Psalm 48 Jerusalem the beautiful

Psalm 48

"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain"

I have been lucky enough to visit some amazing places in this world, though I've never been to Israel or closer to the Middle East than Turkey or the airport in Dubai so I've never seen Jerusalem. The closest I've come to Rome is Turin so I've never seen "The joy of the whole earth" or "the greatest city on earth" 

There are seven wonders of the ancient world recorded and any number of modern ones...

In this Psalm Jerusalem is so impressive that when the kings joined forces, they were astounded and fled in terror.

In reality it took a while to capture Jerusalem, but the city was captured and destroyed more than once. 

Changing the subject - perhaps the Royal palace and fortress of the tower of London is as close as we have to Jerusalem here in the UK - though it is probably not the best.

The Yeoman warders who act as guides to the tower explain some of the subtleties of the architecture that make the building special. (I plan to visit the tower of London at some point!)

From Jerusalem the praise of God reaches to the end of the earth.

Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation.

There is a strong tradition in the Jewish and Christian faith of telling young people the history and traditions of the faith, it is a bit of a sad indictment on the British nation that this tradition has not been carried on and now we get people like David Beckham who said that he wanted to get his son, Brooklyn, christened "but I'm not sure into which religion" 

This year is 800 years since the signing of Magna Carter, perhaps we should take as much trouble over our Christian heritage as our secular one?

Psalm 47 Put your hands together

Psalm 47

This is a Psalm of the Sons of Korah, for the director of music.

Clap you hands all you nations, shout to God with cries of Joy.

I have to say I rather like the inclusiveness of this opening

It seems that this Psalm is written in a time of power and prosperity for Israel

God has ascended amid shouts of joy. the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praises to God for he is king over the whole earth.

In this Psalm even kings and rulers of the world are subject to the rule of God.and he  has chosen Israel as his chosen people in all the world.

God has ascended amid shouts of Joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets, The instructions that follow are obviously important - after all they are repeated three times for God is the king over all the earth and although they (particularly the more egocentric types) don't recognise his authority.

At the end of the day all of the citizens of earth are made and loved by God - even those who don't believe or recognise him.

Psalm 46 God is our strength and refuge

Psalm 46

I have to say this is one of my favourite Psalms - mainly because somebody set the first part to the theme tune from "the Dambusters" which is a cracking good tune on the trombone!

verse 2 says therefore we shall not fear thought he earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake

The Psalm continues there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.
In the Bible, rivers hold a special significance - Remember Naaman who was healed of leprosy by bathing in the river Jordan?

Remember Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan river in flood?
The Garden of Eden is defined as surrounded by rivers.
Looking ahead, in the book of Ezekiel a river flows from the throne of God
Looking further ahead, in the book of Revelation, right at the end of the Bible there is the image of a river flowing in heaven with trees of life growing on the banks where all are welcome to eat.

I'm a bit confused by verse 8 - Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has bought on the earth - what is that all about? Does God bring desolation to the earth? And is it really God's will? 

Sure natural disasters happen, sure a great many more disasters are triggered by human activity, but is this what is meant?
I don't know - I DO know that how we respond to suffering and victims is far, far more important than asking God why he let it happen and, like Stephen Fry on you tube getting all angry with Christians.
I'm a trained first aider at work - as a first aider my duty is to make the situation better as far as I can and preventing further injury. so far, thank God, nobody has had to rely on my ministrations!

God's desolations can bring an end to wars, breaks the bow and shatters the spear, and burns the shields.

God says "Be still, and know that I am God" 

I think that we sometimes have to literally take time to follow this advice, Even if you don't believe in God, sometimes it is good to just be still and relax - who knows you may hear the echo of the voice of God when you allow the space to put the world to one side for a bit. 

Psalm 45 Wedding Psalms?

Psalm 45

This is another Psalm of the Sons of Korah, another maskil, this one is a wedding song.

I assume on a superficial reading this is written from the brides perspective.

My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king, my tongue is the pen of a skilful writer.
You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.

This is all rather stirring stuff - it goes on about the king girding his sword, presumably buckling his swash (though this is not in the version I'm reading - it should be!) and clothing himself in splendour and majesty, riding forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice.

Meanwhile the bride is advised to forget he people and her fathers house and let the king be enthralled by her beauty.

I guess that I am really not the most romantic person in the world, and I probably should not say that this psalm really has not inspired me.

If you are inspired by this Psalm feel free to comment and share what inspires you about it.......

Tune in next time for  a hopefully more inspiring Psalm - I've peeked ahead and the next one is better!

Psalm 44 An Earwitness account

Psalm 44 

This is another Psalm of the Sons of Korah - it is one of those obscure Maskil things.

This evening I had an e-mail about doing a passover meal at church. Hold on there is a connection with this psalm - though it is a bit tenuous....

During the Passover celebration service there is a reference to Rabbi Gamaliel (A contemporary of St Paul) saying that every person partaking the passover should put themselves into the shoes of the Israelites escaping from Egypt and slavery.

 This Psalm starts with "We have heard it with our ears, O God - our ancerstors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago"

God, as we saw before in the book of Joshua that God was with the Israelites as they took possession of the promised land.
Here the Psalmist recognises that God actually was behind the conquest - it was not force of arms that made Israel successful.

Suddenly in verse 9 God is no longer on the side of Israel, they retreat before their foes, are scattered the complaint that God sold his chosen people out on the cheap and did not even break even on the deal.

In verse 17 the Psalmist declares that they have not forgotten God or been false to the covenant.

Verse 22 is quoted by St Paul later on "Yet for your sake we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered"

"Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love".