Psalm 49, with its famous line: ‘I will incline mine ear to the parable: and shew my dark speech upon the harp’, is a psalm about listening, about tuning in to hear the voice of God’s wisdom, even in the midst of the cacophony of false claims that surround us. It’s a call to reject the world’s way, which trusts in passing wealth, and to put our trust again in the only thing that remains: the abiding love of God. This is a psalm that gives us back our spiritual compass in a world that veers back and forth between false hope and premature despair, and that is something I have tried to reflect in this poem.
As usual you can hear me read the poem by pressing the ‘play’ button if it appears, or else by clicking on the title. For the other poems in my psalm series type the word ‘psalm’ into the search box on the right
XLIX Audite haec, omnes
Where Christ himself is there to welcome you
Then you are home, wherever you may fare.
And Christ will keep your inner compass true
Though all the world is rushing everywhere,
This way and that before the winds of fear,
Between false hopes and premature despair.
But you can hear a different tune. You hear
The strong song of his wisdom. Open your ears
To hear his parables, although the foolish veer
Between their fatuous desires and fears,
With fickle fortunes that they fear to share.
Keep your security in Christ, who hears
The slightest murmur of your smallest prayer,
And do not be afraid, but trust in him,
Your heart’s in heaven, keep your treasure there.
.
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Malcolm Guite 