June 14th – Trinity Sunday – Psalm 8 – The Power and Peace
This weekend sees us in the church celebrating ‘The Trinity’ and one of the suggested lectionary readings is Psalm 8 – a celebration of faith that expresses God’s power, wisdom and love while reminding us of the responsibility of stewardship of His creation. We frequently hear through the psalms of God’s power being revealed on earth, in the most dramatic of natural events – thunderstorm, earthquake, flood and fire which shakes the mightiest parts of His creation, but the psalms are also songs of praise which remind us of Gods peace, love, calmness and reassurance.
The photographs above are from my trip to Japan last year and on the day we visited the Nunobiki Falls in Kobe we witnessed a little bit of God’s infinite power – the waterfall wasn’t even at ‘full flow’, as the waters there don’t reach their full impact until later in the year, and the photograph doesn’t do it justice but they were tremendous, powerful, and so loud! But as walked further up the hills we then came across part of its source – the same resource but in a different format – and we reflected upon the thundering waterfall with the comparison of the nearby silent lake – God’s creation in all its glory. And is that not what the Trinity is – God – the exact same resource – but in different formats! In the same way that God gives us opportunities of wonder and surprise He also gives His people the blessings of peace and the revelation of His power as a source of wonder and reassurance, and not fear. This reminds us that our faith is not just about His power and might but also gentleness, grace, peace and hope – but more about hope next week…………..
Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
(Stuart K Hine, 1899-1989, Singing the Faith 82)
Philippa Hill, Trustee
