Make me hear of your love in the morning.

 

Monday, August 28, 2023


Psalms 143; 146

2 Samuel 24:1-14

Acts 21:1-14


Observance: Augustine, bishop of Hippo (d. 430)


Make me hear of your love in the morning.


There are a number of unwritten “rules” contained within any given language, that are unknown to students and only apparent to native speakers. English is full of such rules; for example, if you want to describe something with more than one word, those words will need to go into a specific order without sounding clumsy, otherwise you end up with the brown quick fox jumping over the lazy dog.


Some “rules” of ancient Hebrew we do know about, and one of those is when you see the type of phrase constructed in the eighth verse of Psalm 143. The first two lines set up a statement of fact, and then the second two lines say the same thing but in a different way. You see this sort of thing all through the Old Testament, and it is used to try and get a really important point across to the reader.


But sometimes the two statements don’t, at first, seem to make sense together, and such is the case here. To hear of God’s love as being the same thing as hearing God’s instruction is bringing together two completely different concepts. But just sit with that idea for a moment; perhaps it does actually make all the sense in the world.


Of all the possible ways of doing something, God’s is the best. God knows this, and God isn’t being smug or arrogant, just truthful: God is infinite, and we are not, and so it is a simple flow of logic to conclude that God knows best. For God to then reveal to us what we should do is a wonderful display of love.


But God won’t force Himself on us; in writing this Psalm, David emphasises the fact that he relies on God; that he has entrusted himself to the Lord. It is possible for love to only go in one direction, but for love to blossom into a relationship requires a response from the beloved. And our response is to entrust ourselves completely to the One who loves us. This morning, stop for a moment, and listen – can you hear God’s love?

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