"[God] has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance." (Psalm 66:9-12)
Lord, we hear a lot of pain in this psalm: being caught in a net, forced to bear crushing burdens, and being thrown into the fire. The psalm describes intense misery. And yet, the outlook of this psalm is thoroughly positive. It is the song of people who have passed through the fire, who have endured trial after trial, and have come to a place of peace. That peace comes from praise. As the psalm-singers look back on all their suffering, they see how you were always right there with them, not only helping them through, but also refining them through these times. Their suffering was refining them like silver purified by fire.
O Lord, we pray: see us through our suffering. When we pass through fire and water, preserve us; see us through to the other side. When we face crushing burdens and being trampled upon by others, hold us together; keep us from being broken to pieces. O Lord, help us even to see your hand at work, in all that we face. Yes, your hand is at working preserving us through the trials, but your hand is also at work holding us in the fire, that we might be purified by it. O Lord, you are at work, accomplishing in us and through us far more than we could ever imagine. Grant our hearts the trust needed to sing Psalm 66 for ourselves, delighting in you, the Refiner of our soul, who holds us in the fire only that we might be made pure. We would be lost without your work in us. Sanctify us, Holy Father, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
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