VOX Magazine

The Goodness of the LORD

In the days when phones were a rarity and consequently phone numbers very short I remember someone giving their number as 103, to which a godly old man replied “Ah, my favourite Psalm”    I am sure he was not alone, this is an all-embracing Psalm, warm and personal; indeed it is so personal that it calls on you to address your most inner being...

Arguing with God

The Book of Psalms shares the same inspiration and authority as the rest of Scripture but it has a difference; in Psalms, for the most part, the writers are speaking to God. They voice their praise and thanksgivings, indeed such is the very warp and weft of the Psalms, but they also complain, express doubts and, betimes, anger.

The Shepherd Psalm

Since you are reading this I presume you are at a 21^st Century piece of electronic wizardry, it is therefore strange to think that the words before you were first written about 3,000 years ago in a world where people lived at the pace of their sheep. However, however, although this poem is ancient and very rural it has been used and loved every day since then, and is still being read or sung in hymn form by people all over the world.

The "How Great Thou Art" Psalm

Psalm 8: In just three verses we take in the whole panorama of God, Creation and Human existence. We are reminded that God is not part of Creation, a popular idea today, he is outside of it, as the Builder is separate and distinct from the house he builds. And Creation is wonderful, not all we now know of the details of rock strata or  the electro-chemical engineering of the human body or the vast distances of space changes the truth of this Psalm.

Questions, questions

Psalm 13

The Psalms are far from being pious little ‘blessed thoughts’ written to sweeten the devotional life of comfortable Western Christians. The world is not like that, and for many  believers being a Christian is to live under persecution, or the threat of persecution. But the wonder of the Psalms is that they can speak to us in the hardest of circumstances.

Be happy!

The truly happy lifestyle is set out for us in Psalm 1, indeed it sets the tone for the message of all the Psalms. In contrast to the way of the world with its quickly passing high moments we are here shown the way of true and lasting joy.  We may need to adjust our thinking about two of the key words in this Psalm. ‘Blessed’ does not mean painfully emaciated with unworldly  holiness, it just means ‘happy’; as used in the Bible it speaks of joy.

At the end of myself...

Psalm 6 is a heart cry for those times when things get on top of us. And it’s headed by very modern sounding instructions that could be stretched to guitar playing.

The writer has come to the end of himself, everything is out of joint, anguish of spirit has become as real as physical pain. And it seems as if the depression will be endless. Yes, it happened then, just like now.

Making Music

As old as the hills, as up-to-date as tomorrow, containing and covering our human condition and bringing it to God’s attention, it is no wonder that the Psalms are ever popular. Annoyed, angry, depressed, questioning, glad, happy, thankful; you feel it, you want to say it, you’ll find that at least one of the Psalm writers has already said it.