Creator God, the world around

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Creator God, the world around” by Brian Hoare. The suggested tune is ‘Melita’, better known to the words “Eternal Father strong to save” (the sailors’ hymn). 

Like yesterday’s hymn, the focus is on God as creator, the beauty of the natural world being celebrated in the words of the first verse. But here he is also hailed as Composer in verse 2, celebrating the use of God-given musical talents in worship, and as Designer in verse 3, as the visual arts in their various forms also play their part in our places of worship, as well as on Christian retreats and so on.

The last pair of lines of each of these verses begins “Yet…”, to express the idea that however much we appreciate natural or human-made beauty, and although they undoubtedly play their part in enhancing worship, they must always be inadequate to understand the creator fully.  So the last verse offers a contrast: “Mysterious God … in Jesus Christ you show your face: a God of love and truth and grace”.  

Yes, we believe Jesus to have been fully divine as well as fully human.  But can this one life lived on earth, however perfectly, show the fullness of God any more than the ways listed above?  Surely the full majesty of Jesus Christ was shown only through his resurrection, ascension and giving of the Holy Spirit? Others may beg to differ.

The Bible in a Year – 22 September

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

22 September. 1 Chronicles chapters 24-25

This passage consists of the rotas of different extended families in the service of the Temple.  The names mean nothing to us now, but clearly it was important at the time that the whole of the tribe of Levi had been set apart centuries earlier as dedicated to leading public worship and administration, and all that went with it.   Nowadays we would call it nepotism or discrimination, but that was their culture.

Just one verse stands out for me: “David and the officers of the army also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals.” (25:1).  We tend to think of “prophesy” as inevitably a matter of speaking words: words given by God, either in one’s own language or (in “charismatic” churches) sometimes in a spiritual language that has to be interpreted by others equally but differently gifted.  Words of prophesy might be given to encourage people in faith, to warn them that they are going wrong, or occasionally to foretell the future.

But here, prophesy seems to be equated with playing musical instruments.  Music was clearly a very important part of the worship of the Temple, and we still have the words (though not the tunes) passed down to us in the form of Psalms. Many of the psalms themselves exhort people to praise God with music.  It is well known that singing has many benefits, both in terms of personal health (aiding relaxation and coping with stress, for example), and in uniting people in a sense of belonging together by singing together.

Singing hymns and psalms, in particular, helps people to remember and respond to the scriptures and creeds that the church passes down from one generation to the next: call out to me “O Lord open thou our lips” and I will respond with “and our mouth shall show forth thy praise” to the chant used by Anglicans for nearly 500 years.

But even instrumental music can be of spiritual benefit, as this verse reminds us.  It influences moods to a great extent, and through association helps people to remember places and events, and the words, thoughts or feelings that went with them.  So the playing of music in a pace of worship is “prophecy” to the extent that those hearing it will be reminded of previous times of worship, or of words of scripture. Or it may just be gentle music that calms us and makes us open to meditation and prayer.  Play on, Heman and Jeduthun!

 

The Bible in a Year – 7 July

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this, and the introduction to the Psalms for this book of the Bible in particular.

7 July. Psalms 56-65

Psalms 56 to 60 were written in difficult times, when the enemy (Edom) was prevailing in war, and people needed reminding that their own tribes including Ephraim (Israel) and Judah belonged to God who would not abandon them.

Two types of “assault” are mentioned here: the physical violence of warfare, and slander and hate.  As children we used to say “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. Yet it is a rare person who is strong enough in their own self-esteem not to let cruel words hurt, and the mentally vulnerable can suffer worse than if they had been assaulted physically.

What also holds them in common is that they are all headed to be set to a tune; the middle three all to the same tune, for worship in the Temple.  We will never know what these tunes were, though the names might give us a clue to their style: “A dove on distant oaks” and “Lily of the Covenant” may have been gentle (although the plaintive Psalm 69 is also to be sung to “Lilies”), while “Do not destroy” (also used for Psalm 75) may have been more vigorous.  In Christian worship the psalms have been set to music in many ways – monastic plainsong, the more complex Anglican chant, Scottish metrical tunes, and in various contemporary styles.  These songs continue to fascinate and encourage us.

 

But why songs and not merely spoken poetry or even prose? For one thing, it is easier to remember words when you associate a tune with them, a process that starts with the nursery rhymes your mother taught you.  For another, singing together is a great way of forming an emotional bond between people, whether workers in a field or supporters at a rugby match. Apart from Holy Communion, nothing binds Christians together more strongly than shared music, although unfortunately, by the same token differences in preferred musical styles also easily bring division.

 

Moving on to Psalms 61-65, I will just contrast a couple of verses. Ps. 63 was written “in the desert” (perhaps on a kind of retreat) so we know that verse 1 “my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water” is no metaphor, but spoken out of personal experience.  Whereas in 65:9-10 we read of the land being abundantly blessed, even drenched, with water.  Water is a basic human need, and if we are told to pray for our daily bread, how much more for daily water?  But as with all human needs, trusting God also means acting ourselves: there are still millions around the world living in places with little or no natural water supply, or polluted supplies.  There are charities such as Water Aid and UNICEF who work to provide this most basic of human rights, and they are worth supporting.