Find Rest

Have you noticed how exhausting the Psalms are? ‘Clap your hands, all you nations’ (Ps. 47:1), ‘Shout aloud to the God of Jacob’ (Ps. 81:1), ‘Let us kneel before the LORD our maker’ (Ps. 95:6), ‘I stand in awe of your laws’ (Ps. 119:120), ‘Let them praise his name with dancing’ (Ps. 149:3), and ‘I will bow down toward your holy temple’ (Ps. 138:2.) We shouldn’t have pews in our churches, we should have treatment tables; and our churchwardens should morph into personal trainers and physios. Maybe that’s why we have kneelers in Anglican churches, for when the congregation simply collapses to the ground exhausted? Perhaps the Baptists have got it right with their Jacuzzis up front? Quality recovery time.

But have you noticed how peaceful and restorative the Psalms are? ‘He grants sleep to those he loves’ (Ps. 127:2), ‘Be still before the LORD and wait patiently’ (Ps.37:7), the rather emphatic ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures’ (Ps. 23:2) and ‘Find rest O my soul in God alone. (Ps. 62:5) Christian spirituality at its richest is both contemplative and charismatic, stilling and shouting; and the psalms won’t let us have it any other way.

So if you are visiting Malmesbury Abbey this summer we hope you are richly blessed on your travels and that you meet God as you worship with us. And we also hope that our short series exploring the Psalms is enlightening. But our sincere apologies; many of us have left town. We’ve done our dancing for the time-being, and we’re off to find rest.