Great Matters
Sometimes, in the shadows of the early dawn, I turn my world upside down and read the Midday office instead of Morning Lauds.
I know, I know. Makes you wonder how I cope with the ensuing hysteria, right?
Most days, I find a way. Yes, like today. (more…)
Lament
The regular return to the psalmist’s lament, his unrelenting darkness, his inescapable sense of abandonment — in some odd way I find this comforting. I remember my own need to sit in the lament now and then. Even here, straight-backed in a hard wooden pew where the words of his anguish ricochet off cold stone walls.
Heman ends in despair. His last words do not return to hope. And yet I consider as I listen, as I recite, that though he speaks as though convinced God had stepped out of the room, he continues to pour out his heart, to talk to the one he believes had walked away.
And I wonder if he believes it at all.
Pastures
I wait impatiently through the antiphon. I’ve never felt so eager for the pause to end before. And yet it’s not for a refusal to sit still. I simply want more than anything to be saying these words out loud.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
The Sparrow Knows
In springtime, when she flew in with twigs and
brittle leaves in tow did she know?
When she lined the inside of that sprig bowl
with soft grasses and downy feathers, did she know?
When she strained to push out fragile helplessness,
all dappled in brown, did she know?
And when she settled in atop waited
for life to crack out the sides, did she know?
Did she know of the searing, consuming fire soon would fall
so close to the kindling that formed her walls?
Did she know of the smoldering wrath?
Did she know of blood that would cascade?
Did she know of life one would lose?
Did she know of loss that was yet to come?
Had she an inkling of the danger
of building nests and birthing babes
in the shadow of a blazing altar?
Or, in finding home in His dwelling place,
did she see only the refuge? (more…)
Preparation Day: 22
The words of David, angry and bewildered, and then reminded.
Psalm 22 for your Sabbath Preparation.
He has never let you down,
never looked the other way
when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
he has been right there, listening.
- – -
Find some quiet contemplation in these weekend communities:
Still Saturday with Sandra King | Sunday with Deidra Riggs
(Thanks for stopping by today. I’m encouraged by your visit.
I’ll beg your understanding for the closed comment box
on Preparation Days. It just helps me not talk so much.)
Preparation Day: 18
The words of David, upon being rescued. Again.
Psalm 18 for your Sabbath Preparation.
Find some quiet contemplation in these weekend communities:
Still Saturday with Sandra King | Sunday with Deidra Riggs
(Thanks for stopping by today. I’m encouraged by your visit.
I’ll beg your pardon for the closed comment box on Preparation Days.
It just helps me not talk so much.)
Preparation Day: 51
Grateful for David, always with the words to know my heart.
Psalm 51 for your Sabbath Preparation.
Find some quiet contemplation in these weekend communities:
In the Morning
Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my sighing.
The psalter is pushed back a few feet from me on the bed, pale blue ribbon cut between Psalm 3 and Psalm 5. It’s Monday, I think. Lauds.
It’s the psalter for no better reason than my unwillingness to go back upstairs and get the whole book. It’s early, and still black in the hallway, and I’ve already stumbled into too many things because I didn’t turn on the lights. There are extra boys in my basement. I don’ t want to wake them on their last day of their break.
The psalter was handy there on the desk. And it’s pushed back on the bed because my old-people glasses are failing me these days. I blame the glasses, not my eyes. It appears I need the old-er-people glasses now. I can’t see the hand in front of my face. But I could see it a half block away. My glasses sit idle on top of my head most of the time, until I need them and can’t remember where they are.
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.
All the house is silent. I hear the bed creak above me, blankets rustle in the room next to me where the sweaty adolescents line the floor. The space heater hums along because Spring is still a little edgy in the morning. The birds are subdued, not the usual chatter while they pour coffee and gossip over English muffins. I imagine it’s oatmeal this morning, and perhaps some tragic news of a neighbor crashing into the clear backboard of our basketball hoop in the driveway. They keep their voices to a hush.
I’m a few weeks into a new rhythm, about as old as that edgy Spring, pulling me from sleep in the earlier hours. Changes in the cadence can lose me in confusion while they heighten my awareness at the same time. So I’m several lines in before I hear my own voice, whispering into the silence.
But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies –
make straight the path before me.
I keep reading aloud. The words sound like one long sigh.
The creaking and rustling become more frequent. And there’s enough gray light in my office that I know it’s overcast without pulling back the thin curtain. One small bird voice chirps into the emptiness, then hesitates.
There is no reply.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
::
Psalm 5, my morning meditation It's a good day to read some David out loud. Photo: Resurrection Day sunrise
Preparation Day: Selah
. . . and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
Taken from Psalm 32 today, but there’s a Selah around every corner.
[In the Amplified Bible, Selah reads "pause and calmly think of that."]
:: (more…)
Preparation Day: 80
God, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
From Psalm 80 –
a testimony of Asaph
How well that we can look to God
when our face is set wrong,
that he may turn us,
and so his face shine on us,
as to bring blessing and
present deliverance to his people.
– J. N. Darby, quoted in
TheTreasury of David
:: (more…)
Preparation Day: 63
God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you!
I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,
traveling across dry and weary deserts.
– David, a king
Psalm 63, The Message
::
. . . to look seemeth the poor man’s privilege,
since he may, for nothing and without hire,
behold the sun.
– Samuel Rutherford
quoted in Spurgeon’s Treasury of David
:: (more…)
Preparation Day: 65
Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion.
– David, waiting quietly,
in Psalm 65
The believer sometimes seems to want words to exalt God,
and stops, as it were, in the middle; his thoughts want words.
Thus praise waits, or is silent for God; it is silent to other things,
and it waits to be employed about him.
– Alexander Carmichael,
quoted by Spurgeon in
A Treasury of David
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Preparation Day: 4
Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say.
“More, more.”
I have God’s more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
– from Psalm 4, The Message
Where Christ reveals himself there is satisfaction in the slenderest portion,
and without Christ there is emptiness in the greatest fullness.
– Alexander Grosse, on enjoying Christ, 1632.
::
Preparation Day: 145
God is good to one and all;
everything he does is suffused with grace.
(Psalm 145:9, The Message)
Sweet dewdrops are on the thistle as well as on the rose.
The diocese where mercy visits is very large.
(Thomas Watson)
::
Preparation Day: 103
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
David, the king, in Psalm 103
An exalted man ponders his own brevity
::
Preparation Day: 147
Jerusalem, worship God!
Zion, praise your God!
He made your city secure,
he blessed your children among you.
He keeps the peace at your borders,
he puts the best bread on your tables.
He launches his promises earthward—
how swift and sure they come!
He spreads snow like a white fleece,
he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—
who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts;
he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!
– the psalmist on the One melts Narnian white
About Preparation Day
Preparation Day: 104
These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
– the psalmist, just saying what is
(from Psalm 104)
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Preparation Day: 55
I call to God; God will help me.
At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs —
he hears, he rescues.
My life is well and whole, secure in the middle of danger
Even while thousands are lined up against me.
David, in Psalm 55
The Message
::
Preparation Day: 148
Praise God from earth,
you sea dragons, you fathomless ocean deeps;
Fire and hail, snow and ice,
hurricanes obeying his orders;
Mountains and all hills,
apple orchards and cedar forests;
Wild beasts and herds of cattle,
snakes, and birds in flight;
Earth’s kings and all races,
leaders and important people,
Robust men and women in their prime,
and yes, graybeards and little children.Let them praise the name of God—
it’s the only Name worth praising.
His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky;
he’s built a monument—his very own people!Praise from all who love God!
Israel’s children, intimate friends of God.
Hallelujah!
Preparation Day: 102
Write this down for the next generation
so people not yet born will praise God:
“God looked out from his high holy place;
from heaven he surveyed the earth.
He listened to the groans of the doomed,
he opened the doors of their death cells.”
Write it so the story can be told in Zion,
so God’s praise will be sung in Jerusalem’s streets
And wherever people gather together
along with their rulers to worship him.
(from Psalm 102, The Message)
::
Preparation Day: 5
Listen, God! Please, pay attention!
Can you make sense of these ramblings,
my groans and cries?
King-God, I need your help.
Every morning
you’ll hear me at it again.
Every morning
I lay out the pieces of my life
on your altar
and watch for fire to descend.
Preparation Day: New Year’s Edition
About Preparation Day
But you’ll welcome us with open arms
when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
for decking us out in delight.
Preparation Day: 116
About Preparation Day
What can I give back to God
for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
God welcomes those who love him.
(from Psalm 116, The Message)
Preparation Day: 72
About Preparation Day
Give the gift of wise rule to the king,
O God, the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
help the children of the needy,
come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the Rim.
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