Selah

Psalm 67:1-3 says “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, (Selah) that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

There are three things here that many of us want and need in our lives. 

First we need graciousness for our lives. The other word often used for the word gracious is merciful. ‘God be merciful to us’ is how the text can read. I know as I look at my life short as it has been so far there is a lot that I need God to be merciful to my life about, things I need to be forgiven for, things I am glad God didn’t just squish me like a bug about. Truth is all of us have these things in our lives. And in the Lord’s prayer we are also reminded to forgive as we want to be forgiven. Some days harder than others to do and I am glad God does forgive out of mercy. 

The second thing we are to ask God for is his blessing. The hard thing is sometimes knowing that blessings are not always things we can see or touch. Sometimes there are things that are real challenges that in the end we learn are true blessings. I know I don’t like pain and suffering but often I hear from folk how even those are blessings as one learns the lessons of life. Too often we look at bigger and better as being blessed and that is not always the way God works in our lives. May we not only be blessed but also have the spiritual eyes to recognize the blessings God sends our way for what they really are. 

The third thing God wants us to desire is that ‘his face may shine upon us’. This has to do with his glory shining through us into the world in which we live. The old catechism asked the question of what is the chief end of man? Or as I modernize it so I can understand it: what is the purpose of our lives? And the answer comes back: To glorify God and enjoy him forever. It is nice to know something so eternal can still be a part of our day to day life if we ask for it. It comes out of the relationship we can have with Jesus.

There is also this wee odd word –Selah—that simply means- Stop... Think about it.

And as we find these three things in God we can then be part of the ‘peoples’ who praise God...

So my prayer for my life this week is Psalm 67 and my prayer for your life this week is that you too find Psalm 67 for your own life...

Hoping you will take time to Selah Psalm 67 in your own life,

Rev. Jon Bergen

Seeing Past the Waves

“He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36

The story is told of the preacher who kept a painting in his study of a shipwreck. There were sailors in lifeboats reaching out their hands to people floating on debris from the broken sinking ship. A little boy looked at the painting and asked his daddy, “Are those in the lifeboats trying to save those people or are they just shaking hands?”

Life can be a challenge and there are days that we have the challenges and struggles and there are days it is our friends who struggle with life. As I think about reaching out to save someone or just shaking their hand, I find it can be a fine line between which is needed. Some days it can take a lot of hand shaking before someone that needs ‘saving’ will reach out and take advantage of that help and get into the boat.

The challenge for us is that too often we cling to our own piece of the world like that piece of drifting debris, as if that is all that exists and we don’t even see the helping hand being offered let alone the lifeboat behind that hand. And yet as I watched a wee clip on the BBC the other day about lifeboats I also noticed that the lifeboat came from somewhere even more secure than the lifeboat itself. It came from a place of hope, in hope it was sent to the sea, in hope that it would make the journey there and back, in hope that they would be in time to rescue those in need. The hope of those who go, the hope of those who send it out and the only hope of those about to drown.

And so it is in the storm of life. We cling to the debris and miss the helping hand and fail to see the lifeboat that can be a refuge and even more miss that the lifeboat can get us to a safe place of refuge above the storm.

Can you see the hand outstretched to help you? Can you see the lifeboat and imagine the place of safety that it can get you to? Or do you just see the debris you cling to? Can you see the way to safety and yet all you do is shake hands with the rescuer?

Having friends is great and all of us need to do that. But, the question must also arise in each heart: Are we just shaking hands or making a difference? Maybe you are the one to offer hope to those you know. Day by day we can be one or the other. The key is to be willing to take the help when we need it or offer help to others.

Oh if only we can see, not only the hand and the life boat, but also the place of hope from which the lifeboat came, that final place of safety from the storm...

Cheers from life’s storms,

Rev. Jon Bergen