Psalm 145: Greatly to be Praised!

For background info and my commentary on Psalm 145 go to Great is the Lord.

This week we practice Praying with Psalms through paraphrase ...
Step 1) Simply read the biblical text and appreciate the beauty you find within Psalm 145.

Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21
Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible

I will extol you, my God, my Ruler, 
and I will bless your Name forever and ever! 
Every day will I bless you, 
and I will praise your Name forever and ever! 
Great you are, YHWH, and greatly to be praised; 
your greatness is unfathomable. 
Generation after generation praises your works 
and proclaims your mighty deeds;
 they’ll speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty, 
and I will meditate on your wondrous acts. 

YHWH, you are just in all your ways 
and loving toward all that you have created.
You are near to all who call upon you, 
all who call upon you in truth.  
You fulfill the desires of those who revere you; 
you hear their cry and save them. 
You watch over all who love you, YHWH, 
but you’ll destroy all who are corrupt. 
My mouth will speak your praise, YHWH, 
and may all creation bless your holy Name forever and ever!

Step 2)  Explore the images you find in the psalm and seek new ways of proclaiming the message in words and phrases that translate to the situation you find in your life today.  Be creative and think not in words but in ideas and let your psalm express your own deepest emotions.

Step 3)  Take up a journal OR pull up a blank document on the computer ... begin writing in a stream of consciousness with new images, words, and phrases that emerge from pondering on the text.  Let the images grow and become.  Let new words and phrases come alive to translate the psalm anew in your own prayer language ... sing a new song in your soul!

Step 4)  Paraphrase the Psalm with your own images in your own words and phrases ...

Here is a paraphrase from Nan C. Merrill's book, Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness to get a sense of how paraphrase works:

My soul yearns for You, Eternal Flame of Love, 

longing to reconnect to the great Mystery!

Every day I will bless You as I follow the Voice of Truth.

Great are You, who call us to childlike wonder, 

to the healing balm of forgiveness.

Each generation must learn anew the efficacy of silence, 

the wisdom of turning inward ...

O Heart of my heart, envelop me!  

I know you are near to all who call upon You.

Bring to my recollection all that I have denied, 

that I might be accepting and free

To help rebuild the soul of the world 

with radical trust, love and wonder!

When I speak, let it be of blessing and gratitude; 

let your glory within me shine out to the world!

Lectio Divina ...
Step 1:  Choose one of these versions or your own paraphrase of Psalm 145:1-5, 7-21 to read slowly and reverently ...What image, word, or phrase calls for your attention in your reading?  Spend a few moments pondering the God you find within your reading ...

Step 2:  Read your selection again and reflect ...
How does this paraphrase illuminate your life right now?  How is God inviting you to change or grow?

Step 3:  Read your selection again and respond ...
What do you say to God about your life and how you are being invited?   Write a one-sentence prayer as an Amen to your time of lectio ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Amen!

Step 4:  Rest ... Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "be" with God.

Breath Prayer ...
Step 1:  In 3-4 syllables, what image of God is emerging from your time of prayer?

Step 2:  In 3-4 syllables, what prayer of desire is rising within you?

Step 3:  Create a breath prayer ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Breathing in … Eternal Mystery  ... (pause)
Breathing out … Meet me on the Path   ... (pause)

As you continue to journey through your week, breathe!  If music is a pathway to God for you ... listen to this version of the beautiful song by Michael W. Smith called Great is the Lord.  The images are also quite lovely, interesting and majestic.

Breathing ... Eternal Mystery, Meet me on the Path.  Amen.

Psalm 146

This summer I've decided to paraphrase the lectionary Psalms as a prayer practice and then read prayerfully (lectio divina) with my own paraphrase.  Finally, I'll develop a breath prayer to take the transformed psalm with me into my week.  You are invited to join me and paraphrase the summer psalms for yourself.   As we work with the psalms and rewrite the text in our own words/using our own vocabulary, we will find deeper meaning as the week unfolds.  The psalms are prayers of dearly faithful people.  We can pray them into a personal prayer language that lives and breathes our own faith. 

Psalm 146 is one of the daily "Hallel" Psalms (145-150) which conclude the Book of Psalms.  The Hallel Psalms are still read aloud in morning Synagogue services.  They are called Hallel psalms because they begin and end with the Hebrew word halal {haw-lal'} which means to shine, to flash forth light, to praise, or to boast.   Today's modern translation of this word is Hallelujah!  But we might also say Praise the Lord!  

Another interesting note is the chiastic structure of Psalm 146 which begins and ends with "Praise the Lord" which is a clue to the literary device (chiasm) used by the Psalmist.   A chiasm begins at the edge of a thought, leads you in to a central idea and then reverses you back to the edge.  The pattern would be, very simply ... ABCD - E - D'C'B'A'.   Don't be confused by the verses which were not there in the original writings.  The Psalmists were orators, not writers!  Our present division of chapters and verses unfolded from around 1200-1600 in order to make the sacred text more accessible for readers, not listeners.  We are looking for ideas, not "verses" in a chiasm through which we find the central message in the "center."

Here is my analysis of the chiastic structure of Psalm 146 in which we find the central point that God is faithful ...

A = Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord! 
B = The Psalmist promises to praise God for life
C = The Psalmist turns away from untrustworthy humanity
D = The Psalmist finds hope only in God

E (CENTER) = GOD keeps faith FOREVER

D' = God is the hope of the hopeless
C' = God brings the wicked ways of humanity to ruin
B' = God reigns for all generations
A' = Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!

Paraphrasing the Psalm ... 

Step 1:  Read the Psalm from a translated version, such the NRSV ... several times and out loud if you dare!    Get a sense of the underlying feelings of the Psalmist and the worshiping listeners.  Look back up at the chiastic structure for help in discerning the overall message the Psalm writer was trying to convey.  What message are you hearing for your own life?

 

Psalm 146 (NRSV) 
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live; 
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. 
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. 
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, 
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. 

Praise the LORD!

Step 2:  Explore the images you find in the psalm and seek new ways of proclaiming the message of in words and phrases that translate to the situation we find in our world today.  Be creative and think not in words but in ideas and give your psalm a sweeping form. 

Step 3:  Take up a journal OR pull up a blank document on the computer ... begin writing in a stream of consciousness with new images, words, and phrases.  Let the images grow and become.  Let the words and phrases emerge to translate the psalm anew in your own prayer language, a new song!

Step 4:  Paraphrase the Psalm with your own images in your own words and phrases ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Cindy's Paraphrase of Psalm 146
Let's Celebrate God!
For all my life I will celebrate God who lifts me up and I will shout to the world of God's presence.
Don't listen to those who promise something for nothing, for nothing is exactly what you will get when you expect politicians and scoundrels to keep their promises for they are in it for themselves They think they can take it all with them when they die but it is all dust just like they are. 
And yet, be filled with pure joy as you let the God of our ancestors whisper sweet promises of life.  
Look around!   God creates today as beautifully as when creation emerged from nothing.  
Turn to God for God was faithful in the past, God is faithful right now and God will be faithful throughout all of eternity!
Even so, God seeks to alleviate suffering in our world now and encourages a just society -- where all people are equal in the world as they are in God's eyes ... inmates and their families find acceptance in God, those who cannot see will find God's presence in their mind's eye, God reaches down and lifts up those who are hurting and broken down.  God loves all who seek to enter into a love relationship with the Holy One.  God reaches out to those who do not even know there is a God and to those who have been abandoned by their families through death and desertion.  
God will reject those who have rejected others and will abandon them to themselves.
The God of eternity will rule forever in our hearts and in the hearts of our children!
Let's Celebrate God!!

Lectio Divina ... 

Step 1:  Read Psalm 146 slowly and reverently ... 

Use the NRSV text, my paraphrase or your own, or take link to use this Message Paraphrase:

What image, word, or phrase calls for your attention?  Spend a few moments pondering ... 

Step 2:  Read your selection again and reflect ...  

How does this paraphrase illuminate your life right now?

Step 3:  Read your selection again and respond ... 

What do you say to God about your life and how you are seeing God's presence in it?

Write a one-sentence prayer as an Amen to your time of lectio ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

O God, just as you created our world from nothing ... you can create a beautiful life with me.

Step 4:  Rest ... Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "be" with God.

Breath Prayer ... 

Step 1:  In 3-4 syllables, what image of God is emerging from your time of prayer?

Step 2:  In 3-4 syllables, what prayer of desire is rising within you? 

Step 3:  Create your breath prayer ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Breathe in … Beautiful God  (pause) 

Breath out … Create my Life  (pause)

As you continue to journey through your week, breathe!  And take the Presence of God with you through the breath prayer your have created from your time with Psalm 146 ... Amen!

 

Hallelujah! Praising God ...

Hello friend ... I invite you to breathe deeply.   Take a few moments to center yourself on God and allow yourself to consider what you have to be grateful for right now.    As you breathe and settle into a place of deep gratitude within yourself, listen for the echoes of the deep love and care God has for you ... can you sense the gentle breezes of peace on the sea of your soul?    An yet we do not always "feel" praise and thanksgiving ... if other feelings arise too, welcome them all with this part of Contemplative Outreach's Welcoming Prayer ...

Focus, feel, and sink into the feelings, emotions, 

thoughts, sensations, and commentaries in your body.
Welcome the Divine Indwelling in the feelings,
emotions, thoughts, commentaries, or sensations 

in your body by saying
“Welcome.”

If other feelings emerge, welcome them all as they come by circling back to this prayer as often as you need to.  If you find yourself doing this often consider exploring spiritual direction with a trained spiritual director whose gift is to be a companion on the journey of others.  Spend time with this welcoming prayer until you feel it is time to move from prayer into the sacred reading of the biblical text, and then ... Pray:
  
As I welcome you into my time of sacred reading with fear and trembling, O God, reveal yourself to me and fill me with wisdom as I praise you.  Amen.     

Read Psalm 111 slowly, immersing yourself in the images of God that are held within this public psalm of praise ... praising God for who God is and praising God for what God does ... in "fear" which means awe and reverence, we stand praising God ... so perhaps you might read this psalm out loud as you work through it ...

Psalm 111 (NAB=New American Bible)
Hallelujah. I will praise the LORD with all my heart in the assembled congregation of the upright.  Great are the works of the LORD, to be treasured for all their delights.  Majestic and glorious is your work, your wise design endures forever.  You won renown for your wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD.  You gave food to those who fear you, mindful of your covenant forever.  You showed powerful deeds to your people, giving them the lands of the nations.  The works of your hands are right and true, reliable all your decrees, established forever and ever, to be observed with loyalty and care.  You sent deliverance to your people, ratified your covenant forever; holy and awesome is your name.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who live by it. Your praise endures forever.

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect on the Psalmist sense of who God is.   Listen for a word or a phrase that draws your attention.   Repeat that word or phrase.  Ponder this Word or phrase through which God is speaking to YOU as you let the story unfold in your mind and heart.   Where does your word or phrase intersect your life where you are right now … as you feel yourself listening, not listening, obeying, not obeying, doing, not doing, speaking, not speaking, praying, not praying, fasting, not fasting ... How are you responding, not responding … make an honest assessment, where are you?

Read the passage again slowly and Respond.   Share with God how you feel about what you are hearing through your word or phrase.   Speak your word or phrase out loud and ask God to help you surrender to the word you have heard and the wisdom it holds as you explore its meaning for you where you are right now.   Take a moment or more to journal in the form of a "praise psalm."

Read the passage again and Rest.  Allow the presence of God to surround you and deepen your faith so you are able to surrender to God's call.  Rest until the peace of God settles into your soul ...

When you sense the time to move on, Pray: Hallelujah!  I praise you God with all of my heart.  I see your works in my life and I praise you God.   I see your works in the world and I praise you God.  I praise you God!  Your praise endures forever!    Amen.

Cindy's Journal Reflection ...  all my heart, what does this mean ALL my heart!  It is hard to fathom what it means to give all of one's heart to anyone or anything ... I suppose this means love, yes?  To love with all of one's heart .. I suppose the closest I have ever been to this love is the depth of my love for my children and I wonder, O God you must love me so and simply ask that we praise you and love you and serve you as much as we possibly can, ever so much more that we praise and love and serve ourselves ... O break open my heart so that I might praise you and magnify your name.  Hallelujah!  Praise God!