Rector’s Reflections
Friday 25th October 2024
Spiritual Wisdom from the Psalms (Psalm 105 and 106)
In yesterday’s reflections, I considered some of the situations where the psalmist suggests we might see God at work. God is a God of righteousness and justice, and so he might well be at work in situations where wrongs are being righted. He is also a God of compassion, who cares for the vulnerable in society. And God is also the source of all true wisdom, and so when we hear or read words of wisdom, we may well consider the possibility that these words come from God himself.
The psalmist provides further possibilities of seeing God at work. There are those situations where we are not at all clear what we should do next. We feel that we are in darkness, and need some light. And then, suddenly, light dawns! Might this illumination have a heavenly origin? When the Jewish people were travelling through the wilderness, God provided them with a light to guide them on their journey: “He spread a cloud for a covering [ to protect them from the scorching heat of the sun], and fire to give light by night” (Psalm 105, verse 39).
God not only guided his people in their hazardous journey through the wilderness, but he also provided them with the food and water they needed. “They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river”. (Psalm 105, verses 40 and 41). This is an example of God providing for our basic needs – something to eat and something to drink. But God also provides for other needs as well. He gives us friends and families, and safe places in which to live. He provides us with access to medical care, to education, and to opportunities to develop and use our gifts and talents. God provides us with so much. We tend to take all this for granted. But what if all the blessings we enjoy were actually signs of God’s gracious provision?
And what about those occasions when we have been saved from danger? The Jews were well aware that God had saved them from slavery in Egypt, and brought them to safety in the promised land. Their rescue from Pharoah and his armies wasn’t a matter or luck or chance, or a result of their own skills and abilities. It was a sign of God at work. “He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert. So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.” (Psalm 106, verses 9 to 12).
I think we tend to be reluctant to see God at work in those times when we have been rescued from difficult and dangerous situations. Sometimes it is because we are too hurt to remember the trauma of a painful experience from the past – it is too much for us to bear. If we are able to call it to mind, we might consider it as nothing more than bit of luck. Or perhaps we like to give ourselves the credit for pulling ourselves through a time of trial. But what if our rescue was actually a sign of God at work?
What if it were God who delivered us from these times of danger, because he loves us and has a purpose for our lives? Would this knowledge then make a difference to the way we live the rest of our lives? It should do so, but how soon we forget God’s saving work in our lives! I know I often forget – or choose to forget- the times when God has come to my rescue. God must find us human beings such ungrateful creatures. And yet he puts up with us, and loves us, all the same!
I will draw this current series of reflections to an end at this point. I have merely scratched the surface of these two psalms. There is such spiritual wisdom to the found in the psalms. Sometimes the wisdom is easy to see- it lies on the surface of the text. At other times, the wisdom lies hidden beneath the text, to be revealed to us through a time of prayerful study. The psalms bring us close to God, into his very presence. They help us to see him at work in our lives, and in our world. They help us in our search for God – that search which gives meaning to our lives, in this world and the next. Praise be to God for the psalms!