Verses 1b–2: “I will take refuge in the shadow of thy wings until the storms are past. I will call upon God Most High, on God who fulfils his purpose for me.”
In the church community, people often talk about God’s call. The call may be to a vocation or to a simple action such as fixing a meal for a neighbor or an act of kindness for a friend.
When we feel a “call,” we have a sense of connection to the Divine Within that prompts the movement or activity. The needed energy shows up. Our desires and our thought processes offer support to act. We trust what is unfolding is in line with God’s purpose for us. At these moments, we are consciously aware and aligned with our psyche/soul’s path.
Psychologically, our psyche/soul has a gradient that our libido or life force will naturally follow. The gradient is set in motion by “God who fulfills his purpose for [us].” From the perspective of Analytical Psychology, the Self/God Within sets the order.
Carl Jung suggested when we live in sync with the ordered flow of our psyche/soul, we are emotionally healthy. When energy gets blocked or distorted, we develop unhealthy patterns of interaction with ourselves and others. These patterns create illness and disease. Often, the “storms” we encounter are rooted in the energetic blocks in our psyche/soul and body-mind.
Often, we lose the ability to think clearly, to see beyond surface emotions, to move freely from our heart and soul, or to even know what we feel or want. Emotional storms can hold us captive. We forget we are more than the momentary experience.
In the moments of sickness and distress, whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, the psalmist reminds us to seek the Divine Within. We need to call on the Inner Divine Spirit for refuge—a place of rest and recuperation—where we can gather ourselves.
Seeking the Self/God Within reconnects us to the whole of who we are. It invites our self/ego to move away from a place of stuck, distorted patterns. We open to the opportunity to see the seed of the Divine within the storm and to see a new, more life-giving way of expressing that seed.
For instance, we can be angry and discharge the energy by whining, complaining, yelling, or raging. Or, we can be angry and use the energy to make a change in how we behave—towards ourselves and/or towards others. In the former, we stay in the storm. In the latter, we seek refuge and free the flow of our libido to create life-supporting interactions.
Inner Reflection
What storms are you experiencing today? Consider each plane—the physical (body, home, finances); the emotional (overall mood, hurts, suffering); the mental (negative self talk, self-hatred, ruminations, obsessions); and the spiritual (malaise, apathy, inertia, pride).
Seek the Inner Divine Spirit in each of these areas. Open to find the seed of the Self/God Within that needs to be freed to find an expression that is life giving and life sustaining.