Bring what you do and be amazed by what God does

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Bern Leckie answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

When anyone asks how my week has been, my first thoughts go to what I’ve been doing, then to how this has been working out. In lots of ways, this week hasn’t been the best by those scores (thanks for asking!) The house plumbing which was a problem last week is still a problem today despite our best efforts and those of several plumbers. It’s the sort of situation where the stress and smell permeate into the rest of what’s going on. Like this! But is that it? As big as these things look to me right now, are they really the most important things going on, even if I am only looking at my own life, or the life of our family?

Looking at Psalm 131, I’m noticing that the people coming to worship God have been on an emotional as well as physical journey. “I have calmed and quietened myself” suggests that the writer’s state of not being emotionally unhealthy and concerned with great matters is a new one, not a permanent one. The “myself” isn’t an indicator of self-reliance, either, as the rest of the picture shows God’s role as a parent, weaning and training for healthy life. I love the big journey in this small Psalm from intense self-focus to massive eternal hope.

Psalm 132 appears at first to be about what David did, self-denying, swearing oaths, working to find a place for God to live in. But I love the reminders from verse 11 that the most important oath is the one God swore to David to establish an everlasting kingdom of blessing, salvation and joy through his family.

These other Psalms follow a similar pattern, starting with the important little things we do, encountering God and then realising the massive, everlasting, world-changing things God is doing. Along the way, we might realise, as the writer of Psalm 135 did, that God has done an incredible list of things which have changed the world, overturned injustice and shown us where to look for real power to transform our lives, not just feel better at the end of a week.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God loves to receive our praise and worship, but he doesn’t want empty words from us. He wants us to bring our whole selves, including our current thoughts and issues. God knows that even in a worship gathering centred on him, our heads will often be starting off full of what we or other people are doing. He loves to meet us in this and show us what he is doing too. When we realise this, he can lead us into wholehearted praise.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I want meetings like this with God to be not just once a week but, ideally, all day every day! In many ways, I already know this is possible and find myself praying and praising at odd moments, including stressful ones. But this reminds me to look for that point in a meeting with God where he changes my perspective and makes it more about what he is doing than what I am doing. I will ask and expect him to do this more over the next week.

Who am I going to share this with?

My family and other people I pray and praise God with.