Just Pondering
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Rick Branan |
May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us (Selah) so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
Psalm 67:1-2 (CSBBible)
Stuart Townend (b. 1963) grew up in West Yorkshire, England, the youngest son of an Anglican vicar. He started learning piano at a young age, and began writing music at age 22. He has produced albums for Keith Routledge and Vinesong, among many others, and has also released eight solo albums to date. Some of his better-known songs include “How Deep the Father’s Love,” “The King of Love,” and “The Power of the Cross.” He continues to work closely with friends Keith and Kristyn Getty, and is currently a worship leader in Church of Christ the King in Brighton, where he lives with wife Caroline, and children Joseph, Emma and Eden.
Laura de Jong
I Am Not My Own
You have called us out of darkest night
Into Your glorious light
That we may sing the wonders of
The risen Christ
May our every breath retell the grace
That broke into our strife
With boundless love and deepest joy
With endless life
May the peoples praise You
Let the nations be glad
All Your blessing comes
That we may praise
May praise the Name of Jesus
All the earth is Yours and all within
Each harvest is Your own
And from Your hand we give to You
To make Christ known
May the seeds of mercy grow in us
For those who have not heard
May songs of praise build lives of grace
To spread Your Word
Written by Getty, Townend, Cash, & Zimmer
The opening lines of Psalm 67 remind us of three things. First, God has been and will continue to be gracious to us if we stay connected. God through Jeremiah reminds the Children of Israel, “Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people.” The key is obedience. In John 15, Christ exhorts us “remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We must be obedient to God’s call in our life.
Second, the psalmist inserts the word “selah” in the middle of the sentence. We don’t know the exact meaning of the word or the musical direction, but scholars think it calls for a pause or suspension of the song. This is not a rest but a time for pondering. The psalmist is asking us to pause and reflect on God’s graciousness.
Finally, we are to reflect God’s glory in all we do, especially in sharing Christ with our world. The writers of our hymn say it this way, “May the seeds of mercy grow in us for those who have not heard. May songs of praise build lives of grace to spread Your Word.”
We are called to be obedient, and, in our obedience, we tell the world what Christ has done for us. Let that be our act of worship and praise.
Just pondering . . . Bro. Rick