Friday 01 March 2024

Psalm 98

Background

When you said 'Happy New Year' what did you hope for, or have in mind for others at the start of 2024? What troubles did you hope you might bid farewell to? What change, renewal or encouragement did you long for? And how open were you to the unknown or the unexpected?

Isaiah had no illusions that the people of Israel could pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Rather the hope and promise of the book of Isaiah is about God offering God's people 'a happy new life' – not just a year. In the past, their property and crops had been stolen, and their lives were precarious in every way. Now the prophet speaks of a future where infant mortality rates will be low and they can expect a long and fulfilling life (vs 20-21). Life will also be secure for future generations. This is possible and will be sustained because of good relationships between people and animals (v. 25) but above all because there is an intimate relationship with God – "Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear." (v. 24)

Today's verses are full of hope and prophetic longing – Jerusalem will be 'a joy' (v. 18). But they were not fulfilled in the tensions and divisions of Israel following the Exile.

Over time though these verses from Isaiah came to be read as foreseeing a future destruction of Israel/Jerusalem and a renewal of creation. The books of Revelation (3:12 and 21:2) and Ezekiel (chapter 48) add their voices to speak of a New Jerusalem. The image of a 'New Jerusalem' has influenced Western culture in many ways, for example in William Blake’s poem/hymn 'Jerusalem'; in the way the Puritan settlers viewed their communities in America; and in the Labour government’s aspirations for rebuilding Britain after the second world war. Can you call to mind any other ways?

To Ponder:

• Do these verses help to give you a long-term sense of God’s purpose in the world?
• What, for you, is the necessary balance between having a vision for the future and engaging in the minutiae of action today? Where does God fit in?

Prayer

Insert names from today’s news – global/national/local – into the prayer below, as you pray for harmony in God's creation. 
Heavenly God, I pray today that ____  and _____ will meet in peace; that the opinions of peace-loving people will prevail; that the appetite  of _______  for power will decrease; and that the venom of ____and the situation  in ____ will be overcome. Bless, I pray ____  and ____ who risk their lives to work for healing and wholeness. Amen.