Monday 08 January 2024

Psalm 50:1-15

Background

Overwhelming water is a feature of climate change in many parts of the world today, and those gathering at the United Nations climate conference COP28 were reminded by people from the small island nations of how life-threatening rising water levels can be: for them, their communities and their cultures. Water is life-giving, but it can also be a threat.

Isaiah’s reference (v. 2) to 'passing through the waters' is undoubtedly based on the realities of soil and weather conditions in Palestine, which had a loose, sandy surface with rock some feet down and flash floods occasioned by heavy rainfall could happen almost without warning. Matthew (7:24-27) and Luke (6:48-49) record Jesus telling a story of house-building based precisely on this phenomenon.  

The book of Isaiah is thought to have been written by several people. The prophet who wrote these verses is sometimes referred to as 'Deutero-' or 'Second' Isaiah: Isaiah chapters 40-55 are attributed to him. He was writing to a nation overwhelmed by the Babylonians. Many of  its leaders and ‘movers and shakers’ had been taken into exile in Babylon and the people were in despair. Isaiah took an image with which they would be familiar (a sudden rise in water levels) and used it to indicate how God was with them even when things seem so desperate and dangerous.  

So many people in the world today are facing similarly desperate situations, including those in Gaza and the West Bank, and in Sudan, Yemen and Myanmar. The message of Isaiah is for all who are forced to become refugees and migrants. It is also for those we may know who feel overwhelmed by financial issues, illness, pressures of work, or loneliness. It is for you and me as we face this New Year, not knowing what it may bring, or perhaps indeed suspecting fearfully what it may bring. Isaiah's message is that God is with us – which is the very message of Christmas – Immanuel, God with us.   

To Ponder: 

• When things are not going according to your plan, do you feel drawn to call on God? Why is that, or why not?  
• Your friend is looking utterly downcast and shattered. What are you able to say to her/him?  

Prayer

Loving God, hold my hand when things get too much for me – may I be reassured that I am never on my own. Amen.