Psalms

Psalm 69

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“I am sinking into the slimy deep without a foothold.” (69:3)

I want, I need, give me … the unchecked ego makes demands, and we respond by behaving as if we are the center of everyone’s universe. Laziness, greed, envy, anger, pride, these moral deficiencies are all the result of an untamed ego. The bad behavior resulting from ego becomes habitual, it’s like quicksand into which one slowly sinks. The further one goes down the path of ego-driven habitual behavior, the harder it is to extract ourselves from the bad habits. The lesson – embrace humility as a central value and you will find that the demanding voice of the ego will fade to a whisper.

Psalm 68

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“Scatter the peoples who delight in wars!” (68:31)

I understand the need for military action or war and I might even cheer when a really bad guy is taken down. But war inevitably leads to the death of innocent people. Soldiers sent to do a job suffer death and injury. Civilian casualties are virtually certain, no matter how carefully the rules of war try to minimize them. The destruction of the infrastructure, such as rail lines, roads, water treatment facilities, and businesses, destroys the economy and takes years, even decades, to rebuild. In the meantime, people suffer and die, not because they are supporters of the evil regime, but because they happened to be born in the wrong place at the wrong time. I want my elected representatives to abhor war.

Psalm 67

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“May the earth yield its produce.” (67:7)

Earlier in my life I loved planting gardens. I was fascinated by sprouting things and amazed at the tiny seeds which produce tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Sometimes I was disappointed when I planted a seed and saw nothing grow but weeds, as in the oath Job took on the land, “If my land cries out against me, or … if I ate its yield without paying, … instead of wheat let thistles grow, instead of barley, weeds.” (Job 38:40) Most of the time, however, the earth gladly yielded what I sowed, and for that, I was thankful.

Psalm 66

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“I will pay You my vows that my lips spoke.” (66:13-14)

Our reputation depends largely on our ability to keep our word. The best test of character happens when the cost for keeping our word is higher than expected. Do we look for a loophole to get out of our commitment? Do we look for a scapegoat to blame for being unable to keep the promise? Or do we accept the hardship and follow through? It is precisely at the difficult moments when our reputation is tested that we can show ourselves to be most worthy of trust.

Psalm 65

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“The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are enveloped with grain.” (65:14)

This verse is the picture of a sustainable community, describing a symbiotic relationship between that which grows on the land and the animals which eat that which the land produces. The flocks consume the growth and leave donations of fertilizing waste. The shepherds shear the flocks to spin the wool, select animals for food, use the skins for parchment, perhaps to write a Sefer Torah, and the farmers plant wheat and barley for bread. The farmer cares for the land, the shepherd moves around the flocks, and all depend on God for proper rain in its season.