“A history”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Thursday, June 13, 2024

Psalm 71 (Forward, p. 46) CEV p. 596

I notice how often in crime or mystery who-done-its, it turns out that several of the witnesses or potential suspects have a ‘history’. Somehow, from somewhere in the past, there is a relationship or interconnection between the parties. And interestingly, sometimes this even extends to members of the investigating team.

In today’s psalm, its unnamed author declares a ‘history’, but this history, interestingly, is with God, the Lord. This history is of long duration and goes back to his earliest years, to his birth in fact:

“I depend on you, and I have trusted you since I was young. I have relied on you from the day I was born. You brought me safety through birth, and I always praise you” (verses 5-6).

And it is quite evident that this experience of God’s loving care and protection has continued through the years:

“You have taught me since I was a child, and I never stop telling about your marvellous deeds” (verse 17).

Indeed, this experience has encouraged him in his present hope and trust in God:

“I will never give up hope or stop praising you. All day long I will tell the wonderful things you do to save your people. But you have done much more than I could possibly know. I will praise you, Lord God, for your mighty deeds and your power to save” (verses 14-16).

Given then this ‘history’ of a close and nurturing relationship with God, the psalmist feels confident in imploring God’s care and protection on into the future:

“Don’t throw me aside when I am old; don’t desert me when my strength is gone” (verse 9).

“Don’t leave me when I am old and my hair turns gray. Let me tell future generations about your mighty power” (verse 18).

What our psalmist has done is to recall God’s loving kindness over the years, which has given him confidence in expecting that it will continue unabated on into the future. I think that our psalmist’s words and example are well-worth imitating in our lives, that we, you and I, like him, take the time to think back of how God has worked in our lives, the ‘history’ that we have with God. And, like our psalmist, surely this would renew our hope for the future and our faith and trust in God. Thanks be to God.

Forward notes: “Now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, till I make known your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come” (verse 18).

“Lamont’s handwritten letter was an English teacher’s nightmare but a poet’s delight. Among the abundant misspellings, poor grammar, and incorrect tenses was a graceful, poetic stream of street prose expressing a father’s magnanimous love for his son. Lamont was a ‘lifer’ in the state penitentiary who asked me to review his letter to his angry 13-year-old son, which implored him not to make the same mistakes as he had.

“I slid the unmarked pages back to him. ‘Lamont, you express yourself beautifully. This is a love letter, a precious gift to your son. He may not see it that way now, but in time, he will.’ Lamont made eye contact, ‘I thought you were going to mark it all up ‘cause I don’t know spelling and all those writing rules.’ He got up, hugged me, and rushed out of the room. ‘Gotta go mail this.’

“God gave me, old and gray-headed, the wisdom to see love, not errors in Lamont’s letter, to make known God’s strength, power, and grace.”

Moving Forward: “Do you see love or errors in others?”