Peter Misselbrook's Blog

May 19 2019 - Psalm 63 – Longing for God

David, we are told, is the author of this lovely psalm. From its content it seems to have been written during the time when Absalom sought to overthrow his father David and appoint himself as king. To save the city from warfare and bloodshed David left Jerusalem with a number of his men and made for the river Jordan before crossing it and heading north through arid desert lands.

As David rests, perhaps on the second night of his flight, he recalls precious times of worship he had enjoyed in Jerusalem. There, in the worshiping community of God's people in the tabernacle, and in the presence of the living God, he had been deeply conscious of God's power and glory. But now he is far from home and the parched land around him seems to reflect the feeling of his own heart: "I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water" (v.1). He longs to be restored to Jerusalem and to know again the delight of worship in the presence of God.

But David knows that while he can be separated from Jerusalem and the visible signs of God's presence, he cannot be separated from God himself. He may have exchanged a splendid palace and a comfortable bed for a cave in the desert with its rough and rocky floor but he can declare:

On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me. (vv. 6-8)

David uses the lovely image of a mother bird protecting her chicks as a picture of God's care for him (as he had done also in Psalm 61:4). He turns his broken nights of sleep to advantage by thinking of all that God has done for him: God had chosen him, a humble shepherd boy, to be king over his people. He remembers the rich banquets which he enjoyed in his palace in Jerusalem but does not miss them – they might fatten his body but they could not sustain his soul so he says:

I will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (v. 5)

David is satisfied with God himself, God's love and care, God's goodness and mercy which he was confident would follow him all the days of his life (as he said in Psalm 23). He is confident his present plight will not last. God will deal with those who are seeking to kill him and he, the king, will rejoice in God (v. 11). God always has the final word.

How do we react when we face times of stress, times when many of the things we formerly took for granted and enjoyed are taken from us? Are all of our energies thrown into trying to recover what we have lost or is our first thought to seek after God? He does not change and our eternal security and joy is to be found in him and in him alone. Can we say with David, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live"? (vv. 3-4)

How do we react when our sleep is disturbed and we lie awake in the small hours of the night? Do we fret over our sleeplessness and seek tablets from the doctor or pharmacist or do we use those wakeful hours to remember God's goodness to us down the years and to turn it into praise?

Father God, you have shown me your power and glory in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the eternal salvation that is mine through his death and resurrection. Help me by your Spirit so to delight in your love and care that I will trust you in every changing circumstance of my life. May I always be praising you for you are worthy of all my praise.

May 19 2020 - 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 – I will live with them and walk among them

Paul assembles a series of texts from the Old Testament to describe the privileges and calling of the Christian. What the temple symbolised for Israel has become a living reality for us; God has come to live with us by his Spirit and, in an echo of Eden, he walks among us. We are children of the living God; members of his family. This is an immense privilege, but it brings with it the calling for us to live a holy life. The call to holiness is not a call to some peculiar ascetic lifestyle; we are not called to live in a cave in the desert or on the top of a high pole (like Simon the Stylite). It is the call to put away everything that is offensive to God – for God lives with us and walks with us in the business of our lives. It is the call to be utterly devoted to him in all that we do. It is the call to live authentically as a child of God. It is the call to be different from the world around us; to be those who remodel the world in the shape of the kingdom rather than simply being shaped by the world in which we live.

Working out the details of this calling is no easy matter. The details will be different for each one of us. What does it mean to be a holy politician or police officer or banker? What does it mean to be a holy musician or artist or designer? What does it mean to be a holy builder or teacher or accountant? What does it mean to be a holy comedian or writer or broadcaster? What does it mean to be a holy sportsman or woman or a holy journalist or clerical worker? What does it mean to be a holy businessman or woman, a holy employer or soldier? What does it mean to be a holy lawyer or architect or gardener? We need to be careful to avoid quick judgments about others but rather to pray for one another. Above all, we need to ask, “What does it mean for me to be holy? What does it mean for me to perfect holiness in the fear of God?”

In particular, we need to be careful to avoid false views of holiness. Paul quotes the call of God, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:17, cf. Isaiah 52:11). It’s easy to turn this call for separation into a call to isolation – “Don’t have anything to do with non-Christians.” But our supreme model of a holy human life is that of the Lord Jesus. He was, and is, “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). But his was not a physical separation. He gladly came from glory to live among us – he is God who walks among us. He was often found in the company of those whom the respectable world viewed as outcasts and sinners.

We need to learn to be holy as Jesus Christ was (and is) holy. To live a life of uncompromising devotion to God which is nevertheless attractive to those around us. We are called to live a holy life because God walks among us and calls us his children. We need to walk with God in a world that is alienated from him, encouraging those around us to come and know God through Jesus Christ; to enter the embrace of the God who does not stand apart from us but who has become one of us.

Holy Father, teach me what it means to live a holy life in all I think and say and do, that I may live as one who is conscious that you live with me and walk with me through all the moments of my day. May I walk closely with you this day, bringing your presence into every conversation and everything I do.

Peter Misselbrook