Remaining - Psalm 1
Readings for this week May 20 - 25
Click here for a pdf of this weeks readings.
Day 1 – The Presence of God
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Psalm 27:8
The Psalms are Israel’s and the church’s prayer book. They show us the full range of human emotional response to God, in times both good and bad, when God seems near and far, in triumphant joy, in the morass of sinful consequences. What we read in the Psalms are people’s experience of the presence – or absence – of God, and God’s responses to His people, His nurturing love, His gentle rebuke, His reminders to worship Him only, to seek justice, to love others. Experiencing and enjoying God’s presence with us – and in us – is His desire for us and should also be our desire too. Relational intimacy with our creator is a vital part of faithful discipleship – an essential part of any relationship, especially the central relationship in our lives.
In this series, in which we will be focusing on the presence of God, we will be doing so through the Psalms. Although only five Psalms will be receiving extended treatment, we will also be pointing towards others as examples of expressions of and responses to the presence of God and its importance for us. We will see – if we don’t already know – that God is always with us. Although we might lose the ‘sense’ of His presence with us, as everyone experiences times when they feel the loss of God’s presence, yet through His Spirit He is with us and within us. Hopefully we will come to see – if we don’t already – that the practical result of being in God’s presence is joy, and that the appropriate response to God is one of joyful praise and worship. He is always with us.
Question to Consider
What does the phrase “presence of God” mean to you? Why?
Prayer
Lord God, teach me more of how to live each moment in your presence, and to be more aware of your voice and the joy of being with you and living and moving within your will for my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – God’s Presence through Scripture
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Psalm 1:1-2
God reveals Himself to us in scripture. Our relationship with God cannot develop without consistent time spent praying in His presence and without engagement with scripture – and there is no reason they can’t both happen at the same time. The two can be combined in different ways. With practise, we can learn to ‘pray scripture’; that is, we can use the words of scripture as an aid, a prompt, and a springboard to a deeper experience of God. That is the hope with our journey through some of the Psalms that this series will provide.
Praying scripture allows us to become more confident in our prayers by allowing us to use the words of the bible and the emotions and wisdom contained therein to strengthen our prayer life and thus deepen our connection with God, become more aware of His presence and more aware of what He might say to us while we are with Him. After all, God is revealed in scripture, He communicates Himself to us, and when we pray, we are seeking connection and encounter with Him, so using the scriptures as a pathway to His presence seems like an obvious yet sensible thing to do. The words of scripture are a way into a deeper experience of God, into greater awareness of His presence, and give Him a chance to specifically speak to us through the passages of His word as we pray through them and with them, turning His word back into a prayer to Him, at the same time as allowing it to speak to us. ‘Praying scripture’ gives an opportunity for God to reveal Himself afresh to us and in us.
Question to Consider
How do the people in the bible use scripture in their relationship with God? How is this inspiration for us?
Prayer
Loving Father, breathe new life into my prayers. Show me new ways to connect with you, and new words to hear from you. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – God is Here
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Psalm 1:3
God is with us. This above all things we need to know. That is the promise at the heart of scripture. God is not only the omnipotent creator of all things, the “One Most High”, but is also the “One Most Nigh”. He transcends creation and yet is also with us amid creation. There is a subtle, but important, shift in emphasis between saying “God is everywhere” and “God is here.” Although definitionally the latter is included within the scope of the former, scripture – and the Psalms in particular – speaks especially of the presence of God manifest with us through relationships and His story of redemption. From the garden of Eden to the Tabernacle and the Temple, to the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the promised new heaven and earth, God has been present with His people, inviting people to enter His presence and be with Him.
If we want a reminder of how important the presence of God is and the foundational role it plays in all four of our relationships, we only need to remind ourselves that scripture begins and ends with the presence of God. As well as being our first home, the garden of Eden is also God’s sanctuary: He walks in the garden and spends time with us, relating to us and sharing Himself with us. The bible ends with the new heaven and new earth, like Eden the perfect place for God to dwell with us, only now on a much larger scale. Being in God’s presence is central to being fully human.
Question to Consider
What formative experiences of the presence of God have you had? How have they deepened your relationship with Him?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me a passion that always strives to be closer to you. Guide me in the small and large ways of living that will bring me closer to you more and more often. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Turning Back towards God
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Psalm 1:4-6
We lost Eden. We had it good – so very good – but we could not hang on to it. Through our sinful rebellion against the one who made us to be with Him, through our desire to be our own gods, we turned away from God. The wicked talked about in verses 4 and 5 – that was us. We were cast out of Eden, away from the personal presence of God, away from the places and paths He would walk with us, and into a world where sin and pain and selfishness would from now on impede us in our desire to return to God’s side. Sin prevents us from experiencing our previous closeness of God’s presence.
God is still everywhere and God is still here. That has not – and will not – change. But our ability to enjoy His presence and the renewal and healing and empowerment that being in His presence can bring, has been compromised by our sin. Compromised, but not destroyed. Because of God’s great love for us, He still comes near to us and draws us to Himself. But we need to work harder to sense and enter His presence – not work in the sense of earning entry, but work in terms of orienting ourselves towards Him, denying ourselves and our desires, and submitting ourselves to Him and His Spirit’s work within us. What once was natural must now be intentionally and faithfully sought after. This requires us to recognise both our sinfulness and our inability to deal with it. We need to actively seek God’s presence, creating opportunities to be with Him, purposefully positioning ourselves to receive the grace of His presence with us.
Question to Consider
What keeps you from experiencing and enjoying God? What do you do to try and prevent this?
Prayer
Faithful Lord, thank you for always being ready to welcome me back to you. Thank you for your mercy and faithfulness and love. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – God For All Times and Places and People
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Psalm 16:11
All that we will look at in this series, all that we will learn or relearn, or come to let go of or come to understand, takes place against the reality of these truths: we were made to be with God; we turned away from Him; through Jesus, He made a way back for us; He promises His presence with us from now and on into eternal life with Him. He made us and redeemed us so that we may enjoy Him. And not just when things are good and not just when we want something, but all the time. All of life is about being in God’s relational presence. All of it. The good bits, the bad bits, the joyful times, the times of grief – all of life, all of who we are, all that we experience is part of the relational intimacy we can have with God.
To be in God’s presence is to be made aware again of the joy of life and the love of God. To be a joyful follower is to know what it is to be in the presence of God, is to know the joy that God wills for us all and to know the joy that God takes in us, the way He delights in His people. In His presence we know who we are, we know we are loved, we know we are children of God. We know our calling; we know God’s love for the world, and we know how to follow where He leads and love others the way He loves us. The love we receive from God and the joy He creates in us can’t help but send us out into the world with renewed eyes and hearts for the rest of His creation.
Question to Consider
What is joy? What makes you joyful? Why is joy such an important part of being a faithful disciple? How do we cultivate joy?
Prayer
Heavenly Lord, fill me with joy. Show me again what it means to delight in you and to delight in the world you have made and the people you have brought into my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)