Thought for 10 April

 Psalm 147:1, 4 and 5

Praise the Lord!  How good it is to sing praises to our God!  How delightful

and how right!  He counts the stars and calls them all by name.  How great is our Lord!  His power is absolute!  His understanding is beyond comprehension!

 

Firstly, could I wish you all a very happy, peaceful and meaningful Easter. 

When we had a minister, I really enjoyed the Holy Week Services.  I found that if you really open your heart and mind to the Easter story, it can be an incredibly touching and emotional experience.  This year I attended Holy Week services at three different reasonably local churches.  Normally few of us venture far from the church and congregation that we have an attachment to which means most of us are unaware of the Christian activities that go on in other churches that sit under the banner of ‘Church of Scotland’.

My main observations were that each of them were attended by folks in the same age group of our own congregation and there weren’t many younger folks present.  They were all very welcoming.  There was a few hymns chosen from CH4 that I was unfamiliar with but most were well-known and traditional.  Over the course of the week there were a few hymns that I heard more than once but I found that singing them in Holy Week made some of the words have more impact than usual and I would share some of them with you.

CH4 399 – My song is love unknown – V7. Here might I stay and sing: no story so divine;  never was love, dear King, never was grief like thine!  This is my Friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend.

CH4 392 – When I survey the wondrous cross – V4. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

CH4 549 – How deep the Father’s love – V3. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom; but I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection.  Why should  I gain from all of this?  I cannot give an answer; but this I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom.

CH4 154 – How great Thou art – V3. And when I think that God his Son not sparing, sent him to die – I scarce can take it in, that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin.

The writers of these hymns must have been inspired by something more than their own inherent creativity to come up with these words that can create such an impact on those who truly hear them.

Today’s reading reminds us it is right and good to sing praises to our Lord and our God.  This is a God that can count the stars and call them all by name.  In ‘How great Thou art’ there is a line that sums this up nicely – ‘I scarce can take it in’ or in ‘How deep the Father’s love’ – ‘I cannot give an answer.  We are told God’s power is absolute and one of the synonyms of this word is ‘incontrovertible’ or beyond question.

Prayer –  Loving Father, thank You for Your promise to bind up our brokenness and heal our hurt. May we walk humbly before You, trusting Your many precious promises. We know that You are willing and able to carry us through any and every situation that life may throw at us. Thank You so much for Your loving-kindness toward all believers wherever they are. Amen