Psalm Project

Psalm 3

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“I lie down and sleep and wake again.” (3:6)

We sleep to recharge ourselves so that we can wake up in the morning with energy, ready to embrace any and all possibilities that the day might present to us, with a smile and a positive attitude. It is a blessing of the highest order to be able to lie down and know that we’ve given our best effort over the course of the day. When we can lie down with satisfaction for how we’ve conducted ourselves and with no regrets for the things that we have left undone or the things that we have to apologize for tomorrow, we can sleep the sleep of the righteous.

Psalm 2

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“Break the cords of their yoke …” (2:3)

A mature adult is never completely free from responsibilities, but we choose what yokes we wear. Some yokes are harder to remove than others. The yokes of addiction to alcohol, tobacco, or drugs physically attach themselves to our shoulders, whereas the yokes of addiction to shopping or our iDevices rest so comfortably and naturally that we are loathe to remove them. The yoke is the device that drives the cart. We can choose to take on the yokes of family, service to God and community, and friends first and let those activities be our priorities, rather than yoking ourselves to other things that distract us from what should be most important.

Psalm 1

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“A tree planted beside streams of water …” (1:3)

A well-watered tree planted in good soil will flourish. Everything that goes into my body — the food I eat, the liquids I drink, the air I breathe, the sounds and words that I listen to and the images that I watch, will affect my physical and spiritual health. I like action movies but lately, at my wife’s urging, I have been averting my eyes during the most violent scenes. Negative speech, much the same as sugary, fat-laden junk food, creates an intoxicating buzz for a moment, followed by a general feeling of malaise. A healthy lifestyle which includes high doses of gossip is like a vegan diet with occasional splurges of bacon cheeseburgers.

Psalm Reflections

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It’s been about six months since I completed my cycle of psalm reflections. Writing a 300 words reflection every week about a verse from a Psalm was rewarding, even though at time it was a difficult discipline. The Psalms are powerful poetry, reflecting a spectrum of human experience reaching out towards God. I appreciated the time that I spent every week reading the Psalm, trying to understand its message, and searching within that for the message it had for me. I miss it, but I’ve not been sure whether I am prepared to commit the time to do it again in the same way. Reading one Psalm a week was a three year commitment.

After much thought, I decided I missed the Psalms and want to go back through them again, but I also decided to streamline and accelerate the pace. 2017 will be the year of the Psalms mini-reflection. I’m going to try to go through the Psalms again and write brief reflections of approximately 100 words, each one focusing on a short sentence or phrase. And I’m going to try to publish three a week, so I can finish the project in one year.

I’d love to read your comments. I’d also love to see you keep up and write your own reflections and share them in the comments.

 

 

Psalm 150

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Let all that breathes praise Adonai. Hallelujah! (150:6)

I love the fact that the book of Psalms concludes with praise that comes from every living creature that draws a breath. Not just human beings, but every other animal joins with us in dedicating that breath to God. Every release of breath gives something back to God. We return carbon dioxide to nourish plant life. We release music to make the world beautiful. We release sounds and words of gratitude.

For some, criticism comes more naturally than praise. But living a life in which criticism comes as naturally as breathing is a recipe for unhappiness. Such people are focused on what is missing from their lives rather than the gifts they have received.

The book of Psalms contains words of people who are deeply afraid, unhappy, persecuted, and sick, reaching out to God for relief. The book concludes, however, with the words of people reaching out God in song and praise. At the end of my life I hope to face death and God with words of gratitude on my lips, for my wife, for my children, and for all that I have experienced in my life. Because we don’t know at what moment we might die, Pirke Avot suggests that we treat each hour as if it is our last (2:10). Consider the last sentence you spoke to a loved one. What if that were your final words? Would your last breath be leaving you carrying praise or condemnation?

Psalms concludes with an exercise in gratitude. How can your every exhaled breath contain appreciation?

I am grateful to God for the wisdom embodied in the 150 Psalms, reflecting the entirety of the range of human experience. I am grateful for the opportunity to engage with the poetry and use the life of the poet as a backdrop against which I have examined my own life. I am grateful to God for giving me the strength and perseverance to complete this project of Psalm reflections. As my thoughts have given me peace of mind, I hope that they have positively impacted other readers.

“May Adonai grant strength to God’s people. May Adonai bless God’s people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11)

.ה׳ עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן, ה׳ יְבָרֵךְ אֶת־עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם