Meeting the God we need
A New Year Message from Canon Philip Sinden
LATELY, in our own St George’s Men’s Breakfast group, on Friday mornings, we’ve been looking together at some of the Psalms. Personally, I have found it a joy to dig into this part of God’s Word with some of my brothers in Christ (thanks to Martin for suggesting this series!) What’s so special about the Psalms? Firstly, they are part of God’s Word to us, and so as we read them, we can expect to hear God speaking to us… and He does! Not only so, but in these exquisite poems we are exposed to a whole kaleidoscope of human experience, and so we are brought to the realisation that this sovereign, almighty God is acutely aware of the joys and sorrows, the delights and the discouragements, the frustrations and the fears, that are part and parcel of our human experience. In the Psalms we meet the God we need, for the life we live.
It’s here that my distorted image of God is reshaped, as I pray His own words back to Him. He is the one to be served with fear, rejoiced over with trembling (Ps 2), whose glories are declared by the heavens and whose spoken word is sweeter to me than honey (Ps 19); the God of unfailing love and compassion (Ps 51), who shelters us under his wings (Ps 57), who calls upon us to trust in Him alone (Ps 138) and commits Himself to watch over all those who dare to take Him at His word (Ps 1). We may struggle to find a listening ear, but He hears when we call upon Him and wait patiently for Him (Ps 27). There is so little in the world that we can rely upon, but He is trustworthy (Ps 33) and faithful (Ps 100). Let us keep reminding each other that He is the God we need for the life we live.
Many of those around us – where we live and work – need to meet the God they need for the life they live. He can be, and needs to be, their strength, their song and their salvation (Ps 118). We have seen God’s glory and majesty in the Lord Jesus Christ; and we have come to know His salvation, through faith in His sin-bearing death and glorious resurrection. We are the ones to tell others of Him – to proclaim His salvation, day by day, declaring His glory to the nations (Ps 96). Let’s encourage each other to keep doing that!
Yours Sincerely,
Philip Sinden
(With grateful acknowledgement of an article by Alison Blake in Aust. Ch Record, Oct 2011)
