A meditation on a Psalm

"The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his
anointed.

O save your people, and bless your
heritage;
be their shepherd, and carry them
forever."

Psalm 28.8-9 (NRSV)

Jesus is the strength of the church, which is his people. There is no other strength in the church than that which comes through and from Jesus. Everything else is weakness. Only he can provide the salvation of God that the church is called to receive and then offer to the world. No well-thought-through strategy can offer this; no perfectly designed sunday service; no conference, no gifted teacher and no celebrity pastor. No-thing.

Only one person. Jesus Christ.

He is not only the salvation but also the refuge of his people. "The name of the Lord (Jesus) is a strong tower. The righteous run into it (him) and they are safe (Prov 18.10)." Salvation and refuge are closely linked in Jesus. He is our salvation because he is our refuge and he is our refuge because he is our salvation.

We cannot ever be safe without him. Individually we must foster our relationship with him so that he becomes the place we run to for safety and salvation instinctively. Corporately we must do the same. Those of us in leadership within his people must learn that we cannot do anything without first submitting it to his will. We can only expect the cover and safety he promises us if we are walking in his will - walking in his path - as the sheep follows the shepherd.

We must ask him to pick us up and carry us forward. This will mean we have to stop trying to walk on our own and in our own strength. How might this happen?

Prayer. Prayer has to be the bedrock of everything we do. When we pray we await his direction and submit to it. We do not do what we want and then pray that it will work out - 'Lord bless this mess' - we ask him what he wants and then we do it. This must be our rule of life if we are to be effective in carrying out his work.