He Watching Over Israel is the 29^th movement in Mendelssohn’s most prominent choral work, Elijah. It opens with a gentle, rocking figure in the organ, reminiscent of a lullaby. Why introduce the sleepless and ever-watchful nature of God with what sounds like a lullaby? Well, that’s what makes Mendelssohn so clever. The lullaby figure represents our lack of wakefulness, not God’s. There’s a beautiful truth ensouled into this musical idea. The upper layer (the expanding and billowing choral parts) is the perfection and purity of a watchful God, and the lower layer (the rocking lullaby in the accompaniment) is the sleeping, unaware human. Can you see it – God as doting parent, human as child?

When we lose touch with our divine nature, it’s likely because we’ve become fearful, angry, or desperate. But that’s what languishing is, being weak, asleep, and faint in spirit. When we’re walking in grief, the Psalm says, “He will quicken thee.” Quicken means to enliven or to make alive, as in the Apostles creed, “the quick and the dead.” You’ll hear the music grow in intensity during this section because to be quickened, or awakened in faith, often means facing challenge in life. That’s how God often awakens us. If you’ve ever been through a challenge (like a health scare or an unexpected loss), you know the hardest part is extracting the benefits – seeing the lessons for personal growth. With the right mindset, challenge not only quickens, but it strengthens and awakens us to the truth that we are spiritual beings having human experiences, not the other way around.

In times of languish, we often feel cut off from God’s flowing supply. We sleep by forgetting who we are, but divine power is never shut off, even in challenging circumstances. It’s we who cut it off when we fear. God never forsakes, nor panics – we do. Divine power is never separate from us, never slumbering, and always available – it’s just that we forget and become “asleep” in our worry, panic, and fear of the future.

Divine presence is like the sun shining, even behind the clouds of our lack of faith. Think of God as constantly-flowing electricity running through a wire, waiting for you to flip the switch and turn on the light, inwardly. When you see the benefit of challenge and accept what it teaches you, you begin to “see” rightly, with an inward understanding. That inward seeing is called insight, often only accessible through hindsight. When we forget our inseparability from God’s ever-abiding love, we temporarily turn off the switch and fall “asleep.” But we are reminded in Corinthians that we can never be separated from the love that created us, even when we are unaware of it.

Isn’t it wonderful to have music that reminds us of the inseparable nature of God within? Divine presence is always “on,” like gravity, but that presence is waiting for us to notice it, shining brightly, even in so-called dark times. We just hit the snooze button when we flail, panic, and fear. But God is always “on.” Flip your switch and keep yourself “on” to this truth, at all times, especially in troubling times. You’re always safe and whole, cared for and loved, and you always have everything you need. Fear turns off the switch, and faith restores it. This is the promise of the 121^st Psalm, set so creatively by Mendelssohn. Do you trust in its truth? If not, you’re just asleep, languishing. But don’t panic, eventually you’ll reconnect to the flow, and “He will quicken thee.” Soli Deo Gloria!