Psalm 86

Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my cry of supplication.

For several days the psalms have shown a vengeful God.

Breaking teeth was yesterday's divine preoccupation.

Today, among other similar passages we read, "God will shatter the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways."

I understand God would be justified to offer a crack or more.

But this is not my experience of God. Instead I have known patience, forgiveness, steadfast love, generous blessing and great joy.

Psalm 86

Psalm 3

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
Rise up, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!

He may not be afraid, but he recognizes a threat.

Do I recognize the threat?

There is good. There is evil.

There is light. There is dark.

Am I willing to name the difference?

Can I recognize the essential difference?

Psalm 3

Psalm 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

We are all dying.

I would prefer the end of life to come sooner and quicker.

I am not unhappy, but I am tired.

Perhaps when death is truly near I will find a second wind.

But I do yearn to be where I can hear the trumpets of the Lord.

Psalm 84

Psalm 138

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Above the Hebrew בְּעַד - b'ad - is translated as purpose.

This transforms a preposition into an object, and an abstract object at that.

The preposition is generally used to indicate where or how action occurs.

A very literal translation of the verse: That Which Exists is completed through, behind, about, on behalf of.

God's purpose is fulfilled, sometimes indirectly, sometimes even by sinners, sometimes even by me.

Psalm 138

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.

As a young man I dreamed of quicksand.

Wherever I walked, the surface gave way.

Nothing held, no progress could be made.

Metaphorically, the dream captured my reality.

Decades later I can join the psalmist in his song of praise.

Psalm 40

Psalm 84

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.

Where is home?

Where do we belong?

Is it a particular town, house, place?

Is there anyplace you feel truly secure?

The Hebrew for house -- bayith -- also means inward, within, indwelling.

Psalm 84

Psalm 49

Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.

וְאָדָם בִּיקָר, בַּל-יָלִין; נִמְשַׁל כַּבְּהֵמוֹת נִדְמוּ.

What humans esteem passes quickly, as beasts that perish.

Regardless of what I have - or lose - it is ephemeral.

Do not worry. Do not take pride. Abide in love and honor one another.

Psalm 49

Psalm 45

You are the most handsome of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you for ever.
Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and majesty.
In your majesty ride on victoriously
for the cause of truth and to defend the right;
let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
Your throne is a throne of God, it endures for ever and ever.
Your royal sceptre is a sceptre of equity;
you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honour;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

Every time this psalm is assigned, I smirk and shake my head.

I doubt I have ever before chosen it for comment.

It is clearly a royal wedding song, a mostly secular piece.

It articulates a persistent archetype: the handsome, brave, and pure hero.

The hero honors God, is just and righteous; he has been anointed with the oil of gladness.

I do not conform to the archetype, yet God has given me much cause for gladness.

The hero personifies every physical grace, but what truly matters is loving God and neighbor with all our heart and soul and mind.

Psalm 45

Psalm 89

Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said:
‘I have set the crown on one who is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
I have found my servant David;
with my holy oil I have anointed him;
my hand shall always remain with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.

I have no idea how the Hebrew 'ezer became "set the crown".

In every dictionary to which I have access this is "given help."

But I'm ready to go with it: In helping us God has crowned us, this confirms our identity as sons and daughters of God, this proclaims our role as servant and leader, we are anointed for profound purpose.

Psalm 89

Psalm 98

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

Past, present, future are the tenses of English and the worldview of most English-speakers.

Ancient Hebrew is organized around whether the action is completed or not.

"For he is coming..." is nicely coherent with the Biblical worldview. It is a continuous action, unfolding until completed.

Psalm 89

Psalm 30

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

Another translation offers, "and girded me with gladness".

The verb suggests dressing for battle.

Joy, gladness, mirth, and pleasure are the armor of righteousness.

Psalm 30

Psalm 31

Love the Lord, all you his saints.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.

I have studied the thirty-first psalm more carefully than any other.

But today I noticed something new.

Above are the final verses.

In the original Hebrew the second clause of the second verse is:

אֱמוּנִים, נֹצֵר יְהוָה; וּמְשַׁלֵּם עַל-יֶתֶר, עֹשֵׂה גַאֲוָה.

Rather than repaying the haughty, I read: completing or fulfilling the expansive maker.

The verb is shalam: to make whole, complete, fulfill.

The adjective/noun is ga'avah 'asah.  The doer, maker, worker, designer is rising up, emerging, lifted up, exalted.

The more negative translation is certainly possible, but not necessary.

And, at least for me - on this day - the more positive translation seems more coherent with the remainder of the psalm and my understanding of God.

Complete my doing, dear God.  Make it whole and beautiful and fulfilling of your purpose.

Psalm 31

Psalm 37

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart...
Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land,
and delight in abundant prosperity.

It is a very clear formula:

Trust, do good, be delighted. Security, prosperity - even the desires of your heart - will be given to you.

Some may assume this is a promise for the next life.

But there is an earthy immediacy to the Hebrew.

I expect the promise can be depended upon: If we are "all in".

If we fully trust, always do good, and are constantly delighted, I can imagine a transcendent state in which all that is promised is achieved.

I will probably continue to play my chips more conservatively, dissatisfied with my returns but unwilling to make a commitment to the winning formula.

Why is that?

Psalm 37

Psalm 119

My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Put false ways far from me;
and graciously teach me your law.

On first reading, it sounds desperate:

"My soul clings to the dust."

But another reading and consulting the Hebrew suggests something else.

Too often I waste my life on rubbish: On regret, worry, offense, doubt, emotional debris blowing in the wind.

Revive me. It is but one Hebrew word: חָיָה or chayah.

The definition of this single word: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health, to live prosperously, to quicken, revive, refresh.

Help me to let loose of the dust and receive the blessings of this life, O God.


Psalm 119

Psalm 36

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

Each morning I read a meditation and each of the psalms assigned for the day.

I choose a few verses for special attention based on my emotional response.

This morning I read five psalms with no discernible reaction, nothing captured me.

I read each again. The first was full of self-assured righteousness.

The second asked God to punish the wicked.

The third sought protection from the wicked.

The fourth asked God to remove his eye of judgment.

The fifth was a song of praise to King David.

The passage above -- from the third reading -- still does elicit much response.

Surely, it should.

Psalm 36

Psalm 50

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High...
Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
to those who go the right way
I will show the salvation of God.

Confess, give thanks, shout praises, and enter into a covenant of peace with God.

With self-awareness, other-awareness, gladness and joy come to know God.

This is the liturgy of freedom, fulfillment, and deliverance.

Psalm 50

Psalm 115

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.

Over time language tends to become increasingly abstract.

This is especially the case with religious language.

שֵׁם or shem is name, but was originally a prominent place or unchanging marker.

כָּבוֹד or kawbowd is glory, but was originally heavy, weighty, and hard.

The identity and character of God is unchanging.

God is love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115

Psalm 20

May he grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfil all your plans.
May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfil all your petitions.

And from Psalm 21:

In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord,
and in your help how greatly he exults!
You have given him his heart’s desire,
and have not withheld the request of his lips.

From Psalm 110:

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.’
The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

From Psalm 116:

I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.

The theme persists across other psalm assigned for today, in many other psalms, and in how most are in relationship with God.

We want God to give us what we want.

I do too. I am annoyed that God has delayed so long in awarding the lottery to me.

The genius of the psalms is how well they articulate our persistent humanness, the echoes resonate over 3000 years.

In the self-serving, struggling, even savage psalmist I often see myself.

But the psalms can also surprise, especially on close examination.

"May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfil all your plans."

In the original Hebrew this is:

יִתֶּן-לְךָ כִלְבָבֶךָ; וְכָל-עֲצָתְךָ יְמַלֵּא.

Nathan: grant, devote, consecrate, dedicate, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, produce

Lebab: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding, seat of courage.

O God, consecrate my heart, soul and mind.

That is a very different supplication.

Psalm 20

Psalm 16

You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Today's psalms are manic.

The twenty-second psalm cries out:

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

I know this draining until completely dry.

But God is always ready to re-fill.

The sixteenth psalm is not only speaking of spiritual joy.

This is overflowing pleasure, mirth, and gladness.

From God's right hand gushes beautiful, sweetly sounding music.

Filling my eyes, ears, every sense, heart, and mind.

Psalm 16

Psalm 18

He reached down from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

He delighted in me.

The Hebrew is חָפֵץ or chaphets

God takes pleasure - is curiously pleased - enough to bend down.

I recall the delight when my wife and I came upon a turtle laying her eggs.

And when a family of turkeys were surprised and exploded in flight.

At the close of a long day, I attended an evensong sung by two dozen seeming angels.

I am sure they are not always angels, but it was - they were - delightful.

From a troubled sleep, my enemies: pride, doubt, and more, awakened me with pain.

I struggled to escape my enemies and found the story of a young orangutang.

I was delighted, reclaimed my peace, and returned to sleep.

I am but an animal, often stupid, selfish, and even savage.

Still the Creator of the Cosmos delights in me.

Psalm 18

Psalm 40

Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods...
Then I said, ‘Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.’

I will attend to That Which Exists.

I will not be distracted by self-delusion.

I will show, I am of That Which Exists.

Psalm 40

Psalm 5

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
For there is no truth in their mouths;
their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open graves;
they flatter with their tongues.
Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover them with favour as with a shield.

The enemies of the psalmist are external.

My enemies are much more internal.

Yet the words of the psalm are as good - better? - for me.

In Hebrew this particular enemy is sorek, literally choice vines or the best wine.

Our finest fruits can threaten us, if we mistake their source.

When we flatter ourselves for being clever and creative we are little more than rancid raisins.

When we sing in joy and thankgiving for what we have freely received, there is the chance for a great vintage.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. (John 15:1-4)

Psalm 5

Psalm 4

When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!’
You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.
I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

Agitation tends toward action.

It is often better to rest until the agitation passes.

Prayer tends toward asking.

It is often better to be silent and listen.

Psalm 4

Psalm 147

He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.

I perceive God in nature.

In natural beauty, diversity, creativity, power, and mystery there is a clue of the divine.

As my children reflect something of me, nature reflects something of its Creator.

God transcends my perception and understanding, yet is present and palpable all the same.

Transcendence and immanence persist in shared time and place, perpetual paradox and assurance.

Psalm 147

Psalm 114

The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.

The psalms assigned for today all point to divine strength and mortal weakness.

From this antinomy emerges a keen sense of human vulnerability.

In many ways the sense is accurate, I read Psalm 114 much differently since the earthquake-and-tsunami than before.

Yet the psalms and much more tell us That Which Exists loves and cares for us, and this is a reality I also know.

There is a great chasm between us and God, but we are invited and helped to cross its treacherous landscape and assured of being received on the other side.

Psalm 114

Psalm 96

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, כִּי בָא-- כִּי בָא, לִשְׁפֹּט הָאָרֶץ

Before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth.

A different rendering:

Face That Which Exists And Is Becoming, entering into our earthly struggle.

See and receive with great joy the reconciling of earth and heaven, creator and created.

Psalm 96

Psalm 2

I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
today I have begotten you.'
.

  אֲסַפְּרָה, אֶל-חֹק: יְהוָה, אָמַר אֵלַי בְּנִי אַתָּה--אֲנִי, הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ

We are all children of God.

We are each begotten of the Creator of the Cosmos.

We are brothers and sisters, princes and princesses.

Are we willing to accept our inheritance?

Are we ready to participate in the reign of God?

Psalm 2

Psalm 85

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.*
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

He will speak completeness, wholeness, fulfillment...

This is the word - logos - with which the cosmos was created.

We are redeemed by reclaiming the wholeness for which we are intended.

Psalm 85

Psalm 68

Father of orphans and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God gives the desolate a home to live in;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious live in a parched land.

I am rebellious.

I am also a prisoner.. of my own rebellion.

I am homeless... due to my rebellion.

I am alone... as a result of my rebellion.

Redeem and reclaim me dear God.

Psalm 68

Psalm 34

Which of you desires life,
and covets many days to enjoy good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.

Refrain from treachery and self-serving lies.

Do not shatter, separate, or divide.

Instead do what is pleasant and gives others pleasure.

Actively seek wholeness, completeness, fulfillment.

This is how to live.

Psalm 34

Psalm 148

Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.

This New Year's early morning the arc of heaven shines with a billion stars.

I can see so many more stars than usual that even the Big Dipper is a bit obscured.

But it is there, as it has been since humanity's first evening.

Over the millennia the stars have shifted slightly and continue to shift.

But the formation will remain recognizable for another 500 plus centuries.

From our earthly angle it appears to be a ladle, plow, gourd, saucepan, or chariot.

What shape would it take if we stood at a different place in our galaxy?

Yet the seven stars are always there, constant, shining, showing the way.

The name, identity, place and purpose of That Which Exists persists.

Psalm 148