This year the Senior and Brigaders scripture course was based on the Psalms, I have been spending some time lately reflecting on the Psalms and would like to share one of my favourites.
The Psalms are a beautiful collection of songs in the old testament written by people like King David who were inspired to write from the heart with praise and lament. The Psalms are a great source of hope in any season of life as they cover so many emotions that at times when you can feel like you are on your own and no one understands the highs and lows, when you open the Psalms and read them at times I can feel they have been written just for me for what I am experiencing in that moment. What do you think about when you read the Psalms? Which is your favourite?
My favourite is Psalm 97 and verses 1-6 says this:
“The Lord is King! Let the earth rejoice! Let farthest coastlands be glad.
Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes.
His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles the mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory!”
You might be thinking this is not a psalm that you would naturally think to go to or maybe one you have never spent a lot of time looking at. But I will tell you why I love it and how in it I find so much hope in God.
I love visualisation, I am creative person, and I have a very vivid imagination. For me this psalm is very creative and I can visualise the wonder of this scene! But what this psalm helps me understand is God’s awesome glory! Now you may be thinking there are many psalms that reflect the themes of God’s glory especially through his creation, and you are absolutely right. But what I love about this psalm is I love thinking big picture, and for me this scene sums up how big and amazing God is… it is breath-taking!
When I say big picture in thinking about God and His glory there are three things that remind me of this psalm and completely take my breath away…
- I love looking at stars… on nights when there are no clouds in the sky, I love going out and just looking up. Have you ever done that and noticed that the longer you look the more stars appear in the beautiful night sky…
- I love sitting by the ocean …. especially during the summer, if I go up north with friends, I love going down on to the beach, taking my flip flops off, rolling my jeans up and feeling the sand under my feet. Then I sit down near the water, l love listening to the waves and looking out to the straight line of the horizon where the sky meets the sea.
- Yosemite Valley in California – I was on holiday in California a number of years ago and went to visit Yosemite National Park and there is a place called Tunnel View that gives you the most spectacular view of the whole of Yosemite Valley! You should google it or go at some stage … It is huge!
I love these three things and when I think of this psalm my mind explodes with imagination and my heart is so challenged to even try and consider how big, how awesome and how breath taking God is!
So why does this psalm and these beautiful things that fill my heart with the awe and wonder of God give me hope.
Well, at the minute we are all facing difficult days where our ups and downs may be happening more regularly, with being out of routine and missing and being worried for family and friends. My hope comes from God in this psalm because it reminds me so much that no matter what is going on, God is so much bigger than it all… God is so much bigger than me, than my friends and family and even for all of their beauty and enormity God is so much bigger than the breath-taking Yosemite Valley, so much bigger than the depths of the ocean and even bigger than the expanse of the stunning night sky with millions of stars …
When I think about this Psalm and my mind calms down after realising I can’t come anywhere near close to being able to take in or fully comprehend the vastness of God’s might and glory and beauty … what I am then reminded of is how small I am in comparison to God! And in that my hope comes from, even in feeling so small, remembering how important I am to God … and so are you!
Let me encourage you to spend some time looking through the Psalms, picking your favourite and taking some time to consider not only why you love it but also who God is through it.