Slices
Prepare
‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father …’ (Matthew 6:6). Reflect on your week with God.
Bible passage
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures for ever.
2 Let Israel say:
‘His love endures for ever.’
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
‘His love endures for ever.’
4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
‘His love endures for ever.’
5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my defence;
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
‘The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!’
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures for ever.
Explore
This Sunday reading gives us the chance to pause and think about Jesus’ situation from his own point of view. Imagine reading this psalm from Jesus’ perspective.
His human nature surely senses what is going to happen. Betrayed by his own short-sighted people, he is to be delivered into the hands of Pilate and certain death. His divine nature knows this is so. His sense of disappointment must be great. So, as we saw earlier in Mark 14:32–42, Jesus does what he has done all his life – he spends time alone with his heavenly Father and sets his face to what is to come.
In doing this Jesus reflects a model for prayer described for all times and all occasions in today’s psalm. Are we in a season of joy and blessings? Then thank the Lord for it and rejoice (vs 1,29). Are we in a time of trial? Then thank the Lord for that, because it is in trial that we learn most about our faith (v 13). And there are blessings to be had in trials if we look for them, the greatest being if we can look back and say: ‘I got through that because the Lord helped me’ (vs 13,14).
Respond
‘Lord, help me to see that “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (v 26). Amen.’
Deeper Bible study
Think which scriptures provide an anchor for your soul in times of distress.
Martin Luther said that this was his favourite psalm.1 It was what strengthened him when human forces were ranged against him. He put verse 17 on a plaque on his study wall. He said, ‘The fear of men diminishes in proportion to the consciousness of the greatness of God.’ It is not just God’s great power that is extolled, but his enduring love. This is said by the psalmist about a time when the enemy was attacking him and he sees this as the Lord chastising him. The Lord disciplines those he loves.2 The psalmist has confidence that he will not die but live.
We read this psalm on Palm Sunday. We know that those who greeted Jesus on his way into Jerusalem used verse 26 as part of their praise.3 They saw the psalm as having a relevance not just in the original setting, but especially on this day when the King of Israel rode into Jerusalem. Jesus himself used verse 22, as part of his parable of the tenants, to describe his own experience4 – rejected by the Jewish leaders but made the cornerstone of a new Temple by God himself.
This psalm forms the background to the whole story of Jesus going to the cross and we know that he was reflecting upon it. Through all the suffering of the next week, including the awful cry of dereliction from the cross, there would have been the refrain ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures for ever’ (v 1). Whenever we are called upon to suffer, those words (and all of this psalm) can become our anchor to control our conflicting and tortured emotions with the certainties of our God. Easter Day is only a week away!
Pray through the psalm for someone you know who is suffering.
1 Arthur Weiser, The Psalms: A Commentary, SCM, 1962 2 Prov 3:12; Heb 12:6
3 Mark 11:9 4 Mark 12:10
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Joshua 10,11; Psalm 38
Pray for Scripture Union
Andy Bathgate, who has led SU Scotland since 2001, has just retired. Give thanks for his faithful leadership. Pray for a clear sense of the Lord’s call to his successor, for wisdom for those interviewing, and that God continues to lead, guide and provide for SU Scotland in the coming days.
