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.

Psalm 99 The LORD Reigns

Psalm 99

What to do when God is in charge?

Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean - not the former Archbishop of Canterbury, so easy to get those two mixed up!) does a routine "introduction to hell" where the Devil is arranging torment for the damned souls after the final judgement.
One group mentioned are the Atheists - "I bet you feel a right bunch of Charlies right now"

In the Psalm the LORD reigns, let the nations tremble - he sits enthroned between the cherubim, (a group of angels), let the earth shake.

Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.
Let them praise your great and awesome name - he is holy.

As Christians we believe that God is holy, Just and true, yet full of compassion and mercy.

The King (of the earth) is mighty, he loves justice - 
You have established equity; In Jacob you have done what is just and right.

The Psalm mentions a few of the characters we have met 
Moses and Aaron, Samuel
Samuel was among those who called on the name of the LORD.

God, we believe, does answer prayers, even from ordinary people like me!


Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

God however does not respect or overlook evil and hatred - he rebukes and educates his people in the right ways, however those who absolutely refuse are punished and cast out from the presence of God.

I admire characters like Abraham, Samuel and David that we have met so far in our tour of the Bible - they had a relationship with God that was very much 2 way. I believe that anybody can have that relationship with God. All you have to do is turn to him.

Psalm 98 To a God who does marvellous things

Psalm 98

This psalm has no author attributed.

Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvellous things 
His right had and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

In my view this Psalm has a point - because, through the Bible so far, we have seen God's love and care for the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants despite how they went out of their way to ignore the good advice and laws that God had put in place.

However it is from Israel that we non jews have faith in one God and the knowledge of salvation.

Shout for joy to the LORD all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.
Make music to the LORD with the harp (guitar if you want), with the harp and sound of singing with trumpets (note modern trumpets are only about 300 years old - the valves were not around in biblical times - probably the trombone is more related to the biblical trumpet - spoken as a trombonist!)

There is one occasion where Jesus is coming into Jerusalem and is instructed to tell the people who were close to rioting in their excitement - Jesus tells the authorities that if the crowds are silent, the stones will break out into song.

In the Psalm all of nature is shouting with Joy, let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands and the mountains sing together for joy.

There is an assurance in the Bible - For he (God) comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity.

The church seems to have got the idea into its head that the last judgement is a thing to scare people into following the churches teaching without question

In the Psalm the coming of God is an occasion of celebration and joy - not one of doom and disaster.

For me te Bible is the story of the salvation of God and his interaction with humanity.

  

Psalm 97 Your God?

Psalm 97

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad, let the distant shores rejoice.

One thing I have been told when talking bout my faith is that people in effect say (though generally not is as few words as this) "Shut up, go away, you go and do your religion stuff and let me carry on as I was!" 

In this Psalm God is ruler over all the earth, surrounded by clouds and darkness, with righteousness and justice at the foundations of his throne.

Here God's enemies are consumed by fire from the presence of God and all people see God's glory.
Even those who do not believe in him - those who worship false gods realise the falseness of their beliefs.

For God is the Most High over all the earth, exalted above all gods
Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Let me mention here the Christians around the world lose their lives, but I dont think that this Psalm is entirely wrong - I believe that those who die for and in faith are not afraid as Jesus put it "Of those who can only destroy the body" 

Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

I believe that God will one day call everybody to account, but if I am wrong what have I lost?
If I am right though, what can I gain?

Psalm 96 - Modern music

Psalm 96

Sing to the LORD, a new song; Sing to the LORD all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name.

If there is one thing about Church and services that is controversial it is the music - for as long as there has been music in church - there has been complaints about music in church.
Music likes and dislikes are pretty much a matter of taste and what enthuses you may not excite me.

Personally I love many of the traditional hymns, but there is also a place for modern church music as well - the tradition of church music is one where changes are continual - there are some old hymns and chants that bore my socks off and there are some modern songs that leave me wanting a lot less!

One modern song, and sorry if this is one of your favourites is by Graham Kentrick and is called "Heaven is in my heart" - the sentiments and tune are (in my opinion) cringe worthy.
I am going to choose that song for that funeral - it'll literally be sung over my dead body!


Anyway, back to the Psalm!!

Proclaim his salvation day after day, declare his glory among the nations his marvellous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods.

Let me talk about that for just a moment - fearing God is not the same as being AFRAID of God.
I'll nick a bit from C.S. Lewis Narnia books - When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are told about the great Aslan 
"Is- is he a man?" asked Lucy
"Aslan a man!" said Mr Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the woodand the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the sea. Don't you know who is the king of beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great lion"
"Ooh!" Said Susan, "I'd though he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will dearie, and no mistake" Said Mrs Beaver, "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly"

In the books (which I have loved since I was at Primary School) Aslan is not safe, but he is good, just and fair.
Aslan is the image CS Lewis uses for Jesus in the books.

In the Psalm the gods of the nations are all just idols, but God has made the heavens.

Let the heavens rejoice, the the earth be glad.
Let the sea resound and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy, let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes,

he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

I expect my knees will be trembling a bit on that day - but then I'm (hopefully) not plain silly, nor (probably) braver than most!