Psalm 135 God is Great

Psalm 135

Last week 2 young men entered a church and murdered the priest, one of the battle cries common among Islamic fundamentalist terrorists is "Allah Akhbar" (God is great) Sorry If I spelled that wrong, but I sure as heck am not about to google it!

God is indeed great, but we believe that God is also good and his will is for everybody to love, honour and worship him and to recognise that God loves all of his people.

The Psalm starts with 
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good, sing praise to his name for that is pleasant.

I know that the LORD is great, that our LORD is greater than all gods.
The LORD does whatever pleases him in the heavens and on the earth
In the seas and all their depths
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth, he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

The Psalm talks about God choosing Jacob, and that God struck down the Egyptians and the kings of the promised land - these are kind of hard to comprehend in these days. 

Your ma,, LORD endures forever, your renown, LORD, through all generations.
For the LORD will have compassion on his servants.

We like to think these days that we don't worship man made idols, described in the Psalm
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot hear, nor is their breath in their mouths.
Those who make them will become like them, and so will all who trust in them.

There are many things that we trust in, hope in, invest in, that just don't deliver. God help us to recognise these for what they are - idols.

The Psalm ends with the instruction Praise the LORD.

Psalm 134 Vicars only work on Sundays!

Psalm 134

Hanging around churches and stuff I know a lot of ordained people and I like to joke that Priests only work on Sundays - needless to say the priests I know take exemption to this!

This Psalm is actually one of the shortest in the Bible, but it talks about more than working on Sundays!

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
Who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD

May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who is the maker of heaven and earth.

Ministering by night in the house of the LORD sounds a bit more than working one day a week

Psalm 133 the benefits of Unity

Psalm 133

This is another of David's pilgrimage Psalms, or a song of ascents.

The other week in the UK we had a referendum on whether the country should remain part of the European Union.
Unfortunately one of the results of this referendum is that much of the country now feels quite aggrieved that either their votes did not count or that they were mislead into voting the way they did.
Within the United Kingdom whole regions voted differently to the overall result and there is now serious talk about breaking apart the country.
The day after the referendum billions were wiped off the economy and the pound plummeted against the dollar and euro - and the incidence of "hate crime" has dramatically increased since the vote.

This Psalm paints a very different picture-
How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured onto the head, running down on the beard,
Running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe.

It is as if the dew of Mount Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.

Oh well better get back to working on rebuilding unity!

Psalm 132 Remember David

Psalm 132

Here in England we have a rhyme "Remember, remember the 5th of November. The Gunpowder treason and plot"

To me there is something very English about Guy Fawkes night - where we celebrate that a plot to blow up parliament was foiled, and that in November!
Tomorrow is the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, Thursday is Bastille day in France, and last Monday was Independence day in the USA.

June last year was the 800th anniversary of the singing of Magna Carter (In my mind a more significant event than the non-event that was the gunpowder plot by the way!)

Remembering events that changed the country and the world are important things to do - both the good events (from the view of the winners) and the bad 

This Psalm is about remembering the contribution to Israel and the Jewish faith of David

LORD, remember David and all his self-denial.
He swore an oath to the LORD, he made a vow to the Mighty one of Jacob;
"I will not enter my house or go to my bed, I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty one of Jacob."

I suspect that there is a bit of hyperbole here as I'm pretty sure that David went to bed regularly and slept (given  the number of his wives and children, I imagine he didn't always sleep ............careful Mark remember this is a family friendly blog)

However be that as it may, David did draw the plans for the Temple of God and acquired the land - though his son, Solomon actually built it (in much the same way as Hadrian built his wall!)

We heard it in Ephrathah (Bethlehem) - we came upon it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us go to his dwelling place, let us worship at his footstool.

The Next bit sounds a bit like the prayer at the dedication of the temple - 
Arise, LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
Not sure about getting up to go to rest!

May your priests be clothed with your righteousness; may your faithful people sing for joy.

For the sake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one.

God made a promise to David that one of his descendants would sit on the throne (if they kept the terms of the covenant) 

I read the rest of the Psalm with a bit of disappointment - the history of Israel and Judah were full of breaking the terms of the covenant with prophets warning of calamity ahead while the nation went slowly from major regional power to vassal to conquered and deported people.

In the Psalm God  promises to always rest in Jerusalem at the temple, he will bless with abundant provisions, even the poor will have satisfying food.
The priests would be clothed with salvation, and the faithful will sing for joy.

Perhaps the end of the Psalm is a bit prophetic - looking towards the offspring of David, Jesus.

Here I will make a horn (power) grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.

I will clothe his enemies with shame, but his head shall be adorned with a radiant crown
(Ever see a halo?)

Psalm 131 Not too proud

Psalm 131

This is another pilgrimage psalm by David 

Have you ever tried to solve the problems of the world? I usually think about it when I get some beer inside me!!

I have to remember sometimes that some problems are beyond my means to solve!

This Psalm puts me in mind of trying to sort out the big problems that I don't have a hope of solving!

My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty
I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

But I have calmed and quietened myself, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child I am content.

Israel put your hope in the LORD, both now and for evermore.

One thing I will say is that there some things that I will never understand, however that is no excuse to not try and understand!

Isaac Newton (one of the greatest minds in history) once said
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

There is no shame in admitting that there are things one doesn't know - but there is no excuse for not caring enough to at least try and understand.

Psalm 130 Out of the Depths I cry to you, LORD

Psalm 130

There is a memorial plaque at my church which is in memory of the unmarried sister of the vicar at the time who died in a boating accident at Pangbourne on Thames (Here unfulfilled) it says with some sadness ( I assume) 
"Out of the depths I cry to thee O LORD" 

LORD, hear my voice.
Let your ear be attentive to my cry for mercy.

I think it is a bit interesting that very few people approach God as though he owes them a favour don't find him, while those who seek mercy are not turned away.

If you, LORD kept a record of sins, LORD who could stand?

I'm afraid that there is a record of sins kept, but with God there is forgiveness, Christians believe that through Jesus death and resurrection forgiveness of sins if we come to God for mercy, admit our sins and try and turn away from them.

I wait for the LORD, by whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the LORD more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.