Common Ground Song 77 ‘Lord, make me know your ways’
Words / Music: © Noel Donnolly
Copy: https://stmungomusic.org.uk/ps-24-commentary-sunday-26a/
Featured image: Path to Adel parish church © Stephen Craven
Like the previous song post on Sunday, this one is a psalm setting with antiphon, that is where a solo cantor sings the psalm verses and the congregation sings a short refrain before the psalm and between verses. I was unable to find a performance online, but the link above includes the melody of the refrain and the full text including the verses.
It is a setting of Psalm 25, one of the shorter psalms. It is a brief reminder of the kind of life God wants us to live, expressed in three simple ways: walk in God’s paths, accept his love and mercy, and accept also his shepherding. This threefold guidance echoes that of the best-known saying of the prophet Micah: ‘And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8).
Walking in God’s paths is more or less the same as acting justly. Think of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 that our fellowship group was studying yesterday. Caring for our neighbour, whoever they may be, is in line with God’s love for all his creation.
Loving mercy works both ways: accepting the mercy that God shows us in forgiving our sins, and going out to show mercy to others. Again, this is illustrated by one of Jesus’ parables, that of the unmerciful servant, who was condemned for accepting mercy but not offering it.
And walking humbly with God is much the same as accepting his shepherding. As long as we follow in his paths, the shepherd will feed us and look out for us, but otherwise leave us to get on with life. But as soon as we go astray and put ourselves in a dangerous place, or lose sight of the flock, or get trapped by some temptation, he will come and pull us out ‘by hook or by crook’. Which will be uncomfortable at the time, but we will thank him for it afterwards.
Once again, a very short psalm rewards us with several worthwhile lessons in life.