Read Psalm 147-150!
Insert confetti
being thrown, trumpets being blown, and let it be known ~ you have read the
psalms this summer. Woo hoo! Pause and ponder with me:
What is one
lesson, truth, or insight you carry away from this experience? Maybe it is that the Psalmist knew how to
throw a pity party, and some felt like they were written by Oscar the
Grouch. Or maybe you carry with you how
often you read the word “Steadfast love,” to describe God. The Psalmist is adamant that God’s affection
toward us is unceasing and unconditional.
Or maybe you found two or three Psalms that were meaningful, and you
want to go back to those words again in the coming days. Reflect on how this experience has left an
impression and influenced your life.
What questions do
you carry? One trip, or even one hundred trips,
through the Psalms is not going to solve everything in life. We keep coming back to the Psalms because
each time, a new word can leap off the page and land in our souls. We keep coming back because each time we
are different, and so the experience will be unique.
Finally, where
might your soul be longing to go next?
You may want to take a breath, to soak and simmer in this Spiritual
experience. You may want to go back to
some of the Psalms you marked to re-read.
You may want to go to the hymnal to read modern-day words of prayer and
praise to God.
My prayer for you
is to continue to engage and encounter God in these days. Please pray with me.
Hymn-writing,
melody-making, chord-composing, Conductor of my life, thank You for Psalms that
have nurtured and nourished us over the last several weeks. Thank You for Psalms that let our Spirit soar
like an eagle or where we felt like a deer lapping at the refreshing stream of
Your presence. Thank you for even those
moments when the Psalmist's lament gave us permission to pray our pain and when
the Psalmist's words felt like sandpaper to our soul, for Your truth is there
too, O God. Continue to sing to us and
through us and inspire us to be instruments with all Creation in sharing Your
on-going, unfinished, beautiful symphony here and now. Amen.