Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"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."
Psalm 95:7b-9
"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."
Psalm 95:7b-9
I've been thinking about the Responsorial Psalm that we'll sing at Mass this week. It's one that we hear quite often, Psalm 95. As a cantor it is often difficult to proclaim the Psalm in song. When your a lector, you can use your speech pattern and inflection to help people understand the Word, but as a cantor, you're limited to the musical setting that was selected for the Psalm. Sure, you can be louder/softer, and faster/slower, but beyond that, it's a real challenge if the setting selected isn't much help. The only thing I've found to help, is to place yourself in the Psalm, to make it a song from your heart. That's why this week's Psalm is one of my favorites, I've been there, it's a constant reminder for me.
The Psalm response is "If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart." It's so often in my life, that I feel God prompting me to do something, but it's either, in my view, too hard or too scary so I turn away and pretend I didn't hear Him. Things like forgiving and loving the person who is treating me horribly, or confronting someone who is doing damage to another, or even sharing my faith with those outside my circle, are some of the promptings I choose to ignore. I know God is asking me to listen, but instead, I turn away.
It has always been that way. Way back when the Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, the people complained and hardened their hearts. Now I don't want to judge, but if I walked on dry ground through the Red Sea, walls of water on either side, I would hope that I wouldn't start moaning and complaining and then turning against God. That's what the Psalm is referring to in the last verses. The story is in Exodus 17. The Israelites have been walking through the desert fow a while and were camped where there was no water. They actually said to Moses "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" In reality, we all do this to some degree. We have a crisis in our life and pray fervently and God delivers us. Then shortly after, it's like our memory has been wiped clean, we start moaning and complaining about how much better off we were before, when, in reality, we weren't.
But God loves us. In the case of the Israelites, God tells Moses to take his staff and strike a specific rock. When he did, water came out of it. As in the Hebrew tradition, when there is a monumental occurrence somewhere, a name is given to the place. So Moses called the place Massah and Meribah. Massah means "test" and Meribah means "quarrel". That's why the Psalm 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." It's what makes singing this Psalm easier - I have lived it. It's a vicious cycle: I'm in a crisis and pray, God delivers me, I quickly forget what God has done for me, I end up in another crisis and complain and eventually pray, God delivers me... I have many Massahs and Meribahs in my life. Hopefully I'm learning that it's easier to just listen to God and not harden my heart when He speaks.
What have been your Massahs and Meribahs?
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