feels the farthest away to me. This is why the “Nearness of God” is a difficult concept. We live in a visual society which correlates our ability to see with our ability to comprehend, and thus believe. Personally, I am a lover of Geography who puts a lot of value on place, but have to catch myself trying to place God in a physical sense.
It is obvious trying to find God’s GPS coordinates is a fruitless task, but there still is something to be said for asking the question “where is God?” It can feel like the answer to that question is “far away” but Psalm 34 shows us the exact opposite. The Psalmist proclaims that “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” It is a beautiful line, and while I wish that the Lord’s nearness was felt more tangibly by those who need an advocate here on earth, I appreciate the sentiment and pray that we might find comfort in these words in times of heartbreak.
I want to avoid using this Psalm as a platitude for the very real suffering and injustices of this world. But I also want to encourage us all to remember that God is closer than we might think, especially if we allow ourselves to be honest, open, and vulnerable with ourselves and with our Creator.
We all have had the experience of feeling alone and feeling misunderstood. I once heard a Youth Minister tell a group of teenagers that the parts of them that nobody else understands is where the kingdom of God is in them. There may be parts of you that your family, your friends, or even you yourself do not understand or appreciate. But God is there, deep inside those often unexplored places. It is as if God is so close, so near to us, that we cannot see. So let us be open to exploring inward, and may we feel the presence of our Creator within ourselves.
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