33 – third rock from the sun

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Psalm 33 has a core of praise to the Creator God. A simple theology – He spoke and it came into being, He commanded and it stood firm. As the Psalm progresses you are challenged to draw away from the earth and gaze down – are we here by luck or by design? What is your answer?

REFLECT

The work of Charles Darwin, in a village not far from where I live, was stunning and yet somehow empty. As I wandered round the beautiful house it was clear that he was a very detailed, able scientific researcher who had concluded that natural selection took place. Even so, a frog turning into a prince still seems like a fairy tale to me!! His wife, meanwhile, believed God had created all things.

RESTORE

If our planet is just “third rock from the sun” with a chance occurence of human life then maybe evolution actually takes more faith to accept than creation!! The chances of life so clearly lead one to conclude that there is a Creator behind it. Verse 11 is our restorative prayer – while it is not wrong to doubt and to debate, it is good to read that the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever – even for the “third rock from the sun!!”

32 – a stick of rock

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Psalm 32 has a familiar theme of sin. The weight of sin, the confession of sin and the forgiveness of sin. The overwhelming weight of guilt, the worry of being found out – sweating like on a hot summer’s day. All very familiar emotions to those who have been entangled in thoughts, words and actions that were clearly not right.

REFLECT

One of the thrills of being by the sea as a youngster was to find a stall selling sticks of rock!! They seemed to last forever, they tasted good and they had a miracle inside them – a message that seemed to run all the way through. However you ate the rock it still had the word clearly visible. What would that word be if you were a stick of rock?

RESTORE

Psalm 32 holds the key to this question. We would not want to be weighed with “guilt” as the word through our stick of rock. Groaning, sweating, deceit, trouble are all words used by the Psalmist. If we come and confess our sin to God we discover the word that is written through every Christian’s stick of rock – forgiven, FORGIVEN, loud and clear say it again – forgiven.

31 – cracked pots

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David recognises the state of his life. He has been besieged in his city, his eyes have grown weak with sorrow and, to his friends, he has become like “broken pottery”. His cry is that of the dying Stephen, not to mention Luther and even Christ himself in verse five: “Into your hands I commit my spirit”.

REFLECT

It is easy to feel besieged by the trials and troubles of your life. In fact, busyness can be a real cause of spiritual starvation. David felt that even to his friends he was like a broken piece of pottery – devoid of beauty, purpose and worth. Just bits, broken bits, lost bits.

RESTORE

The New Testament sees brokenness as the key to spiritual growth. In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul says: “we have this treasure in jars of clay”. Unless the jar breaks, the treasure is hidden. In verse 16 of the same chapter Paul says: “Therefore, we do not lose heart…” Just when we feel like “cracked pots” the Lord is ready to use us to share his treasure.