This autumn, we are reflecting in worship on the same stories the youngest among us are discussing in Church School, going through the Bible from the beginning.
For the next few weeks, we’ll move through the Old Testament and hear stories about how, “God calls.” Our Worship Series, Living the Word, reminds us that, “God’s call is often surprising to us, as God looks not on the outside, but at the heart. God continues to invite unlikely people to be great leaders and pillars of the faith. These imperfect leaders answer God’s call, allowing God to work through them in remarkable ways, even as their faults are sometimes evident. God’s presence serves as a constant source of strength and peace and equips them to serve, though challenges may abound.”
We started last week with the call of Samuel, and return this week to meet Samuel decades later, during Saul’s reign as King, when God instructs Samuel to anoint the person who will ultimately replace Saul as King. Samuel is reluctant to take on this task, not only because it essentially amounts to treason, but also because he is still hung up over God’s rejection of Saul’s reign in response to his disobedience. The person God chooses for Samuel to anoint as future king is Jesse’s youngest son, David, at that time still a boy working out in the fields as a shepherd.
The second half of our reading this week, verses from Psalm 51, are often associated with King David, and his contrition after having engaged in sexual violence and murder:
Create a clean heart for me, God;
put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!
Please don’t throw me out of your presence;
please don’t take your holy spirit away from me.
Return the joy of your salvation to me
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways,
and sinners will come back to you.
Deliver me from violence, God, God of my salvation,
so that my tongue can sing of your righteousness.
What other wisdom do we glean, however, when we read the psalm as though Samuel is singing it, upon being asked to go anoint a new king? Have you ever prayed to be able to have the courage, the willingness, or the faith to follow God into a new, or renewed venture? Have you ever prayed through your doubt, your reluctance, or your frustration? I know I have.
Join us on Sunday at 11am in the sanctuary and online to sing, pray, learn, and ponder together; I always look forward to being there with you.
In faith,
Amy
image credit: stablediffusionweb.com
