A Final Word from the Psalms

 

Here we are at the end of our time with the psalms as we start the month of September.  There is so much more we could explore and say about the psalms, but for now we will pause. I pray some of what you’ve experienced reading these mediations over the last month has been meaningful.  I do pray you continue to explore, sing, let these ancient hymns provoke and evoke what is roaming around within you.  Remember psalms are poetry.  I just read a quote from Mary Oliver, “I believe poetry is very old and very sacred.  Poetry wishes for community.  And that’s why, when you write a poem, you write it for anybody and everybody.  It is a gift to yourself, but it is a gift to anybody who has a hunger for it.”  Continue to let the poetry of the psalms feed you and nourish you.   A few weeks ago, I preached on the Doxology, which was written almost 350 years ago.  Doxology was meant to be the final word, nothing else to say after.  For now let the Psalms have the final word.  Sing with me the words of Psalm 103:

O my soul, bless God.
    From head to toe, I’ll bless God’s holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
    don’t forget a single blessing!

    God forgives your sins—every one.
    God heals your diseases—every one.
    God redeems you from hell—saves your life!
    God crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
    God wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
    God renews your youth—you’re always young in God’s presence.  Amen.