Dependence! Something everyone experiences from time to time. Little children depend on their parents more than teachers. Hungry and thirsty people need food and drink to keep them going. The very air we breathe is essential if we are even to exist. Today’s Responsorial Psalm 16 calls out to God, telling him how dearly we rely on him. Do you realize how much, how often we turn to him, seek his strength, his guidance, even his love?

What does this “dependence” mean to us as believers? Reread the psalm with that word in your mind. The song begs God to keep us safe as he is our only hope. We find the refuge we seek, the counsel he gives us to live the kind of life God has mirrored for us to emulate. We become compassionate about our fellow human beings, even helping others to find the God we love. If you think about the concept, you remember that we depend on our relationship with our loving Lord for our very existence and the salvation we long for so deeply.

Words of comfort continue throughout today’s psalm. During troubled times in our lives as our worries and cares seem to overpower us, his counsels are there to guide us if we turn to him with prayers for guidance. He knows our lives; he is concerned for us and keeps us safe. Our ultimate rest relies on our relationship with God. Our security and satisfaction are rooted in our belief in his goodness.

The psalm ends with the assurance that we will find the right paths in our lives that will lead us to his very presence. He delights in us as his chosen children and keeps us safe. He IS our only hope!

Let Us Pray:

You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. (Psalm 16)