Monday 15 June 2026

Psalm 111

Background
In retirement, I have moved back to the Welsh community where I grew up. At the top of our valley there is a small mountaintop lake called the Keeper’s Pond. It was created in the early 19th century to provide water for an iron foundry, which operated during the 1800s. After that, it rapidly became a local beauty spot. Now people can park and look out on the glory of the Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons). It is a stunning landscape.

But even that pales into insignificance compared to how John's Gospel wants us to understand the glory of God as seen in Jesus, the coming Messiah.

The prologue in John's Gospel (1:1-18) is a remarkable piece of writing that seeks to draw us into the weight of glory that we are expected to see as the Word, the author of all creation, enters human experience.

We are told that everything good owes its origin to the Word, the Messiah. He carried life in himself, and was both witness to and author of all that exists or will exist. It is a magisterial piece of writing that strains to use ordinary language to hold something beyond words.

God; the Word who speaks for God; the light of heaven that penetrates all darkness; full of grace and truth (v. 14) and yet is unrecognised while he walks among us.

While written as prose, these opening 18 verses of John's Gospel have an unmistakeable poetry about them – as we hear when it is the final reading of a service of lessons and carols at Christmas. Like all good poetry, it invites us to see beyond the rhythm and language and know the deeper message.

In Jesus here is the very personality of God, wrapped in human form and carrying within him all the hopes of heaven and earth. God is with us, even if we struggle to comprehend.

To Ponder:

• What place or experience most helps you to appreciate the glory of God?
• How can we translate an experience of glory into a conversation about faith?

Prayer
Thank you for Jesus, who entered human existence to bring the light of God into our lives. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Gareth Hill
Gareth is a supernumerary minister in the Gwent Hills and Vales Circuit in South Wales. He is a former national Head of Mission & Advocacy in the Connexional Team and was previously a newspaper editor and lecturer in journalism. Gareth preaches regularly and publishes a weekly sermon online. He is a published hymnwriter and retains a strong interest in pioneer ministry after founding the Tubestation Surf Church in Polzeath, Cornwall.