The World Day of Prayer, written by Christians from the Cook Islands, was held at GPCC on Friday 7 March. Focussing on Psalm 139, it looked at the fact that God has made us beautiful and listened to the experiences of three women who had all experienced God in different ways. Knowing that we are made in God’s image, are loved by Him and are all uniquely special to Him gives us the freedom to love ourselves and to love others too.

We are grateful to all who attended the service and for the generous offering of £101 given towards the work of the World Day of Prayer.

Here are some photos:

We enjoyed cakes and drinks after the service:

Today we have Alison from ABC Emporium visitng our Parent & Toddler group to help us celebrate World Book Day. She’ll be selling books, crafts and gifts at the session between 9 and 11 a.m.

Today also sees the start of our Lent lunches and Bible studies at 11.45 a.m. On each Friday from today until 11th April, we will be meeting together to enjoy homemade soup and sandwiches and a hot drink and will then be looking at readings from the book ‘Living Hope’, helping us to think about different aspects of life and Lent as we lead up to Easter. All welcome.

In the afternoon, we have the World Day of Prayer at GPCC, starting at 2 p.m. Written by Christians from the Cook Islands, this year’s theme looks at Psalm 139 and God’s marvellous work in making us.

In 2 Samuel 16:5-14 we see how David responds to the curses of Shimei, a Benjamite who was related to Saul.  As David is journeying, Shimei hurls insults and dirt and stones at him, calling him a murderer and bloodthirsty man who deserves everything that is happening to him with Absalom’s rebellion. Abishai, fiercely loyal to David, wants to kill Shimei (after all, David is still king and this outburst could be considered treason), but David refuses to allow this. He is able to see Shimei as God’s messenger, even when the message he is bringing is one that may not be wholly true and even when it is deeply hurtful personally. His response is ‘Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.’ (2 Sam 16:11-12)

David models for us what turning the other cheek looks like (see Matt 5:38-40). Ultimately, we see this response in Jesus (‘When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.’ 1 Pet 2:23) David is able to deal with Shimei without fury or thoughts of revenge because he is able to entrust himself to God, secure that God’s discipline includes mercy. Paul urges us to leave room for God rather than seeking revenge (Rom 12:17-21), which is at the heart of how to respond to criticism. Though exhausted and pained by betrayal and insults, David is still able to refresh himself. (2 Sam 16:14) We too must learn to draw near to God at times when things are not going our way; what defines us is not so much what happens to us, but how we respond to this. We cannot rely on others to lift us up (though we are blessed by those whom God gives us as encouragers and helpers), but must learn to draw near to God in prayer, singing praise to Him through the troubles. We do this ultimately because we know God is in sovereign control of our lives and is working for good in every difficulty (Rom 8:28). The outcome is not at this point in the narrative certain; David does not know if Absalom’s conspiracy will succeed and if he will remain king, but he is able to trust God to work it all out. His responses are not always right, but in this, in focussing on mercy instead of revenge and on humility instead of arrogance, he models for us how to respond to criticism and how to live with painful circumstances.

In 2 Samuel 16:1-4, David (still fleeing Jerusalem after Absalom has declared himself king in Hebron) meets up with Ziba, the steward looking after Mephibosheth’s interests (see 2 Samuel 9). Ziba has provisions to help David (two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine, along with donkeys to help him on his way) and must have been a welcome sight for David and his men. However, when David enquires after Mephibosheth, Ziba tells him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’” (2 Sam 16:3) Hurt, David hands over Mephibosheth’s wealth to Ziba and his family, never pausing to check whether Ziba’s statement is true or not.

As it turns out, Ziba has not been honest (see 2 Sam 19:24-30), and this shows us the dangers of presuming motives and listening to hearsay. Ziba ascribes motives to Mephibosheth (the restoration of the kingdom to himself) which are not true; we are reminded that sometimes we do well to hold our opinions to ourselves, because we cannot see people’s hearts. David, understandably fraught from Absalom’s conspiracy, is too willing to believe a report without any verification; there is no ‘benefit of the doubt’ here or presumption of innocence over guilty.

Relationships can be repaired through honest communication and the full set of facts, but this encounter reminds us that we do well to hear the full story and both sides of a story before we make judgments.