Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 1-014 Sunday 21 Jan 2001

Reading: PSALM 46 – HE WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

The creator of the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Himalayas also made the daisy, the buttercup and the marigold. Mountains fall at his command yet he waits for us to turn to him in repentance and love.

This life is full of troubles. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we can never know ourselves to be secure against the ravages of storm, accident, bereavement or simple worry. The threat of tragedy and loss are the life experience of us all.

This psalmist isn’t any different. Verses 2 and 3 are not a picture of casual damage. They are cataclysmic.

How does the writer react? By claiming closeness to God: mightier far than anything in the world he has made; the refuge of his people. So good is he that, at his word, the raging waters of verse 3 give way to a river scene suggesting the kingdom of heaven.(1)

Verse 6 is a powerful reminder of the inevitability of war(2) which we see and read about daily in the news, but even though we may not be able to see it or recognise it, calm is restored at God’s command. The writer of this psalm knew whom to praise for the peace he saw and for the ultimate justice we still wait to see. Although we view God at present from a world still subject to sin and suffering, decay and death, we need to take heart from the promise that he has not abandoned us, and there will come a day when justice and peace will be brought to all of creation by the one who holds the world in his hands.

This is our God. No storm too great for him,(3) no dictator too strong. Even though we may wake already worried about the day ahead, we have this promise, that our God reigns. ‘The Lord Almighty… is our fortress’ (v 7).

What is the problem or the fear uppermost in your mind today? Dare to ask God to help you see your problems through his eyes.

(1) Rev 22:1-5 (2) Matt 24:6-7 (3) Mark 4:35-41

– Ken Edgecombe

Copyright Scripture Union, 2001