The “Psalms” is the Prayer Book of the Hebrew People. It is also a beautiful book of poetry. The Psalms were meant to be read out loud and treasured in the heart of the people of God. And so they have been. Jesus loved the psalms, memorized and quoted them extensively to express himself and his relationship with God. Even as Jesus hung, dying on the cross, he had the word of God on his lips.
Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm …
the line you may remember is
“Happy are those {whose} delight is in the law of the Lord…
they are like trees planted by streams of water.”
This week we read Psalm 1 in 4 different versions/paraphrases as pray and listen. This week, read out loud the ancient words. I invite you to spend a few moments preparing your heart for Lectio Divina (sacred reading of the biblical text) with a simple breath prayer. Use this one or create your own (six to eight syllables) repeating the words as you breathe.
Breathe in ... Creating God (pause)
Breath out ... give me wisdom (pause)
and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ... Pray:
God of the Psalms, the beauty of your Word fills me with awe. As I read each word, open my heart and allow me to pray with understanding and fill me with knowledge so that I might walk down the path you have chosen for me. Amen.
Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from The Common English Bible (CEB) which is a "new" translation from 2011. Simply let these words be proclaimed in the world and in your own heart.
The truly happy person
doesn’t follow wicked advice,
doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
Instead of doing those things,
these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
which bears fruit at just the right time
and whose leaves don’t fade.
Whatever they do succeeds.
That’s not true for the wicked!
They are like dust that the wind blows away.
And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
neither will sinners
in the assembly of the righteous.
The Lord is intimately acquainted
with the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is destroyed.
Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from The Good News Translation (GNT) first published in 1976 and Reflect on just a word or phrase … Sit with your selection and listen to the whispers of God. Repeat your word or phrase over and over in your mind. Let the God of the Trees speak ... Listen with the ears of your heart!
Happy are those
who reject the advice of evil people,
who do not follow the example of sinners
or join those who have no use for God.
Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord,
and they study it day and night.
They are like trees that grow beside a stream,
that bear fruit at the right time,
and whose leaves do not dry up.
They succeed in everything they do.
But evil people are not like this at all;
they are like straw that the wind blows away.
Sinners will be condemned by God
and kept apart from God's own people.
The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord,
but the evil are on the way to their doom.
Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from The Message, a paraphrase by Eugene Peterson first written in 1993 and Respond to God. Once again turn your attention to your word or phrase, knowing that you may be drawn to a different word on this reading. As you contemplate your word or phrase or commandment, are you being called to respond, in word … prayer … action … or in some other way? If so, how are you being called?
How well God must like you—Read Psalm 1 aloud slowly from Rejoice, Beloved Woman: The Psalms Revisioned by Barbara J. Monda. She says, "I have not translated the Psalms: I have rewritten them ... attempted to remain true to the theme of the psalmist" while offering "women the experience of having, among other things, God in her own image and words that portray a female way of being that embodies strength and nurturing." (p. 9) My hope in this last movement of sacred reading is that you, whether you are a woman or a man, can Rest in this fresh personal recitation of Psalm 1.
you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.
Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom.
You’re not at all like the wicked,
who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court,
unfit company for innocent people.
God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row.
As you read, allow God to nurture you and draw you deeper into the relationship of love that God has with you.
Happy are you who trust in the counsel of wise women. They guide you to a right heart.
You will delight in their words and you will see wonder in all things that image them.
In both night and day, there is light that gives vision and there is light that blinds.
Be cautious of people who claim too much.
They may be thieves eager to steal attention and feast on the unsuspecting who have eagerly revealed themselves.
Filled, they go off and leave behind the empty shells of those too willing to be open, expecting more than an ordinary day offers.
The holy among you appear as any other. Their counsel, however, comes from truth aligned to all there is; they exaggerate nothing.
It is by the gift that the giver is known. See what you have when a woman leaves your presence; are you empty or connected to goodness?
A good woman tuned to herself speaks the truth and no more. She believes God made her in her own image, with no regrets.
Planted in the presence of these wise ones, you are like trees nourished by the fruit that falls on you and yet sheltered from a burning sun.
Of their bounty you benefit, yet there is no cost to you in their giving. A holy woman rooted in God creates harmony from noise.
As you rest, let all the words fade away ... until you are ready to take up your journal and write about your meditation. When you are ready to move out of your meditation …
Pray: God of the Trees, I want to be planted and rooted deeply at the edge of your Presence. Let streams of living water and bountiful fruitfulness nourish my soul and fill me with life! Amen.
Cindy's Reflection ... O God, you are the God of the Trees ... real trees and trees like me. I am like a tree ... sometimes feeling my roots digging deeply, stretching down into the earth to drink of the living waters of the underground well. Yet, sometimes feeling like my roots are shrinking and working their way to the surface. O God, God of the Trees ... you are my Mother, you nurture my shrinking roots as I grow. Bless me with living water today and I shall live long and tall alongside the mighty trees by the rivers and streams! Amen.
If you have time, take this Link to Youtube: Psalm 1 Hebrew
In this video you can hear the reading of Psalm 1 in the Hebrew language accompanied by "Air on the G String" by Johann Sebastian Bach while an original painting by Ilan Mizrahi an Israeli artist scrolls through. Perhaps, like me, you don’t know Hebrew but this is so beautifully read that I feel Psalm 1 deep in the soul … especially after having read Psalm 1 in several versions.
No comments:
Post a Comment