Sunday 27 March 2011

Off-Topic: Japan, Libya and the Psalm Ordered for This Sunday

I oscillate between the beauty of the Church of England (1662 version) and the contemplative revelation of the Quakers. This Sunday I went to Mattins, and the psalm ordered for the day was Psalm 46. Here it is: 
1 God is our hope and strength : a very present  help in trouble.
2 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved : and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof rage and swell : and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.
4 The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God : the holy place of the tabernacle of the most Highest.
5 God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed : God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved : but God hath shewed his voice, and the earth shall melt away.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob is our refuge.
8 O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord : what destruction he hath brought upon the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease in all the world : he breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire.
10 Be still then, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among the heathen, and I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob is our refuge.
You'd think the Psalmist had some experience not just of earthquakes and the tsunamis they trigger, but also what it takes to establish a no-fly zone in Libya.  Uncanny.  

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