This morning PAYG said we are just over half way through Lent... by my reckoning week five and reflection thirty must mean two thirds.  I appreciate two-thirds is just over a half, but it feels quite a bit different somehow.

Here  (Embedding is not enabled for this item] is the music that PAYG used today, I think it's quite helpful to listen to it and allow it to permeate our being as we prepare to ponder today's readings. 

The lectionary moves on again, and jumps around from book to book...

Psalm 51:1-12
Isaiah 30:15-18
Hebrews 4:1-13

Psalm 51 is one of the most beautiful of psalms, generally accepted as David's (public presumably) response after his adultery with Bathsheba.  God's chosen King, the man 'after the LORD's heart', the forebear of Jesus, has gone way off the rails, lust has overtaken him, murder has been committed in his name, and the consequences are decidedly ugly.  I well remember the first time I really engaged with this psalm, and how profoundly personal it is, in so far as it makes no judgement of other people, rather it asks that the pray-er is cleansed and recreated.  It feels important to be reminded of that now and again, because it is way too easy for good law-abiding Christians to slide unwittingly into finger pointing and judgementalism.  Of course, typing that makes me guilty of exactly what it says... and that's the challenge, to be concerned with sorting out my own unrighteousness not commenting on others.

But it's from the Isaiah and the Hebrews I find the verses that strike me today, though I have cheated and extended the Isaiah a little bit...

The Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says to the people, "Come back and quietly trust in me. Then you will be strong and secure." But you refuse to do it.  Instead, you plan to escape from your enemies by riding fast horses. And you are right - escape is what you will have to do! You think your horses are fast enough, but those who pursue you will be faster!  A thousand of you will run away when you see one enemy soldier, and five soldiers will be enough to make you all run away. Nothing will be left of your army except a lonely flagpole on the top of a hill.  And yet the LORD is waiting to be merciful to you.  He is ready to take pity on you because he always does what is right. Happy are those who put their trust in the LORD.  You people who live in Jerusalem will not weep any more. The LORD is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you.  The Lord will make you go through hard times, but he himself will be there to teach you, and you will not have to search for him any more.  If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, "Here is the road. Follow it."

Isaiah 30: 15 - 21 GNB

Now, God has offered us the promise that we may receive that rest he spoke about.

Hebrews 4:1a GNB

"Come back and quietly trust me"

"The Lord is waiting to be merciful to you, ready to take pity on you"

"The Lord is compassionate, and, when you cry for help will answer"

"In hard times, the Lord will be there"

"If you wander from the road, you will hear the Lord's voice 'here is the road, follow it'

"God has promised us rest"

PAYG spoke about Christ or God as the centre of our being, not necessarily the constant focus, but as ever-present within us and within our circumstances.  Or at least, that's how I heard it.  In all my busyness of this season (which I love) it is helpful to recall that in it all God is present, whether I consciously gaze Godwards or not.  But it is also good to be reminded of some amazing promises, and to sit quietly, if only fleetingly to rest in God's embrace...

Come back and quietly trust me,

Open your heart to me,

Pour out all that burdens you

Your guilt

Your regret

Your ire

Your anxieties

Then rest awhile with me

Come back and quietly trust me,

To fulfil my promsies

To forgive

To restore

To refresh

To renew

To give rest

Come back and quietly trust me

Remember I am with you always

Within

Without

Teaching

Guiding

Directing

Came back and quietly trust me

Lord

Centre of my life

Source and goal of all I am

Still my racing mind

Quieten my busy thoughts

And help me

Rest in you

Then

Still quieted

Still relaxed

Still refreshed

Set my feet once more

On the path you have chosen for me.