“Stay With Me” (ELW #348) is a beautiful, meditative Taizé hymn that also works well with this week’s Psalm. There is so much uncertainty during this time that these words can be a helpful reminder of what we need to sustain us, as well as the confusion that occurs when discouraging things happen. As you listen to the hymn and read the Psalm, which verses stand out? Do you find comfort in these words, or do you find they lead to more questions?
Psalm 80:7-15
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River.
Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
the stock that your right hand planted.