6:1-60
- The names tell a story – the story of what God is doing among His
people. They speak of the faithfulness of God. He loves every one of
these people. He loves every one of us. We forget the names. God
doesn’t. Everyone is important to Him. We rejoice in ‘the great love of
God’. We rejoice in Christ ‘who came to this earth to redeem every one’.
In the many names, forgotten by us yet remembered by God, we hear the
message, ‘God is love’. Among the many names, we read of those who
‘ministered with song’. We read of ‘the service of song in the house
of the Lord’. God is calling us to worship Him: ‘Sing aloud, loud, loud!
Sing aloud, loud, loud! God is good! God is truth! God is beauty!
Praise Him!’ (31-32; Church Hymnary, 415-416).
6:61-7:40 - Is there no end of names? – The more names we read, the more we wonder at the amazing scope of God’s love: ‘God so loved the world…’ (John 3:16). We read of ‘the cities of refuge’ (67-70). We take refuge in the Lord. He is ‘our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1). We have Christ as our Saviour: ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16). When ‘evil’ threatens to overwhelm us (23), we must come to God with this confidence: ‘the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin’. We must ask God to strengthen our faith in Christ: ‘This is the victory that overcomes the world. Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’ (1 John 1:7; 4:4-5).
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