Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Sep 8 2019 - Psalm 113 – Praise the Lord

Psalm 113 is a short psalm beginning and ending with the words, "Praise the Lord", or, in the original Hebrew, "Hallelujah". It is one of a series of psalms, spanning 113-118, which were regularly used at Passover time as part of the remembrance of all that God had done in rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt and setting them free to worship and serve him.

The psalm reminds us, the servants of the Lord, that we have abundant reasons for praising him. Firstly, he is to be praised simply because he is the sovereign God who reigns over all the earth. There is no-one else like our God, the living God; his glory is above the heavens. So exalted is he that he even has to stoop down to take a look at the sky and the earth (v.6).

But this mighty and exalted God has not stayed far off. He came down to live among us in the Lord Jesus; he came down to save us. In the words of this psalm:

He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people. (vv.7-8)

He found us in the mire of our sin and has raised us up from the dust of death to sit not just with "the princes of his people," but to be enthroned with the Son of God:

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

But the immediate reference in this psalm is to the song of Hanna. Hanna, the wife of Elkanah, was childless and the object of mockery by her husband's other wife, Peninnah. She cried out to the Lord in prayer and the Lord answered her and gave her a son whom she named Samuel and whom she dedicated to the service of the Lord. In her song of praise recorded in 1 Samuel 2 she uses the words which are then quoted in Psalm 133:7-8 (see 1 Samuel 2:8 and the quotation given from the psalm above). That is why the psalm continues by saying:

He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children. (v.9)

Hannah's song in turn is outshone by the wonderful words of Mary in the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55. Mary, who as a virgin should have been childless, is filled with joyful wonder at the grace of God that he, the Mighty One, should have chosen her to be the mother of the one who would be Saviour of the world. This is what our God is like. He delights to choose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and to turn them into trophies of his grace. That is what he has done with us and so we also have every reason to praise his name.

The psalmist tells us that the Lord's name is to be praised from one end of the earth to the other, "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets" (v.3). His love and saving mercy is wide enough to embrace all humanity, so his praises should rise from every corner of the world. Moreover, the Lord's name is to be praised, "both now and for evermore." Praise should be the keynote of our daily lives even as it will be our preoccupation for all eternity.

Father God, open our eyes to the wonder of your grace and our mouths to declare your praises. May our praise of you attract many others to recognise that there is none other like you. May they also recognise your love and goodness and come to trust in your salvation in the Lord Jesus. So may praise be multiplied until it fills all the earth and will resound through all eternity. 

Sep 8 2020 - Matthew 12:46-13:23 – The sower, the seed and the soil

The parable of the Sower is one of Jesus' best known parables. It's important to read it in context. Jesus had gone away from the houses to sit beside Lake Galilee. But he could not get away from the crowds who were soon thronging around him. So he got into a boat and addressed the crowds who stood on the shore. And this is the parable he told them.

A farmer scatters his seed, hoping for a good crop. Some seed fell along the compacted soil of the path and was snatched away by birds. Other seed fell on the thin soil of rocky ground. It sprang up, but when the sun beat upon the young rootless plants they withered away. Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew and smothered the growing seed. Nevertheless, there was seed that fell on good soil; seed which grew and bore the crop the farmer had worked for.

Jesus tells the parable to illustrate his own ministry. He tells the parable to the assembled crowd and challenges them, "Whoever has ears, let them hear" (Matthew 13:9). What will happen to the word he has spoken to them? Will it bear fruit in lives shaped by the message and power of the kingdom?

Jesus knows that many who hear him will not, in the end, follow him. For some, Jesus provides a form of entertainment – perhaps they have just followed the crowd to see what is going on. The message is snatched away before it even sinks in. For others, the first hint of opposition will result in them turning away; the message had fascinated them but it had not become rooted in their lives. Others, perhaps even with sadness and regret, will find that the demands of life and the pursuit of career will turn out to be more important and all-consuming. But there will be some who hear what Jesus is saying and who will build their lives upon the foundation of his words. These are his family (see 12:48-50); these will bear the fruit that Jesus is looking for.

This parable is generally applied to the act of preaching, particularly to the response to evangelistic preaching. But we each need to apply it to ourselves. For the past few years I have been in the habit of listening to The Daily Audio Bible, a podcast that takes me through the Bible in a year. I listen to it first thing in the morning as I make our wake-up cup of tea. But it is all too easy to have the words of Scripture playing in your ears without really listening to them; without them entering into the heart and bearing fruit. It is easy to be distracted, even to become busy with the preparations for the day and for the word to be snatched away. Having read or listened to the word, it is easy to forget it when the day gets under way with all its demands and pressures.

We who know and love God’s word need continually to challenge ourselves with the question of the extent to which our lives are actually shaped by the message of Jesus? I am the one who needs ears to hear the message of this parable; it's not just about how others respond to the word. In particular, does the word of God shape me in the crisis points of life, when the pressure is on and I tend to react instinctively and display the true character of my heart?

Father God, thank you for the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Spirit of God, till my soil and make me good ground that I may hear clearly what Jesus is saying to me today and respond readily and fully to his calling upon my life. Help me then to be a channel through which Jesus speaks to others.

Peter Misselbrook