Saturday 5 April 2025

Psalm 112

Background
There is no greater joy than rediscovering a friendship from many years ago. I have recently reconnected with some co-workers from the 1990s – we used to call them colleagues back then – whom I thought I had lost track of.

Sometimes there is a moment of awkwardness on meeting again, of wondering whether you will recognise each other, whether there will be anything you share in common after all those years. But usually, within minutes, the conversation starts to flow and memories are shared.

Isaiah speaks of a reunion between God and his people. There had been many years of separation, first because of the peoples’ wandering far away from God through disobedience and faithlessness. Then there was the enforced separation of exile – the consequences of their national disobedience. Now the opportunity of reconciliation beckoned.

God was calling them, but they barely knew how to respond – how do you address God when you have been out of touch for so long? There is significance in the way God claims to have named his people. Names are important now and perhaps they were even more so in those times. A name conveyed so much of a person’s character, their background, their history, and their grounding in the faith of their ancestors. When God claims to have named us, it’s not to be taken lightly. Everything we are, every aspect of our character, every gift and grace we possess, every possibility open to us – all these came from the God who is our divine parent, who named us and moulded us in his image. God truly named us. God sees in us what can be, and what will be if we accept our place in God’s family and own our God-given name.

To Ponder:

• Many of us feel very distant from God, even though we want to believe that God is so close. What is it that gets in the way of closer communication between you and God?
• Isaiah reassures us that God is calling us, and wants us to flourish as his people. What would it take to say 'yes' to God and accept the invitation to connect?

Prayer
Loving God, I hesitate to call your name, but you invite me to respond to your invitation. Help me to accept your offer of grace and hospitality and to find my home in you. Amen.

Bible notes author: Bob Bartindale
Bob Bartindale is a local preacher in the Bramhall & Wythenshawe Circuit near Manchester. He currently serves as the Officer for Local Preachers and Worship Leaders in the Methodist Connexional Team.