7/25/09

Psalm 41

How high, O Lord, Your Covenant above our universe:
~~What we stand under, how can we understand?

You forgive before us and place a planet at our feet:
~~And what have we to give?

If we offer our obedience, yet this mine of earthly wealth is Your creation:
~~When I bow my head, how great the riches within my reach!





7/20/09

Psalm 40 (a penitential psalm)

I am alone, no, even myself I cannot trust, and ever-faithful death is dead to answer;
~~Lord, I am abandoned where carrion scavengers move on to search for better.

Man imposing his own will loses his balance and becomes ill,
~~but the tiny centipede without fault steps its way along its sum of summer nights.

Generations of vain desires are like snares in a field,
~~yet pitiful tares and weeds thrown to the fire send forth abundant seed.

The noon sun in the valley is hot and the cave in the mountain is cool at night,
~~but Lord, only You can feel the lukewarm heart, indifferent to its godly nature:
~~create in me the one green hope that grows, however slowly, on a sinner’s stony slope.





7/8/09

Psalm 39

. . . . . . . . . . . . . (lilies of the field)



He who gives his earthly riches will receive heavenly wealth;
~~he who sacrifices his worldly goods, a treasury of virtue will be his everlasting gain:

the man who seeks to serve on earth will find a vein of riches in a higher kingdom;
~~the one who serves humankind, never-failing abundance will flow from his hand.




7/4/09

Psalm 38

Rejoice, you cedars of Lebanon, and cypress, juniper, and every evergreen;
~~delight, you every-season growing trees:

For you lift fragrance from a rocky cliff,
~~and you send incense from a sandy ancient land.

You stretch your sleeves beyond the magi;
~~you raise your shadow over Solomon.

You ever form a warm light, herbed bowl, and shelter;
~~you sing an everlasting green-winged song of healing.

Be glad the Lord has written your wonders in His book:
~~be ever happy He has made your virtues like His word.