Wednesday 13 August 2025

Psalm 26

Background
At last we have some hope. Micah gives a vision of how the world will be when the people obey God's commands and truly turn to God. There will be a time of transformation and God will be active sharing with his people.

Micah points out that once God has taken charge there will be change in the world. The Lord's temple will be established on the highest mountain, symbolising God's supremacy; nations will stream to Jerusalem to learn God's ways and there will be peace and prosperity. In an image mirroring Isaiah 2:4, swords will be fashioned into ploughshares, indicating the cessation of war.

God will be caring for his people and they will begin to take heed. The world will be able to move on from the despair of yesterday's reading (Micah 3:5-12) to a time when hope can be restored.

To Ponder:

• I am sure that all of us dream of the day when the world predicted in today’s text might come to be. Should we begin to build the vision, so that we have played a small part in it?
• Do you think that the world envisaged by Micah in this passage ever happened at any point in history? Do we dream of a day when the word 'care' might taken over from the word 'challenge' so that all people can live in peace and with hope for the future?

Prayer
Heavenly God, we read of the vision you had when you created the world and we are saddened by the way in which that vision was destroyed. Give us through the power of your Holy Spirit the strength of will to play our part in returning the perfection, even though we are unlikely to see it in our lifetime. We heed the commandments of Jesus that we should love you with all our hearts, minds and strength and moreover that we should love our neighbours as ourselves, whatever the cost. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Pat Billsborrow
Pat came into ministry 38 years ago and has been a supernumerary for 19 years. She is happy to continue serving wherever she is needed.