Psalm Project

Psalm 138

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“You overwhelm my soul with strength.” (138:3)

Most people are capable of handling whatever set of challenges they receive. It is not so much that “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle” than it is simply that most of us do what we need to do. We might not have thought that we were capable of handling such a challenge, and in hindsight, we might wonder how we accomplished it. We did it because we had no other choice, and because at any point that we thought we could do no more, we summoned the extra strength to finish the job because we had to.

Psalm 137

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“There we sat down and yes, we wept, as we remembered Zion.” (137:1)

When I am not in Jerusalem and I think about the city, I don’t weep. In my lifetime, Zion only grows more magnificent from visit to visit. But I get a sense of the crushing sadness of the Psalmist when I fly into New York past the 1776 foot spire of One World Trade center. It is a beautifully designed building, but I see the ghosts of the two blocky towers that preceded it. I see the planes crashing and the bodies falling and the glass and metal disintegrating and the and paper showering lower Manhattan. And I cry.

Psalm 136

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“Who took note of us in our degradation” (136:23)

Many years ago, I experienced the loss of a grandfather to whom I was very close. It was the first time I witnessed a human death. For several weeks afterward, I carried a heavy burden of sadness, but friends whom I thought were close either didn’t notice or chose not to address it. One person finally noticed my sadness and remarked on it, giving me the chance to offload my emotional baggage. It felt good to know that someone cared enough to take note of my demeanor and ask if I was OK. My mental state immediately improved.

Psalm 135

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“[A] treasured possession.” (135:4)

The Biblical foundational story of human origins asserts that human beings are designed to partner, rather than spend their life alone. To unite in partnership with another human being is to know that one is treasured by another human being. To partner is to commit oneself to love another as oneself. Every person wants to be treasured at times, to be placed on a pedestal and treated like a king or queen. Everyone has moments in their life when they want and need to nurture and be nurtured, to comfort and be comforted.

Psalm 134

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“Who stand nightly in the house of Adonai …” (134:1)

For those who want to build a strong spiritual core, there is no substitute for doing the hard work of prayer, study, and meditation, along with taking care of their physical self with good nutrition and exercise. This is a daily regimen of spirit-building, training themselves to be aware of their place in the world as beings created in the image of God. Goodness and connectedness do not come naturally, but only over time do they develop an innate sense of what is right and true.