Shelter from the Storms of War (Psalm 116:3-4. Isaiah 2:4)

 Presented to Alberni Valley Community Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Glenwood Centre, 11 November 2025, by TSA Major Michael Ramsay, Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain (Padre), Branch 293. 

Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served their country in time of trial.

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

Today is Remembrance Day, when we remember the many people who left home to serve in the first world war and all the conflicts that followed. Here are some of the stories of those who left their family here in the Alberni Valley:

 

George Morton Bird wrote this from the front on April 16th, 1917: “I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance... If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file… Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

A few weeks later George Bird was not okay. He was dead.

We know Redford Street in town. The Redford family had 3 sons.  Edward, 29, was wounded by a shell that killed 2 of his companions. William,19, was sent home wounded and Douglas, 20, was killed in action.

 

Charles Samuel Bannell enlisted in November 1916, and less than a year later, on Oct 30th, 1917, he was dead

 

William Clarke served in the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. In 1916, at age 19, he was dead

 

William Stewart, PPCLI, fought in the 2nd Battle of Ypres in Belgium; he never returned from Belgium. He was 26.

 

The Roll of Honour lists 25 people from our community here who gave their lives in World War I.

 

Then there was World War II and young people from our valley continued to die. David Ramsay was a Flight Lieutenant. He was awarded the Belgian Cross of War in 1940 and on April 28th, 1944, he was dead. He was 23 years old.

 

George 'Bud' Hamilton was a young Hupacasath man. He was a residential school survivor. He landed at Juno beach on June 6th, 1944. Canadian forces that day suffered 1,096 casualties, 381 were killed in action. Canadian casualties alone in Normandy exceeded 18,700. Bud Hamilton survived all of these horrors. But as the fighting continued, an artillery shell exploded, severed his spinal cord and he slowly and painfully succumbed to his injuries.

 

James George was an only child. James managed to survive the war, and with the money he earned bought a fishing boat. One night there was an explosion on that boat. He died.

 

Eduard Clutesi, hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, was a genius. He taught himself to play violin. He could draw a portrait perfectly.  He served with a mortar unit. He died in the battle of Canes. He was 26.

 

It is important we remember those who died for our community, for our country, for our nations, for us. I am honoured, as Legion Padre to have been able to share some of these stories today. Lest we forget.

 

The Salvation Army, of which I am an Officer, also served in these wars. In World War I, The Canadian Salvation Army ran hundreds of huts, canteens, rest facilities, and hostels in Britain, France and Belgium where troops could bathe, do laundry, eat decent food, and prepare themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually for the difficult return to the trenches. And when they did return to those trenches, they were met with more Salvation Army Officers providing for their care. Will Bird wrote: “Every front-line soldier of World War I, knew that his true friend was the man in The Salvation Army canteen.”

 

I am honoured that we were able to serve our servicepeople while they were serving us during the terrible times of war.

 

In 1918, after WWI, The Salvation Army organized their first ever nation-wide appeal for funds: the money raised was used to open shelters across Canada in order to help our veterans cope, transition, and become part of Canadian society again.

 

Today, because of this opportunity, The Salvation Army still runs shelters, one in this community, whose purpose is still to help people survive, cope, and reintegrate into society.

 

For the service people who returned from the wars, life could still be very difficult. This is why we have our much-needed Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion is 100 years old this year. It was formed to help our service people returning after WW2.

 

Today, we are here to remember all our service people; we are here to remember all those who served, fought, lived and died for our ancestors, our families, for us.

 

The war to end all wars has not yet been fought and people from our country, our province, our valley continue to serve.

 

Genocide, conflict, death of young people and others continues in our world. And as long as it does, we must all do our best to stand up to injustice, to work for peace, to serve, to save, and to above all else on this day – 100 years after the birth of our Legion -  to honour our veterans, and to remember all those who fought for us, in our name, and especially those who didn’t make it home.

 

Lest we forget.

 

BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Remembrance Day Ceremony 2025

Presented to Alberni Valley Community Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Glenwood Centre, 11 November 2025, by TSA Major Michael Ramsay, Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain (Padre), Branch 293. 

Remembrance Day Service

1000  -Doors open

            -Platform guests begin to arrive

1040  -Parade march on

1045  -Acknowledgements                                              MC

            -O Canada

1047  Invocation                                                                Padre

INVOCATION: Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth forever more.

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.

 

1048  -MC and Mayor (opening remarks)                   MC

 

1050? -Scripture Reading and Prayer                            Padre

Psalm 116:3-4:

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came over me;

I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“Lord, save me!”

Isaiah 2:4:

He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

 

PRAYER: Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served their country in time of trial.

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

1057? -In Flanders Fields                                                    MC     

1100  -Last Post, 2min. Silence, Reveille, Piper’s Lament,        MC

            Act of Remembrance                                                  MC

 

1110  - Address                                                                   Padre

Today is Remembrance Day, when we remember the many people who left home to serve in the first world war and all the conflicts that followed. Here are some of the stories of those who left their family here in the Alberni Valley:

 

George Morton Bird wrote this from the front on April 16th, 1917: “I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance... If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file… Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

A few weeks later George Bird was not okay. He was dead.

 

We know Redford Street in town. The Redford family had 3 sons.  Edward, 29, was wounded by a shell that killed 2 of his companions. William,19, was sent home wounded and Douglas, 20, was killed in action.

 

Charles Samuel Bannell enlisted in November 1916, and less than a year later, on Oct 30th, 1917, he was dead

 

William Clarke served in the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. In 1916, at age 19, he was dead

 

William Stewart, PPCLI, fought in the 2nd Battle of Ypres in Belgium; he never returned from Belgium. He was 26.

 

The Roll of Honour lists 25 people from our community here who gave their lives in World War I.

 

Then there was World War II and young people from our valley continued to die. David Ramsay was a Flight Lieutenant. He was awarded the Belgian Cross of War in 1940 and on April 28th, 1944, he was dead. He was 23 years old.

 

George 'Bud' Hamilton was a young Hupacasath man. He was a residential school survivor. He landed at Juno beach on June 6th, 1944. Canadian forces that day suffered 1,096 casualties, 381 were killed in action. Canadian casualties alone in Normandy exceeded 18,700. Bud Hamilton survived all of these horrors. But as the fighting continued, an artillery shell exploded, severed his spinal cord and he slowly and painfully succumbed to his injuries.

 

James George was an only child. James managed to survive the war, and with the money he earned bought a fishing boat. One night there was an explosion on that boat. He died.

 

Eduard Clutesi, hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, was a genius. He taught himself to play violin. He could draw a portrait perfectly.  He served with a mortar unit. He died in the battle of Canes. He was 26.

 

It is important we remember those who died for our community, for our country, for our nations, for us. I am honoured, as Legion Padre to have been able to share some of these stories today. Lest we forget.

 

The Salvation Army, of which I am an Officer, also served in these wars. In World War I, The Canadian Salvation Army ran hundreds of huts, canteens, rest facilities, and hostels in Britain, France and Belgium where troops could bathe, do laundry, eat decent food, and prepare themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually for the difficult return to the trenches. And when they did return to those trenches, they were met with more Salvation Army Officers providing for their care. Will Bird wrote: “Every front-line soldier of World War I, knew that his true friend was the man in The Salvation Army canteen.”

 

I am honoured that we were able to serve our servicepeople while they were serving us during the terrible times of war.

 

In 1918, after WWI, The Salvation Army organized their first ever nation-wide appeal for funds: the money raised was used to open shelters across Canada in order to help our veterans cope, transition, and become part of Canadian society again.

 

Today, because of this opportunity, The Salvation Army still runs shelters, one in this community, whose purpose is still to help people survive, cope, and reintegrate into society.

 

For the service people who returned from the wars, life could still be very difficult. This is why we have our much-needed Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion is 100 years old this year. It was formed to help our service people returning after WW2.

 

Today, we are here to remember all our service people; we are here to remember all those who served, fought, lived and died for our ancestors, our families, for us.

 

The war to end all wars has not yet been fought and people from our country, our province, our valley continue to serve.

 

Genocide, conflict, death of young people and others continues in our world. And as long as it does, we must all do our best to stand up to injustice, to work for peace, to serve, to save, and to above all else on this day – 100 years after the birth of our Legion -  to honour our veterans, and to remember all those who fought for us, in our name, and especially those who didn’t make it home.

 

Lest we forget.

 

1117  -Hymn-O God our Help in Ages Past

1120  -Laying of Wreaths                                                 MC

 -Benediction                                                            Padre

BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

   God Save the King                                                  MC

Remembrance Sunday 2025

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, Remembrance Sunday, 09 November 2025, by Major Michael Ramsay, Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain (Padre), Branch 293.

 

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me bring love.

Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.

Where there is discord, let me bring union.

Where there is error, let me bring truth.

Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.

Where there is despair, let me bring hope.

Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.

Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

 

O Master, let me not seek as much

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love,

for it is in giving that one receives,

it is in self-forgetting that one finds,

it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,

it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.

 

INVOCATION: Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth forever more.

Today as at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.

Those who lay down their lives in battle are almost never those who put their lives at risk by declaring war. Those who choose to fight a war are rarely those who fight in that war. Those who tell us why they send people to fight rarely stop and ask the person on the front why they are in the fight. Those who decide that soldiers will die at war almost never themselves die at war.

Remembrance Day is a lamentation. It is when we remember our family members, community members, loved ones and others who are no more because they died, and were in a position to die, before peace could be obtained in a quarrel they did not pick. We will remember them.      

 

Psalm 116:3-4:

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came over me;

I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“Lord, save me!”

Isaiah 2:4:

He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

 

PRAYER: Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served in time of trial.

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

VIDEO: Last Post, 2min. Silence, Reveille, Piper’s Lament,       

Act of Remembrance

                                                          

Laying of the poppies                                           

                                               

BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Psalm 146: Set the Captives Free (Now)!

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries by Major Michael Ramsay, 03 August 2025

 

We have a lot of scripture readings again because I want to chat some more about a truth that this is a common theme throughout the Bible: “Set the captives free!” Most of the time when we, in church, read about the captives being set free it is in the context of the Kingdom of God. The Gospels say that the Kingdom of God is at hand. In theology we use the term ‘prolepsis’ to refer to the time when the Kingdom of God begins, which is now, the time between the resurrection of Christ and His return at the eschaton. This is the time we are living in now and as Christians it is our responsibility to try to make this time as close to what the world will be like when Jesus comes back at the end of time – which is perfect.

 

The Bible repeatedly tells us what Christian nations look like, what we as Christians need to work toward in our country. Psalm 146 is example of how we can be a part of God’s Kingdom:

 

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,

in human beings, who cannot save.

4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord their God.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them—

he remains faithful forever.

7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the foreigner

and sustains the fatherless and the widow,

but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

 

Verse 7 says, “The Lord sets the prisoners free”; you can also see this sentiment in Zechariah 9:11, Psalm 68:6, Psalm 102:20, Isaiah 42:7 and elsewhere. Jesus, as recorded in Luke, quotes Isaiah 42 letting people know that the time to set the prisoners free is now. I think this is important. I think we do need to do what the Bible tells us to do. I was reading one African Liberation Theologian’s essay (I believe it was Bongajalo Goba) this week in Hammering Swords into Plowshares, a book dedicated to the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He said that one main difference between capitalist western churches and the Universal Christian Church is that western churches either spiritualize everything (for example: God doesn’t’ really want us to let people out of jail, that is just a metaphor for something else…maybe being free from our personal bad habits) or they try to say that the things that God tells us to do as a society are only in the future and God will do it; it is not our responsibility (we shouldn’t try to give sight to the blind now; we shouldn’t end hunger or homelessness now – even though we can!- God will do that when Jesus returns at the end of time). But the real Church including the churches in the third world realizes that when God tells us to make it so that no one is hungry; no one is lonely; no one is homeless; no one is thirsty, and no one is in prison; He is telling us to do it now! We are not supposed to go on propping up (western capitalist ‘democratic’) systems that are opposed to the expressed will of God and just say “oh well, when we all get to heaven we will all be okay” -both me who has so much and my neighbour who doesn’t. When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be.

 

I have been really convicted and cut to the quick with the sentiment I shared at the Summer Rain festival: Jesus speaks about a salvation society as one where the sick are healed, the captives are freed, the hungry are fed, the lonely are visited, the perpetrator is forgiven, relationships are healed. In our world, in our country, in our province, in our city there is still conflict, abuse, addiction, poverty, homelessness, murder, mental illness, hate, violence, unforgiveness… What if we didn’t have to wait until we die to experience a world without all of this? What if Christ was right and he wasn’t lying to us? What if the Kingdom of God is actually at hand? What if the Church (and our churches) is actually the body of Christ and what if we actually do this?  

 

Recently I read Wrongfully Convicted by Canadian lawyer and Founder of Innocence Canada, Kent Roach and this week I have been reading Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, an American lawyer who has spent his career working with death row inmates. The horrors that people suffer behind bars in the USA are as bad as you imagine and even worse. Think of the TV shows you have seen and then place yourself or your loved ones in the place of the prisoners being abused by prisoners or guards, or judges, or whomever. When I studied Restorative Justice from Simon Fraser University a decade ago, we read stories of inmates who were actually lost in American prisons – it came time to release them and they had no idea where they were.

 

I have a story relating to that – when I was just a new Salvation Army Officer, I was appointed to the small town of Nipawin, Saskatchewan (Go Riders!). On Sunday a congregation member asked me if I could go see another congregation member, Zerah. “Sure” I said. “He is in cells” they said. Apparently, shortly before we had arrived to town Zerah had gone on an arson spree, lighting the town on fire. I spent the next weeks and months meeting Zerah whenever he was in town for the circuit court. In between court dates they would ship him off to prisons in Prince Albert or Regina – and I think his court cases were in Nipawin, Carrot River, or Tisdale. I would meet him in whatever small community courthouse the circuit court was meeting on that day of the week.

 

One time I was in the court room in Carrot River and they called Zerah’s name to stand before the judge. No answer. They called it again. No answer. The judge then said, “We will need to issue a warrant for his arrest for not showing up for court.” At this point I popped up from my seat and awkwardly raised my hand. I was in uniform so he knew I wasn’t Zerah; so he asked me “do you know where Zerah is?” “Yes. He is in prison in PA” I said. Everyone in the courtroom laughed. I didn’t. The judge didn’t. “Then we better not issue a warrant for his arrest – that would look pretty bad” the judge said as he instructed the bailiff to try to find Zerah and figure out how they lost him in the system. Eventually, they did find Zerah in prison; but can you imagine if I wasn’t there? This warrant issued from the bench would be on his record. They lost Zerah in prison.

 

I was reading some research this week. Did you know that quite a few people in U.S. jails, federal, and US state prisons have never even been convicted of a crime? What percentage of people in US jails do you think have never been convicted of a crime? 80%! 80% of people suffering all that they are suffering in prison have never been convicted of an offence and some of them never will be and some of them will have their convictions overturned on appeal. I didn’t find the stats for Canada but, from experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are similar.

 

A member of our church in Toronto when he immigrated to Canada from Dubai about 10 years ago, they held him and his sister in jail until they processed them – I am not sure how many months they were in jail. He was separated from his sister (she was put in a different jail) and quite concerned about her. I wound up having to go to the consulate with him to figure out a whole bunch of things – this is Canada.

 

I spoke to my friends in Stony Mountain Penitentiary when I was there for two years. They told me that the prison organized the wings by gangs: the Indian Posse had one wing, the Hells Angels another. They set the rules. They told me that you never make eye contact with anyone. It was hard not to be part of a gang. We put people who have never been convicted of a crime through this and more in Canada. And they can lose you in this system, like they did Zerah. Can you imagine if it was the day of your release and no one knew where you were to release you?

 

In 2023, in Canada, 61 people died in custody.  According to StatsCan, from 2017-2020 there were 169 deaths in our prisons: there were 20 suicides, 11 confirmed homicides, 19 drug overdoses and many other natural and suspicious deaths. In 2019 alone in the USA 143 were murdered while in the care of the State.

 

We, the Church, are called to free the prisoners; we, the Church, are supposed to be good stewards of the money God entrusts us with too. The estimated total court spending in Canada for 2014 was $1,614,017,311. That is not even including the incarceration and other costs! We could provide everyone the mental health and addiction support they need in this country for that amount of money. The average hotel cost across this country is $211.00 per night. The daily average cost of keeping someone in prison here is $326.00 per night which works out to $9780.00 per month. We could afford to put everyone in a hotel and give them the mental health and addition help they need for less than putting them in prison – and there are lots of safer cheaper ways to contain someone still. The average rental cost in Canada is $2200 / month which works out to $74 a day (as opposed to the $326 /day that it costs to put someone in a cage!); the average mortgage in Canada (including Vancouver, etc.) is just $2100 a month which works out to just $70 a day. We can feed and house people at the Bread of Life, Tiny Homes, or a shelter here for a lot cheaper than that too – with all the supports to keep themselves and others safe! So why do we lock people in prisons? It doesn’t help them. It doesn’t help us! – oh and btw I read that over 70% of those in Canadian prisons have diagnosed mental health conditions.

 

Instead of locking someone up to be tortured in the cages we call prisons, we could send someone somewhere actually safe and secure for mental health and addiction support – we just choose not to! Derek, one of our regular friends at the Army and the Bread of Life, every time he gets out of jail he is healthy-ish, well fed and not visibly fighting his demons for a week or so – but when they toss him out of prison they toss him out on the street with no support; so his own mental health demons torment him so much until he hurts himself and others in unimaginable ways and then winds up back behind bars where he suffers everything that one suffers there. That doesn’t make society safe. That doesn’t make Derick safe.

 

That doesn’t need to be the case. My friend Zerah was eventually sentenced to mental health care and weekly injections for his schizophrenia instead of jail and he was able to contribute to society. Why don’t we help everyone who needs help like that? Why do we torture people like we do to Derrick instead? Why? Just because Zerah ‘lucked out’ and had a compassionate judge? Because he had a TSA Officer with him the whole time? We are called to set the captives free. There is no reason for anyone to be tortured in a cage, let alone the 80% of the people we are doing this to who have never been convicted of a crime. And how can we punish people with mental health and addiction issues for acting in manners consistent with their mental health and addiction issues?

 

And… why am I asking us this question? And to 25 people here who actually do a lot for people in our community? What do I want us to do? Are we able to go speak with Judge Wolf and ask that he never sentence someone to incarceration again? – maybe; I wouldn’t object to that. Do I want a volunteer to start a court worker program here like we had in Saskatchewan that helped keep people out of prison? - maybe; I wouldn’t object to that. Am I asking us to write letter or speak in person to Josie (our MLA) and Gord (our MP) and ask them to change the legislation so that we try to help heal our community heal rather than punish the sick and even innocent people this way; maybe. I wouldn’t object to that.

 

I guess the main thing I am asking us is to keep our eyes open; keep our ears open. Remember that Jesus and the Bible does command us set the captives free and we as members of the church are asked to do that, just as we are asked to forgive one another like we have spoken about the previous few weeks. So today, I ask that we please just leave here knowing and believing that our world can be changed and it can be changed now; there are other solutions, let us look for them; let us pray for them, and let us fight for them. Jesus tells us to set the captives free.

 

Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com

Psalm 147:7-11: Does God Prohibit the Kilt?

 Presented to the Alberni Valley Salvation Army, 25 January 2025 and Swift Current Corps 23 January 2011 as well as 28 January 2018, an on-line homily by Captain/Major Michael Ramsay

This is the 2025 version.

 

To view the 2018 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2018/01/psalm-14710-mans-legs.html

To view the 2011 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/01/psalm-14710-neither-delighteth-he-in.html

  

Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these books, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes:

 

…. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to wear the kilt to church on Sunday; to this day I can recall singing the words of Psalm 147:10 ‘Neither delighteth he in any man’s legs’. I pondered at that time the question of whether scripture condemned the kilt.

 

When I read Peter Craigie’s quote I knew immediately what I should preach on while I am wearing my kilt for Robbie Burns Day. Do we know who Robbie Burns is? Robert Burns (1759-1796) was an 18th Century Scottish poet and songwriter who wrote hundreds of lasting tributes to Scottish life in both song and poetry. Of himself, he wrote:

 

The poetic genius of my country found me, as the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha—at the plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over me. She bade me sing the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of my native soil, in my native tongue; I tuned my wild, artless notes as she inspired (ROBERT BURNS, Edinburgh, April 4, 1787).

 

Robert Burns is a poet; he is not to be confused with Scotland’s patron saint; do you know who that is? …St. Andrew from the Bible. St. Andrew’s Day is the 30th of November, and it is a national holiday in Scotland. Robert Burns Day is the 25th of January and this is a good time for the Scottish diaspora, people of Scottish heritage in this country here to get together, wear the kilt, eat haggis, and listen to the bard’s poetry, bagpipes, and watch or try some highland or Scottish country dancing.

 

Last night Susan, our parents, Sarah-Grace and I went to the Robbie Burns dinner put on by PAHDA at Echo as we do almost every year to watch Heather dance. When we were in Toronto and before, Sarah-Grace would dance too. Robbie Burns Day is always a lot of fun

  

Verse 10 of our text today is not referencing the kilt, Highland Dancing or Robert Burns. in the NIV it reads: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior [or 'man' in place of 'warrior' depending on the year published];” the rest of this sentence is contained in Verse 11: “the LORD delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

 

Psalm 147:10 is not talking about wearing a kilt, bathing suit, or shorts when it says that God doesn’t delight in a warrior’s legs. This passage is not addressing Christian modesty. It is telling us that if we put our faith in something instead of God – in this example the passage is specifically referencing the military: ‘horse’ being calvary and ’warrior’ being ‘warrior’ – if we put our faith in people, the military, or anything else, instead of God, we will not impress God - who is the creator, preserver, and governor of all things.

 

The prophet Samuel warned the ancient Hebrews that if they were a unified country under a single political leader that the leader would press their children into military service (1 Sam 8:1-22). King Solomon and his heirs did just this and more as they ignored this advice of Psalm 147 and put their faith in themselves, their military, their legs, and their horse until God finally had enough and put an end to the Kingdom of Israel (2 Chr 36:17-21).

 

Putting their faith in their military or the military of regional superpowers was futile. I think Canada is discovering the challenges of trusting in the benevolence of superpowers these days.

 

What about us individually? Who do we trust? We know that putting faith in anything instead of God, we know that not trusting God is basically a rejection of Him and His Kingdom. A New Testament equivalent is contained in Matthew 6:24-27:

 

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 

 

Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” Psalm 147:11: “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

 

Now ‘fear’ can mean a lot of things in the Bible. The word translated ‘fear’ in this verse, ‘yare’, in the tense and context, refers quite simply to a moral reverence. It is a kind of deference but it does not include any of the moral dread that is involved with other variations of the word ‘fear’. An example of this ‘fear’, ‘yare’ in our society is sort of like when one is in court and the judge tells you specifically to remove your hat, you do it. This ‘yare-fear’ would probably be – in this context - more like if someone meets me when I am out of uniform and they are using rather rough language with a lot of profanity and swear words. As soon as they recognize me or find out that I am an Officer/ pastor, they immediately apologize for every swear word they ever uttered in their whole life it seems! ‘Watching their language’ is out of respect for my vocation, my calling. It is not out of fright. Likewise, we, in the Lord’s courtroom, need to respect his authority and we can also put our faith in His unfailing love.

 

This unfailing love, (checed), relates to a strong sense of goodwill especially as can be relied on in real times of need (cf. Deuteronomy 7:7,12; Psalm 89:24, 28, 33, 49; 2 Samuel 7:15; Isaiah 55:3).[10] Sometimes this word is translated as ‘mercy’ or ‘kindness’. This word, checed, relates to one you can turn to in a crisis. We all have friends and family but we know that when the chips are down there are some we can trust more than others. This word for love or mercy applied in this context refers to one who will never let us down in a time of need. And that one is God.

 

The Lord delights in those of us who respect Him – who care enough about Him and His feelings to watch our language around Him. And He can be trusted in our time of need because of His unfailing love for us (cf. John 3:16ff.). We don’t need to rely on horse and men’s legs. We don’t need to rely on cavalry and infantry. We don’t need to rely on man or Mammon. We don’t need to rely on people or money. We don’t need to rely on anyone in place or instead of God. God will provide.

 

How about us here today? Do we ever fall into this trap of trusting someone or something instead of God? Do we sometimes put our faith in money, the strength of the horse or the legs of a man? Do we ever put our faith in something that can let us down– instead of relying on God? 

 

So today I would like to encourage you. If there is anyone or anything in our life that we are tempted to put our trust in ahead of God, if we have been let down by others, if we have been let down by circumstances, if we have been let down by ourselves, there is still one who can deliver us. There is one, and probably only one who will never let us down – and that one is God. Really if everyone and everything else in life does let us down, God promises that He will never leave us or forsake us.

 

So today, with all the real things that our troubling us, let us trust God. He loves us and will take care of us.    Let us pray