God Shines Forth – Psalm 50:1-6

A text – Psalm 50:1-6

50:1 The mighty one, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
50:3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.
50:4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
50:5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
50:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah

A reflection:

Psalm 50 is a fitting psalm for this week as we remember the Transfiguration of Jesus. Look at what God does in these first verses of the psalm. God speaks and summons the faithful followers, and God shines forth. At Jesus’s transfiguration, Jesus shines brightly – whiter than anything can be bleached, Mark says. And during the astonishment of his disciples, a cloud covers the shining Jesus and a voice speaks and summons the faithful to listen to what Jesus tells them. God speaks and God shines forth.

Almost everyone in our day has seen on TV or in movies some blinding flash of light, or a shining image of a person all aglow. Our imagination is able to handle this image.  But how would this experience have been for people without such a technologically created vision? It must have been heart-stopping. They must have been sure that this vision was supernatural. It must have been God shining and speaking. And what words of God accompany the shining forth? In Mark’s gospel the message is “Jesus is God’s son, the Beloved, and we should listen to him.”

I have never had a bright light vision from God. But I can believe that it would be terrifying and unforgettable. I don’t think I even know anyone who has had that experience. But I am pretty sure that a God who visits with shining glory is not a God that can be domesticated, left in a box six days of the week and paid attention to only on Sunday. Such a God invites our prayer and praise every day. This is the Creator God who commands the universe. And that very God tells us to pay attention to Jesus. God remembers all God’s beloved children. And how do we remember God? Best to have a ritual, a routine, a discipline of prayer every day, honoring our God and being grateful we belong.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sharing your bountiful glory with human beings. Thank you for being our heavenly parent and caring what happens to us. Help us to remember you every day with praise and thankfulness. Help us to honor you every day by the way we live.   Amen.