Rector’s Reflections
Thursday 24th October 2024
Spiritual Wisdom from the Psalms (Psalm 105 and 106)
In yesterday’s reflections, I wrote about the psalmist is encouraging us to focus or re-focus our efforts on seeking God. “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually” (Psalm 105 , verse 4).
But where is he to be found?
The psalmist offers some intriguing possibilities. He is not saying that God is definitely to be found in the following situations, but he is saying that it possible that God might be at work. They are situations where we might do well to think and pray: is there a situation where God might be found?
To start with, God is a God of justice. He cares about righteousness. We might see some story in the news, and feel that some individual or nation is being “judged” for the wrong they done. Might this process of judgment be a sign of God at work? In the words of the psalmist, “[God] is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth”. Is the process of judgment purely a matter of human justice at work, or is there a deeper sense in which God might be giving his judgment on human sinfulness?
There again, we might look at situations where the vulnerable are being protected from harm. God cares for us all, and perhaps especially for the most vulnerable in our society. When we see the vulnerable being protected, might this also be a sign of God at work? The psalmist reminds us that God protected the Jewish people at times when they were most vulnerable. “When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm “ (Psalm 105, verses 12 to 15). People and individuals who are “of no account” tend to get a raw deal. When we see such people being protected and cared for, might this be a sign of God at work?
And we might well see God at work in the words people speak. In the Old Testament, there is an understanding that wisdom comes from God. So when we come across some one who is speaking words of wisdom, we might wish to consider the possibility that these words come from God. It is God himself who is speaking, through the voice of a human being. Psalm 105 includes the following reference to part of the story of Joseph: “The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom” (Psalm 105, verses 20 to 22). So God sends Joseph to speak words of wisdom to the elders of Egypt.
There as are only three of many situations where the psalmist encourages to be open to the possibility of seeing God at work. There are plenty of other situations as well, and we shall look at some of these in tomorrow’s reflections.