Partnering in Prayer - A Lenten Devotion - Day 15 - Of Mountains and Rivers

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Day 15 – Wednesday

Of Mountains and Rivers

Psalm 42:5-7 (New International Version)

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and ⁶ my God.
My ^[a] soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

⁷ Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

This is the voice of someone who’s going through a lot of inward struggle. He puts his hope in God for inward healing. What does he do to find God? He goes mountain climbing, and swimming in rivers. As he lets the waterfalls break over him, “deep calls to deep.” In other words, the depths of God’s spirit calls to the depths of his spirit—and this takes place as the psalmist finds God in nature.

Whenever I get too anxious (or too annoying), Beth tells me, “Go to the woods!” Yes, I think she wants to get me out of her hair. But she also knows that I find renewal there, in the forest glens and the river bends.

Psalm 23 (King James Version)

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Every now and then, I take a special day just to myself, to wander the woods and follow God’s paths. I make it a personal one-day retreat, and I take my Bible and my journal and my devotion book and maybe some other spiritual reading along with me. It’s just me and God, and the music of the birds helps me to listen to Him. As the snow clears away from the forest paths, I’m looking forward to my time with God in nature again.

Where do you go for seasons of refreshing? Do you have a sacred spot where you can hear from God—a place for the occasional personal retreat? When the psalmist felt downcast, he turned to God, and found Him in nature. What a beautiful place to meet with God! I hope you can find God in the beauty of creation soon.

Click here to see some pictures of a great hike I had with my friend Jed, at Crabtree Falls this past autumn.