Photo ©2015 Esther Martindale
I love a familiar song. Knowing every word. Singing confidently with the artist who made it popular. It brings me back to a day and place. It revs up nostalgic feelings. My mind drifts, “Oh how I wish I was…”. And I get stuck. Between what I wish and what I am.
I remember the feelings of humility when God and my sin first became real. I recall my thankful heart when the good news of Christ’s cross was applied to me. I cannot forget the night under the stars, feeling so insignificant yet overwhelmed by His personal love for me. At times, I want to go back and experience those feelings for a first time again, but I can’t.
It is dangerous to live on merely old feelings and stories of years gone by. Memories can mask our real condition. These songs of ascent were sung over and over not to experience old feelings, but to remind us of where we need to travel and reside today. Humility is not a feeling but a home and a condition. David reminds us of where we need to be: ‘like a weaned child resting,’ no longer famished and crying. Satisfied to be continually dependent on the One who gives nourishment. Letting a new cooing song escape our lips because we are experiencing the Spirit’s present grace and power.
A new day is here, and while we sing the old Psalms and songs, we must ask ourselves: Are we too proud? Are our eyes “haughty”? Do we meddle in matters too great? Will we quiet our souls like a child, weaned and resting, as we approach our Annual Gathering in just a few days? Will we find satisfaction in God’s present grace, remembering but not idolizing the past?
It’s tempting to personalize these questions to our denomination or church, but these should be intimate queries. Every denomination is made up of many churches and every church is made up of many individuals. You and I are a part of the whole. When each of us finds rest as a weaned child of God, we will experience renewal for the Day.
“Sing like never before, O my soul, I’ll worship your Holy Name.” (10,000 Reasons, Matt Redman)
- Robert Wyand
I remember the feelings of humility when God and my sin first became real. I recall my thankful heart when the good news of Christ’s cross was applied to me. I cannot forget the night under the stars, feeling so insignificant yet overwhelmed by His personal love for me. At times, I want to go back and experience those feelings for a first time again, but I can’t.
It is dangerous to live on merely old feelings and stories of years gone by. Memories can mask our real condition. These songs of ascent were sung over and over not to experience old feelings, but to remind us of where we need to travel and reside today. Humility is not a feeling but a home and a condition. David reminds us of where we need to be: ‘like a weaned child resting,’ no longer famished and crying. Satisfied to be continually dependent on the One who gives nourishment. Letting a new cooing song escape our lips because we are experiencing the Spirit’s present grace and power.
A new day is here, and while we sing the old Psalms and songs, we must ask ourselves: Are we too proud? Are our eyes “haughty”? Do we meddle in matters too great? Will we quiet our souls like a child, weaned and resting, as we approach our Annual Gathering in just a few days? Will we find satisfaction in God’s present grace, remembering but not idolizing the past?
It’s tempting to personalize these questions to our denomination or church, but these should be intimate queries. Every denomination is made up of many churches and every church is made up of many individuals. You and I are a part of the whole. When each of us finds rest as a weaned child of God, we will experience renewal for the Day.
“Sing like never before, O my soul, I’ll worship your Holy Name.” (10,000 Reasons, Matt Redman)
- Robert Wyand
Today pray for:
Community Church of West Swanzey and their pastor Robert Robertson
United Church of Westford and their interim pastor Katherine Arthaud
Community Church of West Swanzey and their pastor Robert Robertson
United Church of Westford and their interim pastor Katherine Arthaud
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