2 Samuel 8 is a summary of David’s achievements as king to this point. It reads a little bit like a CV, when we have to list our academic and work achievements in a summarised form so that many years of work and experience can be condensed into 1 or 2 sheets of A4 paper. When we first write a CV, it can be difficult to find accomplishments or achievements to include in it, for we may not have many qualifications or have much experience. As we get older, hopefully the list gets longer, and it can then be quite difficult to summarise effectively because there is so much to include!

Summaries can be difficult as we consider what to put in and what to omit; when I write a funding application, this is a real challenge, as there is often a word count (or even a character count, counting the letters rather than words!) It can be hard to summarise or précis years of work or overflowing ideas, a skill I first learned at 6^th form and could never see the point of then but use every day now! We may find chapters like this one less interesting than the tales of battle or personal interactions, but this chapter contains a whistlestop tour through David’s battles and some of the things a king has to do, and as such it gives us a useful overview. There are principles to be learned here: doing what God has commanded, following through on His orders, the role of other people in helping us to achieve what God has planned for our lives. Don’t be daunted by the unfamiliar names, but realise that all Scripture is God-breathed and can shape us for effective service. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

This week we have been involved in two community events celebrating light. At this dark time of year, it’s good to remind ourselves that Jesus is the Light of the world and that no darkness can overcome God’s light. We have been making a variety of lanterns at the Autumn Fayre at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment and at the ‘Churches Together’ family fun day during half-term, and have also painted tea light holders and jars with LED lights and decorate candle biscuits as well as dancing to disco lights and playing with balloons and bubbles!

Here are some photos from the Autumn Fayre:

Here are some photos from today’s fun day,attended by 116 people.We were grateful to have the help of Lesley Embleton from the Forest School, adding a ‘natural’ touch to our lanterns.

An echo is a sound caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener. Hard, smooth surface are particularly good at reflecitng sound, with empty rooms producing lots of echoes. Echoes can tell us the location of something at times.

The hymnwriter Fanny Crosby, in her hymn ‘Blessed Assurance’, writes about ‘angels descending bring from above/ Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.’ I’ve always loved this lyric, since it reminds me of God’s mercy and love, but what strikes me especially is how she talks about ‘echoes’ and ‘whispers.’

Psalm 29 talks about the Lord’s thundering voice, and there are indeed times when God speaks in this way (see Heb 12:26). But there are also times when our ears have to strain to hear His whispers (think of Elijah, who heard the Lord not in the wind, earthquake or fire but in a gentle whisper, 1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes all we may hear are whispers and echoes. An echo is generally quieter than the original sound, but can still nonetheless be evidence of speech.

To hear God’s echoes of mercy and whispers of love – whether these are sent through angels or other media – requires listening ears and a still heart. We have to take time out from the ‘hustle bustle’ or everyday life. We have to practise active listening, drowning out the noise all around us, stilling not only the external noise but the frantic mutterings of our own minds. ‘I need to stop so I can hear You speak,’ as Jeremy Camp sings (‘Slow Down Time’)

Today, if we pause long enough to listen well, there will indeed be echoes of mercy and whispers of love to be heard. God is always speaking to us. Maybe we just need to stop and listen harder.

In our series looking at our identity as the people of God, we looked tonight at the fact that we are known by God. Paul mentions this in Gal 4:9-11 as he tries to teach the Galatians that salvation is by faith alone and there is no need to celebrate special times and dates or be circumcised in order to be accepted by God. We often speak of us knowing God, but the fact that God knows us is even more revolutionary, for it gives us stability, worth and significance.

Names are hugely important in the Bible; God says through Isaiah, ‘I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’ (Is 43:1) Moreover, God does not just know our names (which in the Bible implies He knows all about us), He has enabled us to be called by His name. (Is 43:7) He will, moreover, give us a new name (see Is 62:1-2, Is 65:13-15, Rev 2:17), again, an indication of a deep personal knowledge and relationship. Our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Luke 10:20); we cannot be forgotten by God. (Is 49:15-16)

Psalm 139 is probably the most comprehensive account of God’s intimate knowledge of us, from conception onwards. In this psalm, David celebrates God’s knowledge of us and reminds us that we are not an accident. We are not unwanted, even if our parents did not plan for us! God made us and knows everything about us: ‘all the days ordained for me were written in your book  before one of them came to be.’ (Ps 139:16)

Jesus describes himself as the good Shepherd and says that he knows us, his sheep, and that we know his voice. (John 10:5-15) He likens His knowledge of the sheep to His knowledge of God the Father, and we see that ‘being known by Jesus produces an intimate and abiding relationship between Jesus and the individual believer modelled on the relationship of Jesus and His Father.’ (‘Known by God’, Brian S. Rosner, P 137) This intimacy and individual knowledge make a huge difference to us in our impersonal and isolated world. We have significance because we are known and loved by God. This is our core identity, which does not change. Since we are known by God, let’s not turn back, as the Galatians were tempted to do, to what we knew before or to things that simply cannot satisfy. Let’s allow God’s knowledge of us and love for us to shape us into the people He has made us to be and let’s hold our heads up high, for we are known by the King of Kings and welcomed by Him each day.