Thursday 19 March 2026

Psalm 147

Background
Paul has been talking about his outward, physical experiences and suffering. Now he talks about his inner life. I hesitate to say ‘spiritual’ because I think all is spiritual, all is of God. But 14 years before this time, Paul had a deep experience of God. And he really struggles to find the words to describe it – he even says he "heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat" (verse 4).  He was caught up in something that he doesn’t even know if it was real or visionary. It was intensely personal, and he cannot explain it. That does not mean that such experiences are not real. Maybe poetry is the best way to talk of such things, when we struggle to describe the indescribable.

I can’t say that I’ve ever had the gift of an experience like that. But talking to people who have, they all find it difficult to talk about, yet there seem to be common characteristics. They have had an experience of love, or forgiveness, a sense of perspective that is life affirming.

In 2005, the BBC ran a documentary called ‘The Monastery’.  Five men went to live in Worth Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in West Sussex. One of the men, Tony, had a deep experience, which he struggled to explain. You can see him talking about it here.

It’s moving, seeing Tony trying to find the words for the inexplicable. He had been involved in the soft porn industry and it seems that he moved away from that and maintained contact with the monks of Worth Abbey.

Perhaps the temptation for Paul was to talk about his experience incessantly – in the wisdom of God he received a thorn in the flesh, which kept him humble and grounded.  We sometimes misunderstand humility. It isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.

To Ponder:

• If you’ve had the gift of such an experience, how do you talk about it?
• If you haven’t had such an experience, does that worry you?
• Spend a few minutes in silence, thinking of the times God and Jesus have been most real to you. 

Bible notes author: The Revd Richard Parkes
Richard Parkes is a retired presbyter, currently living in Newcastle-under-Lyme.