I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. One who secretly slanders a neighbour I will destroy. A haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not tolerate... No one who practises deceit shall remain in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue in my presence. Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all evildoers from the city of the Lord. (Psalm 101: 3-5, 7-8)

In today's psalms, the author is feeling especially self-righteous. He is ready to be a petty god dispensing his own notion of justice.

Justice - true justice - is not preoccupied with punishment. Justice seeks, rather, to honor and restore relationships that have been damaged or broken.

The self-righteous person, as in the passage above, is ready to separate him or herself from those who are perceived as having done wrong.

How far from God I would be if such separating was God's approach to justice.

In full righteousness God abides with the one who has taken the wrong-path, with the wrong-doer, with the self-righteous and even with me.

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. (Psalm 94: 19)

Another translation reads, "When many anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul."

I increasingly perceive worry to be my greatest enemy.

There are issues and people who deserve our care. We are called to make thoughtful and responsible choices.

But - especially if we have committed our choices to God - anxiety over choices made or yet to come is not helpful, neither is it faithful.

The Hebrew for consolation can also mean to regret, be sorry, suffer grief, repent, and be comforted.

It sounds like consolation might be a process. Make a faithful and thoughtful choice, engage the consequences, learn from the consequences, make another choice.

Don't worry.

Above is Delight by Sarah Vaeth.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. (Psalm 89: 14)

God is righteous - tsedeq - God has integrity, is coherent, behaves consistently with purpose and intent.

God is just - mishpat - God affirms the righteousness of others. God honors the free choice of others.

On this foundation God has constructed a framework of love and relationshp in which we are invited to participate.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. (Psalm 19: 7-10)

Making the simple wise is a blessing of God. As helpful might be to make the wise simple.

A publisher has commissioned me to write a book. The publisher wants the book written so that an eighth grader or ninth grader can read it. My first draft is closer to what a high school senior should be able to read.

A software program determines the level of language by average number of words in a sentence and the average number of syllables in a word. The fewer the better. Better is simpler.

In his critique of the Pharisees and Scribes Jesus focuses on their tendency to overcomplicate. They became an impediment to faith by developing elaborate rules that distracted from the fundamental simplicity of God's intent.

Jesus taught, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest commandment. And a second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22: 37-40)

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever. O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures for ever... who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures for ever; and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures for ever; with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures for ever; who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures for ever; and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures for ever; but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures for ever; who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures for ever. (Psalm 136: 1-3, 10-16)

The Hebrew Bible is dominated by the Exodus story. It is only the second of at least thirty-nine chapters in the book, but the promise of a powerful and loving protector intervening directly to free and form a community of the blessed is a theme that the other chapters recall again and again.

The Tanakh - the Hebrew Bible - is ordered differently than the Christian Old Testament. The early Church fathers took the chapters and organized them in a manner to emphasize a new narrative climax in the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus.

In their original order the chapters of the Tanakh follow a very different plot line. The chapters proceed from early dramatic interventions by a divine protector and punisher to later chapters that highlight God as the source of wisdom and inspiration to guide human choice. Some commentators suggest it is a story of a father allowing his children more and more freedom and responsibility as they mature.

We may sometimes envy the more secure dependence of childhood. But we are called to the freedom and responsibility of mature living.

Above is Yellow Crucifixion by Marc Chagall.

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. (Psalm 86: 11)

My goal is to walk the same path that God intended. This is the way of truth: stable, reliable, sure, strong, and secure.

To do this I need an undivided heart: my mind, intuition, intellect, spirit, my whole being must be united, focused, and committed to the same intention.

Attention is everything says the business strategiest. Concentrate on concentrating says the sports star. So does the psalmist.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. (Psalm 24: 3-6)

Clean hands: There are more than a dozen Hebrew words that can be translated as clean. Here it is naqiy. Many of the Hebrew words for clean imply an original purity, entirely innocent, previously unused. But in the New Standard Revised Bible naqiy is most often translated as "to go unpunished."

Pure hearts: This is bar which is to purify, to purge, to polish what is tarnished, to clean what is dirty.

God knows we will go the wrong way. God knows we will choose badly. God knows that by the time we recognize our error we will be filthy. God still welcomes us. We can wash our hands in God's love. God will polish our souls with a divine cleansing cloth. We must, however, present ourselves and acknowledge our need for cleaning.

Today many churches the celebrate the Ascension of Jesus.

I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad. (Psalm: 119: 96)

The 119th psalm is longer than most. It is full of praise for the law, precepts, commandments, judgments, statutes and testimonies of God. This is praise for the fullness of the Torah.

The psalmist has often lost his way but has always returned to the path of righteousness because of these teachings. He is giving thanks for this saving guidance.

He is evidently once again being oppressed and his life is threatened. He is seeking help.

One scholar has commented that there is "no progress of thought" in the long psalm. It is more a chant.

As such, for me, verse 96 stands out. It seems to offer a new insight, but the meaning, for me, is obscure. The translation above is in my opinion accurate. The individual words are not ambiguous.

The Hebrew translated as perfection is tiklah, derived from kalah, this is completion, ending, or fulfilment - sometimes the destruction or death - of almost anything. The plot has failed, the effort is finished, the goal is achieved, the game is over.

The psalmist has translated the adjective rachab as broad. In its verbal form rachab is to grow wide, to grow large, to extend, perhaps to continue growing.

This suggests to me that the psalmist has seen the culmination of human effort, but he cannot see the end of God's teachings. The human is finite, the divine is infinite. He has come to the end of his own effort and now depends on the infinite grace of God.

Above is Inside Infinity by Fractal Dimensions.

In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders. (Psalm 78: 32)

The psalmist, again, sings of an angry God. "He was full of rage" and "he was full of wrath."

Despite all of God's blessings the descendents of Abraham continued to sin. Here the Hebrew for sin is chata'.

In response to the sins, according to the psalmist, God became angry, withdrew his blessings, and sent punishment.

It can seem so. This is how it seemed and seems to many people of faith.

This is not what I hear in the last sermon of Moses, or in the poem of Job, or in the teachings of Jesus. Certainly we live in a world of troubles. Sin substantially increases the likelihood of troubles. But these troubles are not due to God's anger.

Chata' gives us a wonderful understanding of sin. It means to miss your target, to lose your way, to take the wrong path, to lose oneself or, most provocative for me, to miss oneself.

When we leave the path of love, when we separate ourselves from God, when we actively participate in and amplify strife and error we will soon find ourselves in serious trouble.

But God is not angry. God is not sending these troubles. Rather, God keeps showing us how to turn-around and return to the path. The dissatisfaction, emptiness, and anxiety we feel is often the voice of God helping us to recognize the bad turn we made.

God continues in relationship. God continues to offer blessings. Even as I stumble along where any idiot knows not to go, God is there, tugging at my arm - my memory - my best sense of self to come back to the path.

How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? (Psalm 79: 5)

In three of the four psalms assigned for today God is angry.

Above God is 'anaph. God is breathing hard.

In Psalm 80 it is asked, "How long will you be angry with the prayer of your people?" The Hebrew is 'asaph, to be furious, to fume, and to smoke.

"Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has he in anger withdrawn His compassion?" is the question of Psalm 77. The Hebrew is 'aph which suggests flared nostrils or a contorted face.

In seeking to understand God we depend on our human experience. There is no other option. Because we are created in God's image this is not entirely hopeless.

But we may be inclined to confuse our most common characteristics for the character of God. We are quick to fret and fume. Another frustrates us and we breath hard, our nostrils flare, and our face may twist in fury.

We also feel compelled to love. But we are seldom as quick or as sure in loving. In loving we are often shy. In love we are gentle. In love - true love - we whisper, we smile, we enjoy the quiet of being together.

It is - it would seem - easy to be angry. It is difficult to love. When I consider the nature of God it makes sense that what I share of divine character will require care and discipline to find and claim.

Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. (Psalm 34: 11-14)

We honor God when we are careful in what we say.

Jesus taught, "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' " (Matthew 15: 10)

When we speak badly of others we hurt those of whom we speak, those to whom we speak, and - especially - ourselves.

When we speak of what is pleasant, helpful, and beautiful we contribute to wholeness and pursue peace.

This need not - should not - imply dishonesty, stupidity, callowness, or gullibility. It does imply being able to speak of others - even those who hurt us - with respect, sympathy, empathy, and love.

Above is Lips (1991) by Kim.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27: 13-14)

Given the awesome mystery of God, the mystical has a place in our relationship with God. As with other aspects of discipline and worship the mystical can open our minds and hearts to a fuller encounter with the divine. It can help us step outside ourselves and toward God.

But the God of Moses, the prophets, and Jesus is as earthy as a garden, as ordinary as a mountain-side picnic, and as practical as water in a desert. Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Our God intends for us to find and claim a full and happy life.

In the psalms goodness is often the English translation of chesed. This is the unconditional love of God that is, for me, a mystical pathway.

But above the Hebrew is towb. Here the Lord's goodness consists of property, tasty food, beautiful things, a discerning appreciation for beauty, enjoying "foaming wine, well mixed" (Psalm 75), the contentment of family, prosperity, pleasure, and delight.

We are both body and soul, of this life and beyond this life, we are finite creatures and children of the Creator. We need not - should not - choose one extreme and reject the other. We are called to wholeness.

Nevertheless, he regarded their distress when he heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. (Psalm 106: 44-45)

The psalmist begins by admitting, "Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly."

He then takes thirty-eight verses to recount the most prominent sins of his ancestors. Of his own sins he is discreetly quiet.

Despite these failures and betrayals God understands the people and shares their passions. God continues in relationship.

God shows compassion - in this case nacham - or offers comfort because of the abundance - rob - the many faceted and overflowing nature of love.

God's love is chesed: unalterably and unconditionally kind, faithful, and good. Chesed is the fundamental character of God.

Above is Three Poems by Robert Motherwell.

Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’ But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay! (Psalm 70: 4-5)

I am poor. The Hebrew is 'ainy a form of 'anah. Poor is an entirely legitimate translation. It can also mean afflicted or oppressed. There is an implication of being afflicted by busy-ness. The oppression is one of distraction, confusion and, as a result, an inability to focus on one's own purposes.

I am needy. The Hebrew is 'ebyown. Needing help, especially God's help, is suggested by the word. The adjective is derived from the verb 'abah. The verb means to be willing or to give one's consent. This neediness is an absense of consent. There is a need to be conscious of and exercise one's own will.

God is my deliverer - the one who will help me escape - from this poverty and this neediness. God enlivens my sense of purpose. God encourages my free will and conscious choice.

I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your decrees. I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad. (Psalm 119: 93-96)

The author of this psalm may have crafted a new word. What is translated as precepts is a noun-form that appears in four psalms and no where else in the Bible.

The Hebrew is rendered as piqquwd. It is based on the verb paqad which means to closely observe, give attention to, or to visit.

The English precept has come to mean a rule or a principle on which a rule is based.

This seems too narrow. The psalmist has given attention to what God attends. The psalmist has ordered his life to be with God, to look at what God sees, to move as God moves.

We have been visited by God. We have seen God. We can choose to be as God.

The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145: 9)

I seek compassion.

I do not seek mercy or forgiveness. I need both but these are not the object of my seeking. I run from pity.

I seek another who will share my passions.

The Hebrew word translated here as compassion is racham. It usually means to love deeply and completely; to fuse one's identity with another.

It can also refer to the womb or the bowels. Compassion is to feel and know the inner-most. To have compassion is to be inside another.

I seek to open myself to God. I seek to open myself and find God within.

Above is Passion by Felicitas.

I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my path, but they have fallen into it themselves. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make melody. (Psalm 57: 4-7)

On nearly every path there are lions. We cannot always be sure where they will appear or how they will appear. The lions may wear the proverbial sheep's clothing. But lions, and tigers, and bears - and our fear of them - are as predictable as the rain or sun.

We are instructed to remain firm, steady, and continue walking forward. We are even told to sing. If we are afraid, it is better not to show our fear. It is better to do something that will distract us from our fear, and perhaps confuse the lions.

Dear God give me the strength of a lion. Join this strength with your intention and courage.

Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. (Psalm 84: 5-6)

The Baca valley or vale of weeping is a place most of us know.

The psalmist insists that if we depend on our inner and higher strength we will get through this valley. We will not only get through our troubles, but we will transform them from desert into a place of flowing water.

Then the psalmist adds a wonderful phrase.

Maybe he was just in need for a running rhyme. In the Hebrew atah barakah - covers with blessing - nicely echoes emeq baca or Baca Valley. But the Hebrew for early rain can also mean teacher and the word for pool is as often translated as blessing.

The phrase can be read: the teacher wraps you in blessing. A valley of tears can also be a place of great teaching and in Hebrew baca means weeping in sorrow or in joy.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (Psalm 138: 7-8)

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. For many this is the ultimate answer to prayer.

I wonder if so many worried so much about purpose in prior generations. A self-conscious pre-occupation with purpose seems particular to the post-enlightenment and especially the last 70 years.

Concern for purpose is surely fundamental to being human. We find it front and center in Gilgamesh and the Socratic dialogues. But in these examples the searching is active, confident, even playful.

Today our search so often seems tentative, uncertain, passive. We worry over purpose more than search for it.

The psalmist is aware he has not yet fulfilled his purpose. But he is confident that in relationship with God his purpose will be found and fulfilled.

Above is Diver by Jasper Johns.

I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. (Psalm 2: 7-8)

We are all children of God. I am a son of God.

As such I have inherited certain fundamental characteristics. These are beyond my ability to choose or change.

I am also due an inheritance. But this I can reject or accept.

If I choose to behave as a son, in authentic relationship with God, then a generous inheritance is mine. If I choose to be out of relationship, God will respect my choice.

I love God.

Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23)

The first phrase is zabach towdah kabad. Literally this is "sacrifice of thanksgiving honors." The actor and the object are implied rather than explicit. Given context I do not disagree with the translation above.

But the Hebrew allows for other possibilities. Kabad can also mean heaviness or fullness and is close to what we mean in English by the word profound. In giving thanks we expose deeper relationships and more complex meanings. We honor another when we recognize how and why we are connected.

Towdah is derived from the Hebrew that means to shoot, cast, or throw. When we give thanks we may be throwing down or unburdening ourselves. We may also be aiming for something.

The phrase might be understood that in giving thanks we honor both the other and ourselves. Giving thanks requires recognizing our context and condition. Giving thanks acknowledges our dependence on another and the limits of our pride.

The psalmist goes on to suggest that giving thanks is fundamental to the right way of living.

The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him. (Psalm 67: 6-7)

We have been blessed. Do we realize it?

To be blessed - barak - is to be caused to kneel. This is not a forced prostration before the powerful. Rather, it is a spontaneous response in awe.

There can be a sense of trembling and of fear, but to be blessed is mostly to recognize our proximity to something fabulous, wonderful, extraordinary.

Each day we are surrounded by profound blessings: the beauty of the earth, waters, and sky; the mysterious dance of our relationships with one another; and in so many other ways.

Do we notice? Do we engage with this wider reality? Do we accept the blessing that God is continually giving?

Above is a photograph of lightning by Alan Moller of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. (Psalm 37: 3)

We should bring to living an attitude of trust - batach - confidence, boldness, even a bit of carelessness. We should trust in the ultimate reality of God.

We should bring to living an ability to do - 'asah - to act, to make, to create, to produce what has value. We should do what is excellent, pleasant, and happy.

I read the Hebrew of the second phrase differently than the translator above: put down roots and feed on faithfulness.

Dwell in the land. Stop wandering. Wherever you are make friends, tend the flock, graze on the grass that is there. Be steady and keep faith.

Trust in the Lord and do good; put down roots and feed on faithfulness.

You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob. Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes, and have put to confusion those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name for ever. Yet you have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies. You made us turn back from the foe, and our enemies have taken spoil for themselves. You have made us like sheep for slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. (Psalm 44: 4-12)

The psalmist is prepared to offer all praise and all blame.

Too often we fail to praise God. We are prepared to take full credit for any success.

But we may also be too quick to blame. In all that we undertake God works as a good partner, not a puppet master.

In our relationship with God we may be blessed with creativity, insight, and courage. But finally we must do our part. We must choose what we will do and how we will do it.

Humility, self-criticism, listening and learning are especially needed of those who have been blessed.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63: 5-8)

We cannot be satisfied apart from God. We can live a productive and even loving life outside a relationship with God. But only in partnership with God do we find our true self and final fulfillment.

Paul Tillich has written that God is our "ground of being." Our essential character is bound up in our origins with God. We exist. God persists beyond existence.

God can be engaged in many ways. Sabbath services, reading scripture, and liturgical prayer is one way. It is hardly the only way.

In asking for, opening to, creating, risking and embracing a relationship with God we choose a radically realistic way of living.

Tillich called this the New Being or New Reality. According to him, the outcome is that "One accepts one’s own self as something which is eternally important, eternally loved, and eternally accepted."

More on the New Being by Paul Tillich is available from thewords.com.

Above is Head of a Man by Paul Klee.

You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever. (Psalm 30: 11-12)

For more than twenty months I have been seriously threatened. I have not been paid for over six months. I have applied all of our savings to survival. I face the prospect of very deep - perhaps inescapable - debt.

But the time of trouble - at least this particular trouble - may be coming to a close.

I look back and am amazed. I knew some of the risks that were ahead, but not nearly all. It took much longer and much more than I anticipated to walk this path. It was treacherous beyond my prior experience.

But from the very start and through it all God was with me - beyond my prior experience.

The journey began with my choice. I recall the day and place. On that day God made me a promise - a promise for which I had not asked. I was offered love, protection, and courage. God gave even more.

God has been extravagant far beyond my expectation.

On this Spring morning God has clothed me with joy. I look behind with thanksgiving. I look ahead with hope. Through these troubles I have come to know God - and myself - much better than before. May I keep faith with this understanding.

Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! For great is his steadfast love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 117)

The descendents of Abraham came - over the generations - to understand that while they had been especially chosen their God was the God of all.

The Jewish religious calendar includes many celebrations of national salavation. It avoids celebrating the defeat of others. For even the enemy is a child of God.

God loves us. God is faithful to us. Each of us and all of us were created with intention and purpose. All of us are working to find that purpose.

All of us lose our way some of the time. Some seem to be lost forever. But God is always faithful and hopeful and ready to help.

Each of us is a unique expression of God. We are to find our unique voice and add it to a heavenly chorus. Together we will sing a complex - but very beautiful - harmony.

Trust in the Lord, and do good... Take delight in the Lord... Commit your way to the Lord... Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him... Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. (Psalm 37: 3-8)

For each of these instructions the psalmist offers a specific pay-off. The instructions make sense to me; I have chosen to exclude the rewards. From other psalms I might quote specific sins and their particular punishments.

I wonder about Ezekiel. It seems to me that before the Babylonian Captivity the descendents of Abraham worshiped a God, certainly of many parts, but characterized mostly by love and creativity. Their God seemed to especially enjoy gardens and picnics. This was a God who clearly loved David - despite all of David's exuberant faults. Theirs was a God who bountifully blessed Jacob, a conflicted and often deceitful man.

Before Ezekiel it seems to me that the God worshipped on Zion was a source of love, creation, protection, and resolution in a world that was seen as confusing and dangerous because of human choice and natural condition and not because of divine vengeance. Before the Exile when God intervened it was, arguably, as a source of sustenance and clarity rather than punishment.

The disaster of the Exile demanded an explanation. Ezekial found an explanation in God's need to punish and, thereby, to purify. It was a powerful explanation. In terms of human logic it was compelling. I am sure of Ezekiel's faithfulness. I am unsure of his insight.

Six centuries after Ezekiel another prophet arose. It was another time of trouble. Disaster was soon to descend on the chosen people of God. The prophet proclaimed a God of love, foregiveness, creativity, wholeness, and nearly unimaginable grace.

But the new prophecy has never quite overcome that of Ezekial. I hope and trust in the explanation of Jesus, not of Ezekial.

Above is Ezekial by Carol Barenberg.

Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your ordinances before me. I cling to your decrees, O Lord; let me not be put to shame. I run the way of your commandments, for you enlarge my understanding. (Psalm 119: 29-32)

You enlarge my understanding can also be rendered as you enlarge my heart or you enlarge my will or you enlarge my being. The Hebrew is leb. The most literal translation is heart, which was understood as the seat of passion, courage, and character.

We are in relationship with a God of profound creativity and love. Loving and creating is the way we relate to God. The more we love, the more we create: the more we have chosen the way of faithfulness. In this way we choose to grow toward God.

Rachab - the Hebrew word for enlarge - can also mean a broad and open pasture. God has provided us with a broad and beautiful space where we can run free in creating, loving, and living as originally intended. It is ours to choose.

Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you. (Psalm 26: 1-3)

The psalmist is more sure of himself than I am. I trust God and certainly I want to walk with God.

But the psalmist almost boasts of living as God intended. He is certain he has lived with tom: integrity, wholeness, as originally intended.

With God's help - often through trial and testing - I am moving closer to wholeness, but I am still a creature of many sometimes contradictory parts.

Who are they that fear the Lord? He will teach them the way that they should choose. (Psalm 25:12)

The psalms encourage reverence, awe, and fear of God. Any encounter with God is likely to prompt this reaction.

I prefer the sense of wrestling with God. Jacob was renamed Israel or God-wrestler. This close engagement and struggle is similar to my relationship with God.

The relationship is intimate, challenging, exhilirating. In wrestling with God I often learn how to wrestle with life.

Above is Vision after the Sermon, Jacob Wresting with an Angel by Paul Gauguin.