Psalm 48
The Lord is great and worthy to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain rises in beauty,
the joy of all the earth.
Mount Zion, true pole of the earth,
the Great King’s city!
God, in the midst of its citadels,
has shown himself its stronghold.
For the kings assembled together,
together they advanced.
They saw; at once they were astounded;
dismayed, they fled in fear.
A trembling seized them there,
like the pangs of birth.
By the east wind you have destroyed
the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of our God,
in the city of the Lord of hosts
which God upholds for ever.
O God, we ponder your love
within your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name
reaches the ends of the earth.
With justice your right hand is filled.
Mount Zion rejoices;
the people of Judah rejoice
at the sight of your judgments.
Walk through Zion, walk all round it;
count the number of its towers.
Review all its ramparts,
examine its castles,
that you may tell the next generation
that such is our God,
our God for ever and always.
It is he who leads us.
Reflection
This Psalm of praise for God’s dwelling place sees the Lord defend the holy city confounding those who would destroy it. This is a Psalm for times of effective security and apparent victory. It is a Psalm to encourage us to tell the next generation of God’s deeds.
The Church often acts like the Psalmist. We hold to Jesus’ promise that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us; we look at the numbers who say they believe in God and cheer ourselves against the trembling despair engendered by the actual numbers of Church goers. We try to sing of the Lord’s goodness in an era of fewer ministers and hard pressed elders working to keep the show on the road. That east wind seems to be doing some damage to the Church too. We wonder who will tell the next generation about God when it doesn’t appear to be very interested!
This week we will be hearing from students at the Scottish College who, against the gloom of decline, encourage us by offering themselves to care and nurture God’s people. In a culture demanding heroes, the College expects students to lead with humility. Some denominations have responded to decline by ordaining more and more (unpaid) ministers believing ordained ministry is the solution that will confound the forces of secularism. At the Scottish College we work hard to ensure that our students learn to get alongside, understand, love, and serve those they will work with – believing this helps reject the scourge of clericalism.
We don’t believe in a God who defends us on the ramparts of our theological cities; we don’t long for the destruction of our enemies as, after all, Jesus told us to pray for them. Instead we respond as best we can, through love, service, prayer and humility to equip students for today’s confusing ministerial contexts. Pray for us.
Prayer
Lord you are great and worthy to be praised
in our churches and colleges.
Lord you are great and worthy to be praised
in the complexity of our world and its competing ideas.
Lord you are great and worthy to be praised
in your humble, faltering, yet faithful people.
Amen.