Email preview for Psalms Group on May 31, 2020
Dear Psalms friends,
Tomorrow we will be concluding the strange and memorable Eastertide of 2020 with the joyful celebration of Pentecost Sunday, the official birthday of the church. Appropriately, our Psalms group will focus on “Joy,” chapter 6 of David Taylor’s Open and Unafraid.
We will explore Psalm 66 to help us enter into the joy of rescue and deliverance,
the joy of troubles and transformation,
and the joy of thanking God and telling others about who he is to us and what he does for us.
In the year before his death, C.S. Lewis wrote his famous words, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” The emotion of joy is evoked by a sense of well-being, by the prospect of possessing what one desires. Someone or something that is a joy is a source or cause of delight. For J.S. Bach in “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” Jesus evoked delight. Bach’s friendship with Jesus remained his joy through suffering, his heart’s comfort and essence, his life’s strength, his eye’s desire and sun, his soul’s treasure and pleasure, the joy of his longing and desiring. In Isaiah 26:8b, the prophet tells YHWH that “your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.”
I wonder if God is most glorified when we are most satisfied with him. When have you experienced the joy of satisfaction with God?
You have probably seen Christ Church’s new Sunday schedule that starts next Sunday, June 7, with in-person worship services at 9 am, 11am, and 5 pm. Please prayerfully reflect on how this change impacts you and also how it impacts our Psalms group. Please e-mail or text Doug and me about ideas and suggestions you have about the timing of our Psalms group in June and July. Hopefully, we will resume our original, in-person 9:15 Sunday morning meetings in August. [See other post for discussion. – Doug]
I look forward to Pentecost joy with you tomorrow! I’ve attached a file with the material below. [See other post. – Doug]
Grace and peace,
Toni