Psalms

Psalm 79

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“… with none to bury them.” (79:3)

Burial is a fundamental Jewish mitzvah (God-commanded obligation). Along with procreation, brit milah (circumcision), and refraining from eating the sciatic nerve of a kosher animal, it is one of a small handful of mitzvot one can learn from the book of Genesis (from Abraham’s burial of Sarah in Genesis 23, although normally derived from Deuteronomy 21:23). Many Jewish communities, in fact, began with the formation of burial societies and the purchase of land for a cemetery. Planning for one’s burial in a Jewish cemetery is a basic Jewish behavior.

Psalm 78

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“They ate till they were sated.” (78:29)

A weight loss diet should be simple. We ought to eat until we are satisfied and then stop. For the vast majority of us, our bodies tell us when we have eaten enough. Our problem is that we are not listening. Or we don’t want to listen, because the stimulation of taste, smell, and texture gives us so much pleasure that we shut down the internal voice yelling ‘Stop!’ and take another bite, another helping, and more dessert. The solution is simple and infinitely difficult. Practice active listening, both external, to loved ones, friends, and co-workers, and internal, to your own body.

Psalm 77

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“I recall Your wonders.” (77:12)

I love my wife. I confess, however, that I do not spend my days obsessing over why I love her, whether it makes sense to continue to love her, what it means to love her, whether the love is reciprocal, or how I should best express the love from moment to moment (note to self: I would do better if I did spend more time on the last question). For me, it is enough that I see her and remember the wonders of our life together; this sense of wonder and gratitude defines our loving relationship. And so it is with God.

Psalm 76

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“He cuts off the breath of princes.” (76:13)

We all die, rich and poor, celebrity and unknown, powerful and vulnerable. This is true in a narrow sense, that every human being is mortal with a limited life span. However, this does not mean we all live out our allotted years. Wealth buys better health care, which extends life. People living in poverty often eat a less healthy diet, lack easy access to basic preventative health care, live in a less healthy environment, and cannot afford life-extending medications and treatment for serious illness. If we achieve a world in which both paupers and princes both live out their maximum genetically determined life span, we will see the coming of the Messiah.

Psalm 75

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“To the boastful I say, ‘Do not be boastful.’ ” (75:5)

There is a Jewish teaching that cautions against trying to give reproach to those who lack the capacity to accept it. An uncontrolled ego may very well be the most serious character flaw. At the core of every flaw, you’ll find an ego which demands attention to the exclusion of others around it and which considers itself to be above the rules. Suggesting to the owner of such an ego to keep it under control is unlikely to be successful. Nevertheless, I commend the Psalmist for tilting at such windmills.