May 3, 2022 - Psalms 42-46

The sons of Korah sang, “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them” (44:1-3).

I always loved to hear my grandparents talk about their “good old days.” Of course, such days were not always quite as good as they might have remembered (my grandparents endured two world wars and the Great Depression), but I loved to hear them reminisce. And even sweeter are the testimonies of earlier generations as they tell us how God has kept them and provided for them. And, so, with the sons of Korah, we testify, ““God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear thought the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when the morning dawns” (45:1-5).

O God, our fathers oft have told

in our attentive ears;

Thy wondrous works wrought in their days,

and elder time than theirs.

. . . Because on them thou pleased wast

thy favour free to place. –New England Psalm Book (1773)