Psalms for the 1st Day1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Psalm 1
The two ways
The two ways
Ashréy ha-ísh ashér lo halách ba’atzát resha’ím…
Happy the man
who never follows the advice of the wicked,
or loiters on the way that sinners take,
or sits about with scoffers,
but finds his pleasure in the law of Yahweh,
and murmurs His law day and night.
who never follows the advice of the wicked,
or loiters on the way that sinners take,
or sits about with scoffers,
but finds his pleasure in the law of Yahweh,
and murmurs His law day and night.
He is like a tree that is planted
by water streams,
yielding its fruit in season,
its leaves never fading;
success attends all he does.
by water streams,
yielding its fruit in season,
its leaves never fading;
success attends all he does.
It is nothing like this with the wicked,
nothing like this!
nothing like this!
No, these are like chaff
blown away by the wind.
blown away by the wind.
The wicked will not stand firm when Judgment comes,
nor sinners when the virtuous assemble.
For Yahweh takes care of the way the virtuous go,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
nor sinners when the virtuous assemble.
For Yahweh takes care of the way the virtuous go,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
…v’dérech resha’ím tovéd.
My most intense, and tender, connecting with God, is through my Bible, particularly the Psalms. When I lie down on my bed and have my old Jerusalem Bible beside me, and when my eyes see the words printed on the page, any page, and I start reading them, I just get an indescribable something, it's not even really a feeling. It's just a knowing that He is here with me, that the printed words I am reading are from Him directly, with nothing between Him and me except themselves, and even they are Him because they are His Word in the form of verbal icon, just as Jesus is His Word in the form of a Man. That Bible has been with me since I met the Lord, and I haven't parted from it all these years. It is my Rock of safety, the place where I meet God and He touches me, and feeds me.
Praying the Psalms, or even reading them, can seem irrelevant to some people, even to some Christians—they say that they cannot relate to what is contained in them. They see them as only historical documents arising out of specific events.
What has that to do with me?
What has that to do with me?
Though it may be true that we are not bible characters, our lives can be found in the pages of scripture. My life-long love for and relationship with the Psalms had a beginning. It was when living in the world, I started being attacked for following Christ, and in turning to the Psalms I found their contents spoke to my condition and the situations I found myself in. That never stopped but has continued growing to the point where I can say that of all the books of scripture, the Psalms I read, and pray, the most.
The Psalms have this unique characteristic: They are like a revolving door with God. They both convey the prayer of our hearts to Him, and convey His response to our every prayer.After reading and praying the Psalms for thirty-three years out of my Jerusalem Bible, I finally began reading and praying them from the Tehillim, the Hebrew version of the Psalms. Now, along with my Jerusalem Bible, a copy of the Tehillim rests with me on my prayer couch, and the blessing of reading and understanding the Hebrew cannot be adequately described.
Psalm 4
Evening prayer
B’kar’í anéyni Elohéy tsidkí…
God, guardian of my rights, You answer when I call,
God, guardian of my rights, You answer when I call,
when I am in trouble You come to my relief;
now be good to me and hear my prayer.
You men, why shut your hearts so long,
You men, why shut your hearts so long,
loving delusions, chasing after lies? Selah.
Know this, Yahweh works wonders for those He loves,
Yahweh hears me when I call to Him.
Know this, Yahweh works wonders for those He loves,
Yahweh hears me when I call to Him.
Tremble: give up sinning,
spend your night in quiet meditation. Selah.
Offer sacrifice in a right spirit,
and trust Yahweh.
“Who will give us sight of happiness?” many say.
Show us the light of Your face turned toward us!
Yahweh, You have given more joy to my heart
than others ever knew, for all their corn and wine.
In peace I lie down, and fall asleep at once,
since You alone, Yahweh, make me rest secure.
…ki attá Adonáy l’vadád lavétach toshivéni.
…ki attá Adonáy l’vadád lavétach toshivéni.
Dear brother You like them because they are spiritual food and they also are the words of the lover of your soul, your Father and your God.
ReplyDeleteYour post is like a musical jam session where you open up with a melody played in your own original way- you stop to allow another musician to join in with his piece. May I join in with Psalm 19? I will, I must because the spirit of the music you played beckons me to do so!Who's after me?
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
Yes! And Andrew, let me thank you for joining in, and with one of my most favorite psalms, the one in fact which describes why I love the psalms: "Thus your servant is formed by them, observance brings great reward," in the Jerusalem translation, verse 11.
ReplyDeleteLately I have almost nothing of my own to contribute, either in blogdom or in person, except to offer the words of holy and divine scripture. It seems that as we grow in Christ, our infantile babbling gives way to repeating what we hear from the Father, that and only that, and it soothes and heals us, and it tastes so good, so why speak anything else?
How beautiful, the Psalms are! I sense that The Jerusalem Bible version convey the message more uniquely :), which is easier to understand (for me personally)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for a little taste of Hebrew in the text, I love the B’kar’í anéyni Elohéy tsidkí…! ;)
Yudhie
The Psalms are especially good when people are against us for no good reason or when we've failed or both. They express the heart's cry and they give us confidence that the Lord does, indeed, help us.
ReplyDeletePsalm 38
1 A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, "Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!"
17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
I forgot to acknowledge that I copied from the ESV. We can thank the Lord for every good version, including your beloved Jerusalem Bible.
ReplyDeleteThanks, brother, for posting this psalm in your comment. It is in fact one of the psalms appointed for the 8th day, and as such, it's one of my personal psalms, as I was born on the 8th day, and the psalms appointed for it have always held special meaning for me.
ReplyDeleteThis psalm in particular is my repentance psalm, and it has also been a prophecy to me of what God has allowed to happen in my life.
It has always strengthened me to know that every day, somewhere in the world, there is a saint here or there who is offering the psalms of the day in prayer. There were saints praying these psalms somewhere in the world even at the moment I was born. And when I depart this life, there will be someone here or there praying the psalms of that day and moment.
It is no longer known by most people, even those who belong to the Christian tradition from which the 30 day cycle of psalms comes (in this case, the Church of England, but other nations have similar practices), but even so, there are still a few, like myself, who pray these psalms daily.
What I learned when I finally got a copy of the Hebrew psalms, the Tehillim, is that the Jews also pray the psalms on a 30 day cycle, although their divisions are slightly different from ours by one or two psalms in places. That really made me glad, to know that this practice has such deep roots.
As it says in Psalm 19, which will be offered on the 4th day, "thus Your servant is formed by them," and so it has been. The Psalms have been the tool in God's hand that have shaped my life in Christ.
Glory to God.
Wow. Thanks for all this.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the psalms are this amazing picture of what God wants in our worship.
Regardless of how somebody feels about what is called "contemporary worship music" in Protestant/Evangelical circles, even a casual survey of the lyrics indicates how sadly impovershed and one-dismenstional this all is. I hear people say how the psalms don't resonate with them... But I don't understand it. They capture the fullness of human experience, not just joy but also sorrow, not just faith but also doubt, not just victorious at the end of a battle but also fearfulness before the outcome is clear.
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ReplyDeleteI must join in again to the 'Psalm Session' with a few verses from Psalm 118. We used to sing these to the guitar using the RSV Bible. They lifted me up out of depression.
ReplyDelete.
v5'Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
the LORD answered me and set me free.
[6] With the LORD on my side I do not fear.
What can man do to me?
[7] The LORD is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
[8] It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to put confidence in man.
[9] It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to put confidence in princes.
I'm going to keep going with Psalm 62 which I wrote a tune to when I was a teenager. It has some wonderful words of Praise and trust.
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly moved.
How long will you set upon a man
to shatter him, all of you,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his eminence.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. [Selah]
For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. [Selah]
Men of low estate are but a breath,
men of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no confidence in extortion,
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God;
and that to thee, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For thou dost requite a man
according to his work.
Amen and Amen
Andrew, my brother, I can see from your enthusiasm for the psalms and setting them to music to sing them that we have a great deal in common, in the spirit.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young Christian, I fell head over heels for the psalms, as I took my psalm book everywhere with me, using public transportation to get to work and so forth. I would make up melodies for either whole psalms, or for just certain passages, as I was waiting at the bus stop, and I would sing them.
Though most of the melodies I made up were very simple and not to be remembered, a few have stayed with me all these years, and I still sing them. My chant for Psalm 2 (for it was more of a chant, somewhat in reggae style) is one I still sing inwardly whenever I read this psalm, it just has driven so deeply into my soul. "Why this uproar among the nations? Why this impotent muttering of pagans? Kings on earth rising in revolt, princes plotting against Jah and His Anointed…"
Another one that has stayed with me is my setting for Psalm 46, which has the refrain "Yahweh Sabaoth is on our side, our citadel the God of Jacob," which I sing three times after each stanza as a refrain, closing the psalm after the final refrain with a trailing "There is a river…"
And an example of a melody in Jewish style is the one I made up for the opening verses of Psalm 115, which we used to sing at our seder supper of Passover, "Not by us, Yahweh, not by us, by You alone is glory deserved…"
Anyway, it is a blessing, brother, to know that you exist, and that I have a friend so like me on the other side of the planet.
Grace and peace.