Psalm 102 A prayer from a hard place

Psalm 102

This Psalm is headed - the prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the LORD.

Hear my prayer, LORD, let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me

We saw in the book of Job the case of a guy who suffered a lot.- this psalm is a similar theme.

The writer of the Psalm is not in a good place, his bones ache, his heart feels blighted, and he forgets to eat his food.

There is a message in this Psalm that I find somehow there is a future beyond the suffering.
In the Psalm the descendants will be established before God and the children of god's servants will live in his presence.

Job had assurance "I know that my redeemer lives" 

For me, the message of the Psalm is that God is present in suffering and there is an end to it.

Psalm 101 A song of God's love and Justice

Psalm 101

One of the recurring themes of the Bible is that God is both loving and just- here in this psalm David sings of God's love and justice and raises his song of praise.

God in the  Bible is known for his love and justice, yet that requires us to live in the light of this holyness and love.

I try to live my life as one of the "good goys". And I fail in this repeatedly. In the Psalm David vows to conduct the affairs of his howse with a blamless heart and to live a blameless life .

For me the thing that God's holiness, love and justice means that we should look with approval on anything that is vile, and we should oppose those that do
We are also called on to oppose evil things that are contrary to the justice and love of God.

David says that he will keep an eye on the holy in the land and they will be with him.

Psalm 100 Come on into the house of God

Psalm 100

This is entitled A Psalm for giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
Come before him with joyful songs.

I was chatting with a friend last night and we talked for a bit about a pilgrimage I did a few years ago.
The last sentence here put me in mind of this - a pilgrimage is a physical journey with a spiritual destination - the pilgrim is journeying to meet with God.

When the end of the journey comes in sight the songs take on another level of joy. Some of the Psalms pick up this theme.

Know that the LORD is God - it is he who made us and we are his and not we ourselves;
we are his people the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise - 

I sometimes understand why quiet in church is nice - but there is also a place for joyful singing and praise. I'd love to see a flash mob choir and band in a cathedral I think that would give a glimpse!

The Bible is pretty certain that God is good, loving and faithful. Critics say that this is propaganda from a repressive authoritarian church that cannot allow any message but theirs.
We hear about how the church repressed science, promoted slavery and ignorance, destroyed pagan faiths and wiped out indigenous beliefs - though a fairly cursory look at the evidence will show that this is blatantly not substantiated in fact most of the time

Because the LORD is good and his love endures forever, high faithfulness continues through all generations - so why not give thanks and praise his name.