I love hearing accounts of faith experiences. Sometimes they are formalised by the title “testimony”. Some are long stories, and some are moments of miracle. Some are truly extraordinary – so much so that the human in us says (even subconsciously) “Mmm I would like to see that to believe it”. And others – in my view the best – are everyday happenings where, often in retrospect, you see God at work.
People today often come to faith by experiencing God, and then asking about it. And this experience must be authentic. Writings and stories that don’t ring true are not effective. Today’s set Psalm (Psalm 78) is a remarkable piece of writing. It is an honest account of how the people of God turned away from Him… again and again. It starts with the following words :
We will not hide the parables - the mysteries from of old - which our forbears have told us from our children, but will recount to generations to come, the praises of the Lord and his power, and the wonderful things he has done (Psalm 78 1-4)
Having made that start and clearly with those wonderful things on his mind, the writer reflects on how truly extraordinary they are. He catalogues a list of stubborn rebellions despite repeated divine interventions and help from God. Then at the end he concludes:
But he was so merciful that he forgave their misdeeds and did not destroy them; many a time he turned back his wrath and did not suffer his whole pleasure to be roused.
For he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes by and does not return. (Psalm 78: 38-39)
Why is this authentic? Well if we are honest with ourselves, our own days vary. Some days things go well – we are sustained by our faith and the fellowship of others, and ‘God is good’. On other days, when things are tough or when, because of work overload, emotional burden or tiredness we seem to “lose sight of the ball”, we can find ourselves (metaphorically on our knees) crying out to God for help. I believe it is these days that are sometimes the deepest experience of God’s grace and God’s love, in Jesus’s name. Psalm 119 is another remarkable psalm. It consist of 22, eight verse segments, each one written in the first person, and each one describing a pilgrimage seeking to live more closely to God’s ways and turning away from the opposite. The very last verse of this psalm says:
I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost;
O seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments (Psalm 119: 176)
The psalmist for me is spot on. We can read these psalms through New Testament eyes, and can add ‘in Jesus name we pray’.
God forgives.
Nigel
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