Thursday 5 March 2026

Psalm 13

Background
In this passage Paul is mentoring a young church congregation in Corinth. He is explaining his motivation for his ministry to them. He and his associates are unflaggingly passionate in their ministry, because of their deep, thankful response to Christ’s love for them and this is what they now try to convey in every means possible to the Corinthians.

Verse 11 says they ‘fear’ the Lord. This is not terror, but more a deep sense of awe and amazement in the presence of untameable divine love. It is because they have visceral knowledge of this, they try to persuade others.

Paul ‘knows’ he is well known to God, and he hopes also to the Corinthians. They do not commend themselves but rather are giving the Corinthians every opportunity to boast to others who are lukewarm about Paul and his associates.

If Paul seems wildly enthusiastic, it is for God, but in dealing with the Corinthians he is deadly earnest.

In verse 14, the crux of the matter is this: it is the love of Christ that empowers them, because they are convinced Christ died for all, and therefore all have died. The outcome is that those who respond might live no longer for themselves, but for Christ. Christ’s love binds those who respond together in an outgoing love: a shared life and love which has no boundaries.

It is said that good religion helps us die before we die. We die from our small self-serving life to be born into our new Christ-like life which is a sharing in the life and love of Christ until all are embraced.

To Ponder:

• When have you experienced powerful love in your life and how did you respond and/or nurture or quell it? What have you learned as you reflect back?
• Have you sometimes thought people were a bit 'too enthusiastic’ in their religion and needed instead to engage more seriously with changing the world? What is the connection, if any, between the two?
• What do you think it means to die before you die? How would you explain it to someone else?
• What are your love words for Jesus Christ, which conveys something of what he means to you?

Prayer
Loving God, it is so amazing that you – who are beyond, beyond, beyond – chose to become human and enter our finite human existence, as one of us. Help us, like Paul, to stand continually in amazement, and empower our lives through thanksgiving and service to your love. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Jenny Ellis
Jenny is a supernumerary Methodist minister. She facilitates a mindfulness community based at her local surgery and also online. She also leads quiet days and contemplative study days.