RSS

Tag Archives: “Here in the Psalm”

Psalm 23:4

07 Apr

4 Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

Dear God, when I saw that this verse was Sister Miriam’s focus in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, I immediately thought of the poem by Sally Fisher called “Here in the Psalm” that was a reinterpretation of the 23rd Psalm. Here is the part that corresponds with verse 4:

and though some valleys
are very chilly there is a long
rod that prods me so I
direct my hooves
the right way

I’ve been sick in bed the last couple of days, and I’ve found myself watching some reaction videos for the Clint Eastwood movie Unforgiven. It’s a brutal tale, but Eastwood wrote, directed, and produced it to de-glorify violence. There is violence in the movie, but Eastwood makes you feel it. He makes you feel each death and how it impacts the murderer. During the movie, people are scared. Clint Eastwood’s whole life is a lifeless valley with no hope. At one point, he is sick and starts hallucinating. He says he saw the Angel of Death. He is, in fact, “unforgiven.” Thinking about it now, every person in the movie is desperate and hopeless. No one isn’t afraid.

Of course, I don’t live a life like that. Few do nowadays. I guess maybe people like that were the minority back then as well. I’m grateful to not have had to live in one, long, seemingly endless valley. But I know there are people in today’s world who do. I think of the people in Israel and Gaza. The people in Ukraine. Sudan. All over the world. There is no hope. There is no dream of things getting better. Just desperation.

Wow, Father. I don’t know where I’m going with this except to use it to lead me to pray for those in your world who are desperate. Whether they live in my community and are victims of extreme poverty, addiction, domestic violence, etc. Or whether they are in a country or situation where their persecution is limitless. I pray for those souls. I don’t have the answer for them. I don’t have the answer for their tormentors–the “unforgiven.” I’m just 1 7-billionth of this world, sitting in a bed right now recovering from a cold. But while their lives are seemingly cheap to this world, I know that every single one of the 7 billion souls on this planet currently living are precious to you. I pray that your Spirit will move over all of the land and sea. I pray that you will touch lives, rescue, comfort, prod, correct, and move. Oh, Father, please move.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 7, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Happy Easter!

31 Mar
  • AM Psalms: 148, 149, 150
  • PM Psalms: 113, 114
  • Exodus 12:1-14
  • Isaiah 51:9-11
  • John 1:1-18, 20:19-23

Dear God, I didn’t look ahead, so I wondered before I opened Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer might only have a passage about Jesus resurrection from the Gospels. Or maybe multiple tellings from multiple Gospels. Instead, they don’t have any of those passages. The only post-resurrection passage we get is Jesus appearing to his disciples that evening after Mary Magdalene had already seen him. So let’s get into these passages and see how they might add to the Easter story.

Psalms 148, 149, 150 – So these last three psalms are wonderful because they just worship you. Straight out worship. No calls for killing my enemies or anything like that. Just, “You are great!!” I love it. Yes, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit–my Triune God–you are great!! Oh, thank you. Thank you for your victory. Thank you that you relieved me of the pressure of “winning.” You’ve already won. All I have to do is faithfully follow you as best as possible. It reminds me of that last part of the poem I read inspired by Psalm 23: …I’m trying hard to sit at a table because it’s expected, required really, and my enemies–it turns out I have enemies–are watching me eat and spill my drink but I don’t worry because all my enemies do is watch and I know I’m safe if I will just do my best as I sit on this chair that wobbles a bit in the grass on the side of a hill. (“Here in the Psalm” by Sally Fisher)

Psalms 113, 114 – Psalm 114 might be one of the most poetic psalms I’ve read over the last 47 days: “The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs…turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.” What fun ways to remember all the great things you have done. I should probably sit down more often and recount the great things you have done.

Exodus 12:1-14 – This story is so powerful and yet so horrific. It made me think of President Truman’s ultimate decision to drop the first atomic bomb. A lot of innocent people died in both stories. I’m not comparing the moral equivalency of the stories; just the idea that there was a mass group of people who died and another mass group of people who were protected from it. This world is so complex. How time plays out is so complex. That everything in history lined up even so that I could be here today is amazing. That everyone who is currently on earth because history has been laid out in this exact way. Oh, help us to live up to this blessing.

Isaiah 51:9-11 – My wife and I were talking yesterday about time continuing on after Easter. For her, she’s worked very hard this week in the church at different services. There has been a big build up to Easter. For me, this is the most intense Lenten season I’ve probably ever done leading up to Easter. It almost feels like the end of something, but it’s really only the beginning. It’s only the beginning. So it’s time to get up today and every day to live in this victory provided by this amazing gift of God the Father, Jesus his Son, and His Holy Spirit.

John 1:1-18, 20:19-23 – John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. Oh, how I want to really understand who you are, Jesus. I want to, but I still don’t. I’ve been a discipling Christian for 37 years. I’ve been doing these prayer journals for 24 years. Yet I understand so little still. Thank you for your patience with me and teaching me. And that leads me to you walking into the room with your disciples after your resurrection. This whole thing about forgiving sins is powerful. You forgive me. You give me grace. The long list you could keep for me of the things I do wrong is invisible to you because of Jesus’s blood. I don’t know that I have any authority like the disciples did to administer your forgiveness to others, but if I do I want that net of forgiveness to be cast very wide.

Now, I am going to get dressed and go to a sunrise service at a local Lutheran church. I love you, Father. I love you, Jesus. I love you, Holy Spirit. Thank you for accepting my love. Thank you for accepting my life. And thank you for the bridge you provided for me.

I offer this entire Lenten season to you in the precious, powerful, humble, and sacrificial name of Jesus, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 31, 2024 in Exodus, Isaiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

Tags: , ,

Lent Day 18

02 Mar

Dear God, I have a couple of important visits with people today. One is breakfast and one is lunch. Oh, God, speak to me and make me who you need me to be today. Help me to be discerning about when I should speak and when I shouldn’t. And help me figure out what to say.

So here are the verses today in Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

  • AM Psalms: 75, 76
  • PM Psalms: 23, 27
  • Jeremiah 5:20-31
  • John 7:1-13
  • Romans 3:19-31

Dear God, I just have to start with this. I know it’s a PM psalm, but I came across something two years ago for the 23rd Psalm that I loved.

“Here in the Psalm” by Sally Fisher

I am a sheep
and I like it
because the grass
I lie down in
feels good and the still
waters are restful and right
there if I’m thirsty
and though some valleys
are very chilly there is a long
rod that prods me so I
direct my hooves
the right way
though today
I’m trying hard
to sit at a table
because it’s expected
required really
and my enemies—
it turns out I have enemies—
are watching me eat and
spill my drink
but I don’t worry because
all my enemies do
is watch and I know
I’m safe if I will
just do my best
as I sit on this chair
that wobbles a bit
in the grass
on the side of a hill.

“Here In The Psalm” by Sally Fisher from Good Question. © Bright Hills Press, 2016.

There is so much I like about this. First, it’s one thing to say you are my shepherd, but it’s another thing to own the identity as your helpless lamb: “I am a sheep and I like it.” Right off the bat, I am entering this common story through a different lens. Then, well, it’s just everything. Water is easy to reach. Protection from my enemies (it turns out I have enemies). Just lovely.

Now, for the other passages.

Psalm 75, 76 – These are just straight praise psalms. I try to picture their author, Asaph, writing them. Just writing down his worship of you. Amen.

Jeremiah 5:20-31 – Verses 30 and 31: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” It’s the line, “…and my people love it this way.” Oh, Father, help me to hear and seek your voice and your voice alone for my counsel and my authority. Yes, you put others in authority over me. Help me to discern when it is you speaking and when it is them. Help me to find joy in your commands and rest in your peace.

John 7:1-13 – What a story. Such open conflict between Jesus and his brothers. And the people didn’t know what to think of Jesus. But I can guarantee none of them thought he was eventually going to willingly be crucified as a sacrifice for them. Those who believed thought he was going to lead Israel. Those who didn’t thought he was a false prophet. I’m convinced that absolutely no one understood what was really going on. And Jesus’s brothers goading him was just another thing he had to deal with.

Romans 3:19-31 – “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too…” Oh, thank you for the grace of including me in your family. As your child. Oh, thank you.

I offer you all of these things and the two meals I am having with others today as a sacrifice to you. Help me to do and say (or not say) whatever you need me to regardless of what it costs me.

I offer this prayer to you and my worship in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 2, 2024 in Jeremiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms, Romans

 

Tags: , ,