Till travelling days are done
Thursday 10 August 2023
Travelling light with companions
Thursday 3 August 2023
Watching over you
The Lord himself watches over you
Monday 31 July 2023
Shelter
New socks, new hope
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary
Sunday 30 July 2023
Thinning
Thinking about ‘thin’
Monday 24 July 2023
Till travelling days begin
Walking in Aidan's footsteps
Tuesday 11 August 2020
Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 86: Undivided heart
Psalm 86
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who
trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 be
gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all day long.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I
lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in
steadfast love to all who call on you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my cry of
supplication.
7 In the day of my
trouble I call on you,
for you will answer
me.
8 There is none like
you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works
like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
and bow down before
you, O Lord,
and shall glorify
your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in
your truth;
give me an undivided
heart to revere your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will
glorify your name for ever.
13 For great is your steadfast love towards me;
you have delivered my
soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, the insolent
rise up against me;
a band of ruffians seeks my life,
and they do
not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your
strength to your servant;
save the child
of your serving-maid.
17 Show me a sign of your favour,
so that those who
hate me may see it and be put to shame,
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
This psalm follows a now familiar path. It is a confident and faithful call by a poor and needy person whose trust in God convinces them of two things above all:
1. God is able to do wondrous and impossible things
2. Anyone who knows they are needy and are open to God’s life-changing ways, can learn the way of life and an undistracted devotion to God.
Both these hopes are contained in the central verses – 10 and 11 – and form the heartbeat of the psalm. Bookending these crucial verses, scholars have identified a chiastic pattern. This is a form or shape of poetry which gives structure to the prayer.
A vv 1-4 ‘your servant’
B vv5-6 ‘abounding in steadfast love’
C v7 complaint
D vv8-10 ‘glorify your name’
E v11 central verse; ‘your name’
D’ vv12-13 ‘glorify your name’
C’ v14 complaint
B’ v15 ‘abounding in steadfast love’
A’ vv16-17 ‘your servant’
Shaped like this, it is possible to see the intent of the psalmist. It is to draw our attention to the most needful disposition of the poor and needy believer, to live an undivided life of reverence of God.
The shorter Westminster catechism of 1647 was written in a time of great national trauma during the Civil War which divided our nation. It was an attempt to lay out a set of statements around which Christians could unite. And it begins with the first question (please forgive the lack of inclusive language): What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.
This psalmist has demonstrates, for me at least, an integrity and intimacy of relationship to God consistently throughout the prayer. I notice this particularly through the way the psalmist addresses God as Lord so many times – eleven in all:
Incline your ear, O Lord (vs1). Be gracious to me, O Lord
(vs3). To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul (vs4). For you, O Lord, are good and
forgiving (vs5).
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer
(vs6). There is none like you, O Lord,
among the gods (vs8). All the nations you have made shall come down and bow before
you, O Lord (vs9). Teach me your way, O Lord (vs11). I give thanks to you, O
Lord my God, with my whole heart (vs12). You, O Lord, are a God merciful and
gracious (vs15). You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me (vs17).
What I find challenging and hopeful about this psalm is that the more I am aware of my poverty (of spirit and devotion and a disposition of grace) and the more I am open to God’s undivided love, then the more I might also live with an undistracted heart which can revere God’s name.
The chief end, or purpose, of all humanity is to join with creation in glorifying God and enjoying God for ever. Not striving. Just enjoying. May this be so.
Thursday 16 July 2020
Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 85: Righteousness and peace have kissed each other
1 Lord, you were favourable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,[2]
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.
We all need restoration. Each day. Not like a crumbling ancient monument. But as living beings through which God breathes the polluted air of our age. We need the kiss of life. God desires this for all humanity and all creation. And our psalmist experienced this need, not only personally but as a longing for the whole fabric of society. Indeed, the psalmist’s vision is much broader than simply a nation state, a socio-economic-political entity: it is for the universal reign of God stretching from earth to sky.
As I read this psalm we continue to emerge from lockdown, yet are haunted by the prospect of a return of the pandemic in a second destructive wave over the autumn and winter. Every plan made is contingent. In fact, it remains difficult to plan with certainty for anything. In my work, I juggle two possible futures – one delivering formation and training on Zoom and the other, much hoped for possibility, of being ‘in the room’.
Scholars consider psalm 85 to being a post-exilic communal prayer for help. The worst has past and the people have returned home from captivity. Yet the need for being made whole by God (salvation in vs 4, 7 and 9) remains. Children of God need always to be saved from themselves. And it seems that despite the return from captivity (just like the original exodus experience of release from captivity) is not enough to create a faithful, righteous, just and peaceful life. So it is, with our nation and the global community. We are returning to a less restricted way of life. But we are traumatised, in some way, by the reality that the pandemic is not over and the risks associated with Covid-19 will remain until and beyond the discovery of a vaccine. Many are tired and even exhausted. Many sense this summer has to bring restoration in order to strengthen us for service in to the autumn and winter. How are we to find restoration?
As I read the psalter in Daily Prayer, I found this translation of the first part of vs8 helpful: ‘I will listen to what the Lord God will say’. It presents a more active choice by the psalmist than the NRSVA translation ‘let me hear what God, the Lord, will speak’. Actively listening to God may come in many forms for you and I. What the psalms do teach is that passionate attentiveness is one of the marks of prayerful listening. This is about getting close to the heart’s cry and the deeper emotions of yearning of God, I believe. The disposition of the psalmist – of searing honesty and raw truthfulness (best revealed in vs4-7) – leads to a revelation of the character of God. Meeting with God and enjoying God’s presence and being recalibrated in that meeting is surely the goal of attentive prayer.
This psalm pivots on vs8. From the attentive listening comes revelation after revelation that trims the psalmist’s sails in a new direction. From vs9 onwards, the psalm is a character study of God’s nature and the fact that we are called to close relationship with our creator, redeemer and restorer. God is:
· Close to those who fear (vs9) – so that God’s glory is seen everywhere
· Where mercy and truth meet together (vs10) – in conversation and discourse, in private communion and the public square
· Where righteousness and peace are so close they even kiss each other (vs10) – not a hidden passion but a joyful revelation to a whole community
· The one who accomplishes these things so that God’s character of truth and righteousness fills the earth from ground to the heavens (vs11)
May we have eyes to see and ears to hear as the future rolls towards us. May we be eagerly looking for signs of God’s kingdom around us. And may we also find renewed commitment to pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done.’