Psalm 89

This one was never planned; no-one suggested it, it just arrived, in the washbasin to be precise, but more on that later. Somehow I want to read this one in a funny mocking voice, especially from v 19 when it starts to list the promises made by God to his anointed one, the king, '...his line shall continue forever...' and then in v 38 it turns savage, 'BUT NOW YOU HAVE SPURNED AND REJECTED HIM!' and the psalm ends with a 'where is your steadfast love of old...?', and an editor (I think) steps in and puts a lid on it all with a 'Blessed be the Lord forever'.

I gather that some people find it hard to talk to God in a forthright way, and they should be directed to this psalm to show them that it's fine to do so - He can take it. But we have a person locally who has no such qualms: during the Summer's jubilee season some home-made prayers began with the words 'As you know, Lord, I have sometimes expressed disappointment...' Though I smiled at this, I immediately went on to be amazed at the psalmic nature of the attitude conveyed; and even more, a repeated response was required by the congregation to each successive prayer paragraph: 'God Save the Queen!' So the Psalm 89 pocket is really a tribute to this pray-er, in the hope that we can learn from him, for it seemed to me that he was very much cut from the same cloth as the psalmist of Ps 89, the main difference being that he is living at a time when the monarchy here is still intact so he is not praying for restoration, only preservation; but there are signs that all is not well in our society, and so you will see some threadbare patches in this one, and you might think it is a pocket that doesn't know where it is going. 

How many miles of bunting were used in the UK this year? Enough to go 6 times round the globe? At least it was useful for the Olympics too, and here; I even have a bit with some wildflower meadow on it rather like the green and pleasant land evoked this summer in the opening ceremony. 

Whatever pocket I have been working on, there have always been things going on that have resonated so much, and it happened also that at just this time, I bought a new bike that happened to be red and white, so worn with a blue dress.... so this psalm pocket is a celebration of all things monarchical in 2012, but with a sideways look at whether the fabric of society is getting a bit tatty; it could even be dissolvable.