Everything in it’s Place
Have you ever watched anyone dry-stone walling? Each gap in the wall is assessed, each stone turned over to find the one that is the perfect fit. Some used now, some apparently discarded, waiting for the right space for them.
Psalm 118
The LORD Is Always Merciful
1Tell the LORD
how thankful you are,
because he is kind
and always merciful.
2Let Israel shout,
“God is always merciful!”
19Open the gates of justice!
I will enter and tell the LORD
how thankful I am.
20Here is the gate of the LORD!
Everyone who does right
may enter this gate.
21I praise the LORD
for answering my prayers
and saving me.
22The stone that the builders
tossed aside
has now become
the most important stone.
23The LORD has done this,
and it is amazing to us.
24This day belongs to the LORD!
Let’s celebrate
and be glad today.
25We’ll ask the LORD to save us!
We’ll sincerely ask the LORD
to let us win.
26God bless the one who comes
in the name of the LORD!
We praise you from here
in the house of the LORD.
27The LORD is our God,
and he has given us light!
Start the celebration!
March with palm branches
all the way to the altar. 28The LORD is my God!
I will praise him and tell him
how thankful I am.
29Tell the LORD
how thankful you are,
because he is kind
and always merciful.
Another Psalm of giving thanks – thanks for all that God has done.
God has a time and a place for everything. A time for his new thing to happen. People had tried to force his hand, to try to make people fit into the mould of Messiah when they weren’t it. And the one who was it, they had apparently rejected. To pick up on Tom Wright’s point about missing out verses 5-18 of this Psalm (p 147), they expected the stone to be shaped like victory and celebration – not suffering and pain. They had misunderstood and miscalculated – but now is the time.
Now God is building, and he is doing it with his judgement, with the one he knows to be the right stone, the right fit, the right answer. God’s love has held on – and this is the one who will be the support of everything. This is the cornerstone, the reference point for all other building. Others might have overlooked it, or tuned it aside – but it is the right one. He has set that stone and we can rejoice.
And so we rejoice, because God is good, and his steadfast love endures forever.
Thank God, that he, not us is in charge of knowing and choosing what goes where. May we make Jesus the foundation and reference point of our lives.
Thank you Lord
that you are the Master Builder,
you know where each stone fits best,
and that every stone has its place.
Help us to make Jesus the cornerstone of our lives,
that all we do is built on him
This year, I am again following the BigRead using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark. I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.
Pam's Perambulation 