“The Sparkling Sun on the Blue Grotto Malta” by Rev’d Paul Collings
Meditation by Dr J P Hunter
Psalm 19 The Living Bible
19 The heavens are telling the glory of God;
they are a marvellous display of his craftsmanship.
2 Day and night they keep on telling about God.
3-4 Without a sound or word, silent in the skies,
their message reaches out to all the world.
The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it
5 and moves out across the skies
as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding,
or as joyous as an athlete looking forward to a race.
6 The sun crosses the heavens from end to end,
and nothing can hide from its heat.
7-8 God’s laws are perfect.
They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light.
9 God’s laws are pure, eternal, just.
10 They are more desirable than gold.
They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.
11 For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them.
12 But how can I ever know what sins are lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 And keep me from deliberate wrongs; help me to stop doing them.
Only then can I be free of guilt and innocent of great crime.
14 May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you,
O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.
Meditation
This is a wisdom Psalm guiding us towards understanding God through his creation, through his law and through his personal relationship with each of us. People searching for God’s presence in their daily lives, through these revelations are guided into a God-centred way of living.
Verse 1-6 tell us that creation and nature reveal the existence of God in the majesty and mystery of the night sky to the warmth and splendour of the sun by day. God also reveals himself in his law, protecting us, guiding us, giving us joy through keeping them, warning us away from harm to stay on the right path towards great reward, verse 7-11. The final verses 12-14 request Him to forgive our hidden sins and deliberate wrongdoing, to be able to live without guilt, ending in the desire that our words and thoughts will be acceptable to God.
Prayer
O Lord, you have revealed yourself in the glory of your creation, the sun by day, the starry sky by night. You also revealed yourself through your teachings and your commandments; help me to stay faithful to your laws. Also keep me from wilful sins, cleanse me from my secret faults. May the words and the thoughts of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
Jonathan Aitken, adapted.
Hymns & Psalms 481, verse 1,6
The heavens declare the glory, Lord,
In souls renewed, and sins forgiven;
But when our eyes behold thy word,
We read thy name in fairer lines.
Thy noblest wonders here we view
In every star thy wisdom shines;
Lord, cleanse my sins, my soul renew,
And make thy word my guide to Heaven.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
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