The psalm in yesterday’s Morning Prayer made me stop and think. Psalm 46:6 says: “The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.”
The prayer after the psalm was:
God of Jacob,
when the earth shakes
and the nations are in uproar,
speak, and let the storm be still;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In all that’s going wrong in the world, (just for starters e.g. credit crunch, wars & rumours of wars, MPs losing credibility through the expenses issues) of course we need God to calm the storm. We can’t sort out these sorts of crises in our own strength. It reminds me of a line from Matt Redman’s song, We Shall Not Be Shaken: “When fear is found all around, You’re the solid ground.”
Which is why I don’t quite know what to make of David Cameron’s interview over the weekend. He was talking about his faith on Songs of Praise, and said that although he would describe himself a Christian, he doesn’t turn to God for help. He said:
Do I drop to my knees and ask for guidance whenever an issue comes up? No, I don’t. But it’s part of who I am
The cynic in me thinks he’s trying to make himself appeal to a broad range of people. Its like he’s saying to the Christians “I’m one of you, you can trust me” but at the same time, he’s saying “don’t worry, I’m not a religious nut”.
But then yesterday’s Morning Prayer Gospel reading was Matthew 7, i.e. the “Do Not Judge” passage. Do I turn to God to ask for help with every problem I face? Maybe I should take the plank out of my eye! Maybe Cameron is just being honest.
One thing we can be sure of though is that over recent months, the nations most certainly have been in uproar. If our political leaders aren’t falling to their knees then there’s even more reason for the church to intercede for our nation and our world.
Image by Luca_M