This summer we plug into the poetic playlist of the Psalms, the hymn book of Jesus, in order to encourage and equip our hearts to sing the Lord’s song through the ups and downs of the everyday, in the confidence of his care and keeping.
Sunday 5th July
We begin with a cry from the heart in the darkness ‘how long O Lord?’ However, the lament is not a sinking into despair, it teaches us to do what the Apostle Paul urged the Philippians to do, to turn from anxiety to the Lord who is near (Phil. 4:5-7), to bring faith to fear, to cry to the helper and call the heart to entrust itself to him. How can we do that in the moment? We see our Saviour take this psalm to his lips in the deepest of valleys, we see his functional faith and the vindication of his life, and we remember, he has sung this song for us, the foes will never prevail, and we can truly sing to our soul ‘he has been good to me.’
Sunday 19th July
Last time we heard the lament of Psalm 13, the cry ‘how long?’ rises in the midst of adversity. However, the writer makes the telling move – from fear to faith on the foundation of fact, the realities of God. Recalling his goodness past gave grounds to appeal for provision in the present. Despair becomes an anthem of hope as exasperation becomes entrusting. This is the Saviour’s song, and ours ‘in’ him. This week we reflect on reasons for rejoicing in the wisdom of Psalm 14. The initial diagnosis is sobering, the world walks in folly, hearts set against the grain of reality to pursue the havoc of autonomy. Yet despite the universal condition, there is a distinction, there are God’s people, the company of the righteous, how can this be? Salvation has come out of Zion, there is a restoration and refuge, his name is Jesus, let all his people be glad!
Sunday 26th July
This week’s anthem, Psalm 15, leads us from a crisis to an unshakeable confidence. The singer asks the Lord ‘who may live on your holy mountain?’ Who is righteous enough to dwell in God’s presence? The answer comes in a series of positives and negatives, one whose life is blameless, one who does no wrong to neighbour. A moment of honest reflection tells us, if this is what is required to approach God then we’re in trouble, but this humbling is the beginning of the wisdom that drives us to the one who is the ultimate answer to the question ‘who may dwell?’ To the one whose walk was perfect – united to him by faith, we share in the benefits of his atoning death and perfect obedience, therefore, made right in Him, we are brought all the way in, in Christ we stand among those who will never be shaken, never forsaken, but welcome before the throne.
August Sermons
This summer we plug into the poetic playlist of the Psalms in order to encourage and equip our hearts to sing the Lord’s song through the ups and downs of the everyday. The Psalms, written out of the lived experience of God’s people, speak of life as we know it, in the words of Reformer John Calvin ‘there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror… all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities.’ In anthems of lament, worship, wisdom, prayer and praise, the writers express their innermost thoughts, yet, bring the truth of the Lord’s care and keeping to bear, as a foundation for peace and hope. As we sing their songs after them, we are given words for our frustrations whilst being signposted to the one in whom rest is found, all the more as we consider how these ancients hymns are sung by, fulfilled in, or point us to our Refuge and Redeemer, Jesus Christ himself.
Sunday 2nd August
Sunday 9th August
Sunday 16th August
