Peace has been prepared for you

Friday, February 03, 2017

Last week I wrote about a lovely passage from a late 2^nd Century work, The Odes of Solomon, a collection of 42 Odes mostly in praise of the Savior. Perhaps you remember the line I quoted: He is mercy to me.

I decided to investigate the entire collection of Odes and I found a number of inspiring passages which I will present to you from time to time. Here are a few passages for your reflection today:

You have given us Your fellowship: it was not that You were in need of us but that we are in need of You:

(Ode 4)

I will give thanks unto You, O Lord, because I love You;

O Most High, You will not forsake me, for You are my hope;

Freely I have received Your grace, I shall live thereby . . .    (Ode 5)

As the hand moves over the harp, and the strings speak,

So speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I speak by his love. (Ode 6)

Open your hearts to the exultation of the Lord:

And let your love be multiplied from the heart and even to the lips,

to bring forth fruit to the Lord, living and holy, and to talk with watchfulness in His light.

Rise up, and stand erect, you who sometime were brought low;

Tell forth you who were in silence, that your mouth has been opened.

You, therefore, that were despised, be henceforth lifted up, because your righteousness has been exalted.

For the right hand of the Lord is with you and He is your helper;

And peace was prepared for you before ever your war existed.  (Ode 8)

Comment on that last line: Throughout our lives we know peace and times of peace, and we suffer from “war” (=chaos, suffering, oppression, subjugation, pain and turmoil) and times of war. What time is it for you, a time of peace or a time of war? The great consolation of our faith is that before we were ever born “a peace was prepared for you,” and that our ultimate destiny is a time of eternal, unending peace. Keep in mind also that even during your times of war there is a peace which awaits you and which can be found in prayer and meditation even while the war is raging around you. Give thanks to God.

The Odes are available on-line in .pdf format. The version I have is only 18 pages and is a translation by Marty Daw. If you’d like you can download the entire collection, or else wait for the snippets I will provide here from time to time.

God bless you! Have a wonderful weekend.