Tuesday 10 June 2025

Psalm 139:1-12

Background
At the end of the first chapter of Joel, the prophet had seen the destruction that drought had brought. Yet, chapter two, with the eye of faith, reveals all that God’s promises will bring to the people of Judah. The prophet chooses to praise God for all that is yet to come, despite all that is. The whole of creation will be transformed and all that has been lost will be restored. Even more, once the restoration is complete, God’s work will continue to develop. It won’t be confined to selected individuals, or specific times, or even special duties. Now it will be for all people of all nations through the new covenant.

We are in the week celebrating Pentecost and the reading of Joel is marked for this week. The disciples were gathered in the upper room, waiting in Jerusalem for the gift Jesus had promised, the gift of the Holy Spirit. When that gift came in such power and strength, all who received were transformed by that encounter. They began to speak in new languages. The crowd who had gathered heard, in their own tongue, the praises of God being sung. This was the outpouring of the very thing Joel had prophesised.

These disciples were not special. They were not kings or prophets or priests. These were ordinary folk, just like those listening. The new covenant Jesus promised at the Last Supper was evident for all to see – the very thing Joel had seen generations before.

This is a week of encounter and transformation. As we remember Pentecost, let us not leave it as a past event, but embrace the words of Joel for our time and our place. As disciples now, we want to catch the vision, to dream big, and to receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit.

God’s work is continuing, despite the way the world moves around us. We are called to be part of the mission of God as we sense the moving of the Holy Spirit.

To Ponder:

• How do we seek encounters with God?
• How are we transformed by those?

Prayer
We pray for the world around us, our communities, and our churches. We pray that God will pour out the Holy Spirit, through which the world may hear again the song of our praises. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Mark Carrick
Mark is a presbyter in the Derbyshire North-East Circuit and is currently the minister of seven churches in the Chesterfield area. His passion is for ministry within the community and growing disciples within the Church. Mark has now served five years in the Methodist Church and is preparing to become Superintendent in September.