Saturday 11 October 2008

'like a child in the arms of his mother'

At the moment I am following a pattern which will take me through all the Psalms by reading 5 Psalms each day. One of the Psalms for today was Psalm 131. This is a little gem from the Psalmist.

The German scholar Artur Weiser in his famous commentary on the Psalms writes this:

“this Psalm of Trust in God, which is unfortunately too little known, is a wonderfully tender and intimate little song. It is the outpouring of a mature faith and deserves to be classed with the most beautiful Psalms of the Psalter. The delicate tones of humble trust sound like the peaceful chime of bells at eventide in a quiet valley which the last rays of the setting sun fill with their soft light.”

The second half of his comment might be a little too flowery for my taste, but this Psalm certainly has something to say to us.

To put it very briefly –

The Psalmist begins by expressing his humility. He is not the fount of all knowledge and there is much which is beyond his understanding.

He then describes his trust in God in terms of a picture of a weaned child sitting comfortably and at peace in the embrace of his mother. The child is not demanding food or anything else and through the intimate mother/child contact has a sense of well-being and security.

The Psalmist finally encourages others to put their trust in the Lord.

Thoughtful words in a time of such uncertainty in our world. Would that we could all quieten ourselves and rest in God like a child in a mother's embrace.

Sunday 5 October 2008

Feeling my age

Tonight I was taking our regular Sunday night youth group.This does not happen very often, but other leaders were unavailable and I was next in line. They are a brilliant and lively bunch who are never short of words.
I decided to use some material from this year's Bible Sunday pack and talk a bit about the 'treasure' of the Bible.
The material suggested beginning the discussion by reflecting with the young people what three items they would choose if that was all they could take with them in an emergency( people and pets excluded). The answers ranged from ipods, mobile phones, pictures of family, laptops, teddy bear, passport, car(!), money. I was asked for my three and when I mentioned 'transistor radio' one of them immediately asked, "What's a transistor radio?".
How aged I now feel. Apart from that it was an enjoyable evening.