From the days of the Exodus out of Egypt the people of God have treasured this redemption story and reread it as their own. Each time they ate the Passover meal they personalized it and told their children about their Exodus: “I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt”. Each succeeding generation reinterpreted the Exodus as their story.

When the first Christians celebrated Communion they ate and drank celebrating Jesus as their Passover Lamb who delivered them from sin and death. Today’s Scripture text printed below is one of many texts reflecting on the Exodus story showing us how to reread it as our own. In this Psalm the inspired psalmist is determined to pass the Exodus story on to his children: “We will tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and the wonders of what he has done” (Psalm 78:4).

Take some time today to meet God in your “tent of meeting” using the four steps of Lectio Divina (Read, Reflect, Respond, Rest) to pray the following words from Psalm 78:12-20:

In the sight of their ancestors God worked marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
In the daytime he led them
with a cloud,
and all night long with a fiery light.
He split rocks open in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,
or provide meat for his people?”

REFLECTION

• What word or phrase stood out to you as you prayed?
• Did you sense God speaking to you as you prayed? If so, what did you sense God saying?