Friday 04 June 2021

Psalm 8

Background

These words are familiar to all who worship regularly with others in church, and speak them to each other when the 'grace' is announced. They were originally the conclusion to a set of instructions for a congregation, and may already have become part of the liturgical language. These words have become the blessing invoked by every congregation.

The idea of spoken blessing is deeply rooted in the Bible, and recalls the blessing of God recorded in Numbers 6:24-26. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you his peace.” This blessing grew out of the love of God known in years of enslavement, wandering, exile, and atrocity. The words of this blessing are one of the oldest portions of biblical text found. People carried these words with them, and they have also been found in graves from ancient times.

Words of blessing are memorised and held dear. They are creative, and restorative, liberating and healing. They build new life, and call us to go beyond limitation to abundance, and from the ordinary to the accomplishment of 'peace'.

We bear in mind that the author of these words of our passage had known poverty, persecution, loss of social standing and status, and imprisonment. We are compelled to recognise the grace of God in all the challenges of life.

The words of the 'grace' reveal the development of the trinitarian understanding of God in the early Church. For us, it is not sufficient to profess the Trinity. It is essential to be imbued with and to reflect the essence of the Holy Trinity.  

To Ponder:

• How can a congregation truly reflect the 'grace' of Christ, the 'love' of God, and the 'communion' of the Holy Spirit?

Prayer

May the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit grow in me and strengthen me for all my travel and travail.