Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. (Psalm 107: 31)

Those lost in the desert find their way to help. Those lost in depression find their way to wholeness. Those on the edge of death find their way to health. Those threatened by the storms of life find their way to a quiet haven.

Each are encouraged by the psalmist to give thanks - but not just for themselves. They are to recognize and give thanks for the love and loving care of God extended to all.

The Hebrew translated here as humankind is ben 'adam: children of Adam or children of man. The wonders of God are generously given to all. God loves each of us and all of us. God is ready to help everyone find their way.

So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 105: 43-45)

When we emerge from pain we often exult in simply feeling normal. When we escape a threatening situation our sense of relief is often joyful. Comfort and confidence may be the most effective antidote to exuberance. Somehow we are often unable to fully value what we have until we have lost it or nearly lose it. Dear God you have given me so many sources of joy. Help me, my God, to fully value your gifts.

Above is Gladness by Michael Kuznetsov.

Your decrees are righteous for ever; give me understanding that I may live. (Psalm 119: 144)

Today's psalmist is in trouble. Like most of us his response to trouble is self-indulgent and far from self-critical. He writes, "For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause."

The psalmist is vengeful. He expects God's grace for himself. But for his enemies he seeks only punishment. He writes, "Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad. May my accusers be clothed with dishonour; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle."

The psalmist is impatient. He wants God to fix the troubles immediately. He writes, "It is time for the Lord to act, for your law has been broken."

The psalmist is consumed by self-pity. He writes, "I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts."

But the psalmist is wise enough, or disciplined enough, or perhaps sufficiently poor and needy to truly come to God. As the psalm proceeds there are fewer assertions, fewer demands, more praise, and - instead of asking for action against the adversary - a prayerful request for God to transform the life and understanding of the psalmist.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100)

To worship is to serve, to work, to recognize what needs to be done. To worship well is to do what needs to be done. The original Hebrew is 'abad which outside a religious context means to labor for another.

In the service professions one of the most prized characteristics is the ability to anticipate the needs and wants of those to be served.

What does God want? Joy, gladness, and singing are at the top of the list. Recognize that God rules. Recognize that God created us and seeks an ongoing relationship with us.

Give thanks and offer praise. In all of your work focus on blessing God. Work to fulfill the intent of God. Work with God.

If we worship - serve - God in this way we will be redeemed. We are fortunate to serve one who is good, loving, and faithful. In anticipating the wants of God, we fulfill our needs.

Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: ‘I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him; my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him... (Psalm 89:19-24)

The love of David for God - and the love of God for David - is a great teaching.

David was a complex man: courageous, creative, and affectionate. He was a talented poet, skilled musician, and fearsome warrior. He was a man of deep faith.

David was also a murderer, adulterer, manipulator, and audacious teller of lies.

God loved David. God chose David. God also held David accountable. But God's love for David was steadfast, unconditional, and faithful.

God did not love David despite his flaws. God loved David including his flaws. God valued David fully, wholly, and completely.

David was always open to God. David was constantly in relationship with God. David did not trust in himself. David trusted only in God.

Because David - even in his sinfulness - remained open to and in relationship with God the redemptive potential of God's love was always with him.

Above is King David Chooses Bathsheba by Willie Rodger.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. (Psalm 46: 1-3)

Fear comes in many forms. Hebrew has twenty-six different words that are sometimes translated into the English word "fear."

Above the word is yare'. The implication is we will not run away or faint.

'Eymah means to be terrorized.

'Guwr means to fear that which is unfamiliar.

Da'agah is to be anxious, often without a clear source or focus.

Chathath is to be scared, shattered, or broken by disappointment.

Macah means to be intimidated.

'Arats was a favorite of Moses and Isaiah. It is to be shocked, surprised, to tremble in awe.

Isaiah also liked pachad which is to be overcome with a sustained sense of dread.

Rogez is to be agitated, troubled, emotionally unbalanced, and excited. Job describes both himself and God with this word. An early example of psychological projection.

Mowra is often translated as fear, but means to be reverent or to respect. In faith and love of God we should fear nothing. But we are to honor and respect God.

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:19)

Today many churches celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. John was a prophet. He considered himself the forerunner of the Messiah.

John preached repentence in order to prepare for the forthcoming judgment of the annointed one. He baptized as a symbolic act of purification and preparation.

There are two Hebrew words meaning repent. One - nacham - also means to be sorry, to regret, and to be comforted.

The other is shuwb which means to turn away, turn back, return, restore, and to refresh. We cannot be certain which repentence John preached.

But I am fairly confident he preached shuwb. If his listeners were anything like me many nonetheless heard nacham.

Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. (Psalm 80:14-18)

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands —O prosper the work of our hands! (Psalm 90: 14-17)

We read that in creating the universe God would pause occasionally and perceive, "It is good."

God would step back from creating, assess the work, and confirm the outcome.

The psalmist is asking that his work be motivated by God's steadfast love. He is asking to know - and be led - by the example of God's work.

The psalmist is asking - I am asking - for God's help so that our work, our creation, our outcomes might also be good.

May our purpose and God's purpose be as one and our pathways the same.
__________________________

Note for future study: God's work in verse 16 is po'al. Our work in verse 17 is ma'aseh. The distinction is not clear to me.

Above is Creation by Kathy Thamann

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps. (Psalm 85: 10-13)

Jesus was very attuned to hypocritical behavior. In Matthew 23 it is one of the principal accusations he throws at the Pharisees and Scribes.

Faithfulness, steadfastness, and truth are principal characteristics of righteousness.

Most scholars perceive Jesus spoke mostly in Aramaic. But it is likely he understood Greek. Hypocrite is a Greek word for actor. Before the criticism in Matthew the word did not have an especially negative meaning.

Matthew may be offering a Greek translation of Ce'eph an Aramaic word that means double-minded, ambivalent, or half-hearted.

We should not spend our life pretending. We should not try to mislead others. We should - especially - not try to fool ourselves. We should find the self that God intended and live out that intention boldly, steadily, and with love.

Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. (Psalm 81: 1-3)

The law of Moses mandated celebration. Exuberant singing, dancing, eating, and drinking were a form of worship.

Resting every seventh day was a requirement. Long vacations were scheduled each Spring and Fall.

Unlike most modern forms of recreation these times were to be focused on God: remembering God's blessings in the past and listening to God's intention for today.

The worshiper no doubt benefited from - and enjoyed - the rest and party. But the purpose was worship not indulgence.

Of course many of the people of Moses were - so much like us - inclined to misuse the sabbath and festivals. Instead of focusing on God, we choose a different focus... and miss out on most of the fun.

"O that my people would listen to me... I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." (Psalm 81: 13, 16)

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. (Psalm 78: 1-4)

The relationship of God with the people of Moses is almost always troubled. It is an ongoing story of love, betrayal, fear, anger, arrogance, abuse, hope, forgiveness, and redemption. Dark sayings and glorious deeds.

Contentiousness is key to the story's survival and power.

Leo Tolstoy begins Anna Karenina with "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." We tire of hearing the same happy story. Unhappiness is a constantly new source of fascination.

The rules of happiness are simple: faith, hope, and love.

The sources of unhappiness are complicated. Unhappiness is almost always the result of a mistaken sense of happiness. It is the passionate pursuit of an illusion that often gives a story its dramatic power and keeps us reading.

Above is Pursuing Happiness by an unknown artist.

Will the Lord spurn for ever, and never again be favourable? Has his steadfast love ceased for ever? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’ And I say, ‘It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’ I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who works wonders... (Psalm 77: 7-14)

The psalmist is literally worried sick. "I have held my eyelids open. I am so troubled I cannot speak."

God transforms the psalmist's attitude, alters his perspective, changes his grief. The Hebrew for grief means to become tired, weak or sick, to be made sick, or to make oneself sick.

Chalah, used here for grief, could be translated as to be depressed, with all our complicated modern meanings of depression.

God transforms this grief through memory, meditation, and musing.

We remember the good that has come before. We consider deeply the good that is happening right now. We actively imagine the good that can still be achieved.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth. (Psalm 96: 11-13)

Use of the future tense is audacious. With it we view the future as something predictable and sometimes even within our control. Other languages and cultures condition their use of the future tense with "God willing," as in "I will join you tomorrow, God willing."

Hebrew does not have a future tense. Rather than a time-oriented grammar, it uses an action-oriented grammar. In Hebrew something is either finished or unfinished. Something is either done or is being done.

"For he is coming..." is a good example of the unfinished tense translated into English. In the last sentence above the translator has chosen to use future tense. A more literal translation is "He is judging..." The same Hebrew words can mean, "He is governing..."

For two thousand years many people of faith have expected to see the second coming of Christ. They have predicted it, depended on it, sometimes been disappointed when it did not seem to arrive.

What if we have misunderstood the teaching? What if the redemption of the world - and our lives - is already underway? Rather than happening in the future, it is something being done right now. Can we choose to live as if, "God is governing the world with righteousness and the peoples with truth."

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. (Psalm 23: 4-6)

I have lived a blessed life. Compared to the tragedies that befall so many the challenges of my first fifty years have been light. My cup has certainly overflowed.

For many months I have been walking through a dark valley. Despite knowing that God is nearby I have often been afraid. This morning I have awakened in fear.

There is good cause to be attentive, creative, and realistic in dealing with the cause of my fear. There is no need to be afraid. There is no benefit in worry.

I abide in the house of God. My host cannot protect me from my own bad choices. My host will not interfere in the bad choices of others. Even in God's house evil can occur.

But God loves. God is kind. God helps. God inspires. And if all else fails, God will restore.

Above is Red Car through Dark Valley by Max Grover.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. (Psalm 69: 13)

The psalmists - like myself - are usually impatient. There is great urgency. They demand immediate justice. They pray for lightening bolts, fiery chariots, and a host of angels descending in divine intervention.

The prayer Jesus taught is specific about what is needed, but silent on how to achieve it. "Give us this day our daily bread." The output is specific. The inputs are left open. When asking for God's help we should trust in God's sense of timing and technique.

God listens. God loves. God helps. But God often depends on us to listen, watch, and wait for an acceptable time. The Hebrew implies a favorable time, a ready context, in season. May I be clear regarding my real needs. May I be faithful in working with God to fulfill those needs at the right time and in the right way.

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)

In each of the psalms assigned for today there is turmoil and trouble. The psalmist is threatened from every side. He is under attack and in great peril.

He is profoundly poor and needy. He is poor - the Hebrew is anah - hassled, under pressure, stressed, busy, depressed, ashamed and humiliated.

He is needy - 'ebyown - vulnerable, financially strapped, and requiring help.

The Hebrew 'ebyown is derived from 'abah, which means to be willing, consent, to yield, to accept, and to desire.

Too often I have been poor, but have resisted being needy. Too often I respond to trouble with ego rather than faith. May I be more often needy: willing, yielding, accepting, and desiring a relationship with God.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. (Psalm 34: 4-8)

The Hebrew word translated above as "look" also means to give close attention, to regard, and to consider. When we look to God we can reflect the character of God. Our reflection may be dim in comparison, but it is more than sufficient.

It is now three days past the full moon. Yesterday morning the sky was clear. The moon brightened the early morning. Today the clouds are thick. But still moonlight penetrates the dark and shows the way.

The moon has no light of its own. Without the sun it is just a lump of rock. But when the moon turns its face to the sun the reflection transforms the night. When we turn to God we may also brighten a black night.

Above is a photograph of the moon from UtahSkies.

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honour; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. (Psalm 62: 5-7)

Each of us face challenges which are beyond our own solution. We might be the wealthiest man, the wisest woman, or the most powerful person and still the problems will persist.

At such times the psalmist counsels waiting in silence. The Hebrew is damam meaning to enter into a disciplined quiet or to be made silent by an awe inspiring event.

In this quiet we should watch and wait for hope. The Hebrew is tiqvah which in common language means a cord or rope. It is as if we have fallen over a cliff and are perched on a crumbling ledge. A saving rope is thrown from above us.

In such times if we can quiet our passions and anxieties - and if we seek and welcome God's help - we are more likely to see the cord of hope in the midst of the tangled vines of trouble.

We must perceive it, grasp it, and choose to use the cord. But we can be certain that God is a constant source of hope and help.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by. I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me. (Psalm 57:1-2)

There are storms. There are times of peril. There are many days when we pay the cost of a bad choice. There are years spent struggling with evil. There are seasons of grief. There are hours of agony.

In need we seem especially to turn toward God. We seek God's mercy: the Hebrew suggests God bending down toward us. We seek a place of refuge: it can also mean a place of hope and trust. We seek - or should seek - to know God's purpose for us.

To what end does God intend us? How will we be completed? What will make us whole? In working earnestly to answer these questions we are most likely to share in God's purpose. In God's purpose we are most likely to find a place of abiding hope and trust.

There are also sunny and pleasant days. Flowers grow. Birds sing. A loved one returns. A fine day of work is completed. A child, a spouse, or a friend pauses to listen. A wonderful meal is shared with friends. There is satisfaction. There is celebration. There is love. There is purpose fulfilled.

God is surely with us in all that we do. The greater issue may be whether we choose to acknowledge - and honor - the presence of God.

You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. (Psalm 65: 9-13)

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (Psalm 147: 1-5)

All of the psalms assigned for this morning begin with Praise the Lord!

Here the Hebrew word for praise (there are at least eleven) means to shine or flash forth light.

Some understand the soul to be a sliver of fire or a source of light given to each of us. In this way our individual souls are connected to, yet separated from, the universal light of God.

In praising God we rejoin our light with its origins. Our flash of light is embraced within the everflowing light of God.

In praise our inner self - our essential self - returns home.

Above is River Light by David Hibbard.

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in You. (Psalm 33: 20-21)

We trust in the holy name - unique identity - of God. We are in relationship with the great I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14). God is male and female, old and young, with us and beyond us.

We seek to know God.

Scripture tells how others have experienced God and understood their relationship with God. By observing the world about us we may perceive much of God's nature and purpose.

But I want to be with God.

To be with God, to talk with God, to know God is to unmask myself, to dig deep into myself, to shed those aspects of myself that are false and fearful. To find God I must reclaim the unique identity that I share with God.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God... Happy are those who make the Lord their trust... (Psalm 40: 1-4)

The pursuit of happiness may be the preeminent American characteristic. I presume that Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson had Aristotle's eudaimonia in mind when they enshrined happiness in the Declaration of Independence.

In the psalms to be happy is almost always to be blessed. 'Esher is the noun, 'asher is the verb. It means to make progress, to advance on a goal, or to straighten what is crooked.

For both Aristotle and the psalmist to be happy is to fulfill one's unique character by becoming one's true self. It is the process of becoming - the experience of growth and progress - that is the source of happiness.

These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you. ‘Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 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: 21-23)

A friend has said, "We find the God we are looking for." Another has said, "We find the God we need."

The psalmist's God retorts, "you thought that I was one just like yourself."

We are created by God and of God. We share God's nature. But we have chosen - most of us have chosen - to neglect our origins and go another way.

Along our way we often choose to worship that which reaffirms what we have chosen. We choose to worship our selves.

To give thanks is to recognize what is beyond our self. In thanksgiving we sacrifice a false image of our self and may reclaim our true self.

Above is How Many am I by Annelise Jarvis Hansen.

You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. (Psalm 119: 65-66)

In my tradition there are three sources of wisdom: scripture, revelation, and reason.

Much of scripture has been in place for 3000 years. Yet for each generation - and each life - it can have renewed meaning.

Revelation is the understanding that comes from a direct encounter with God. In relationship we may know God's intention for us this day and in this place.

Reason is what the psalmist is seeking. Judgment is the Hebrew ta'am. This is good taste, literally what we taste with our tongue. It is extended to mean an ability to discern subtle differences of quality. Knowledge is the Hebrew da'ath. This is to see clearly with our eyes. It is abstracted to perceive, discern, and to distinguish between what is real and what is not real.

In scripture what was the context? Who was listening? How were the listeners needs similar to or different from our own?

How does the revelation complement scripture? How is the revelation consistent with God's character and purpose? Does the revelation feel as if it is motivated by love?

Does the reasoning bring me closer to God? Can I taste God's presence? Can I feel God's love?

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth... God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm. (Psalm 47: 1-2,5-7)

This morning the air is cool. There is the slightest scent of honeysuckle. A great star-cloud extends from north to south in a moonless sky. Fireflies dance in the meadow. The frogs and crickets share their symphony. Soon birds will begin to sing. Soon the sun will rise, another day full of possibility will begin. What riches we have inherited. Nothing we have done has earned this gift. In love it has been given to us. Our best response - our only just response - is to receive the gift in love, thanksgiving and praise.

Happy are those who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble. The Lord protects them and keeps them alive; they are called happy in the land. (Psalm 41: 1-2)

Jesus was confronted by a society where most were poor and getting poorer.

Prior to Jesus a widening gap between the poor and the wealthy was explained by the sinfulness of the poor. Most religious leaders taught that poverty was the punishment of God for sin. Just as wealth was the reward of God for faithfulness.

Instead Jesus saw that the small farmer and others were being forced into poverty through huge debts and high interest rates... paid to those becoming wealthy.

What Jesus also saw was this economic relationship getting in the way of a relationship with God. The poor came to see themselves as so profoundly sinful that they could not approach God. (In many cases they literally could not enter the Jerusalem temple.) Meanwhile the rich were separated from God by perceiving God's blessing where no such thing was intended.

According to the Laws of Moses all debts were to be cancelled every seven years (the sabbath year). But during the life of Jesus this requirement - seldom practiced in full - was undone through legal reinterpretation. Much of the teaching of Jesus can be better understood as a reaction against this legal reintrepretation and - especially - its spiritual implications.

When Jesus taught, "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," he was encouraging both an economic and a spiritual practice.

More is available on the reinterpretation of the Sabbath Year at Jewish Law.

Above is Normal Debt by Terrence Payne.

The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfils the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. (Psalm 145: 17-20)

Today many churches celebrate Pentecost. According to the Acts of the Apostles fifty days after the resurrection, while the principal followers of Jesus were attending the Festival of Shauvot in Jerusalem, "divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them."

God heard their cry and came very near to them. God fulfilled their desire for insight and courage. God watched over them and saved them.

How is it that the Lord is "kind in all his doings" and yet "the wicked he will destroy?" The Hebrew is kol rashad shabad: all wicked destroy. It can also mean: all wickedness destroy.

Perhaps the translator who rendered the passage above was confident of his or her innocence and relieved to read of God destroying the wicked. I would be more assured if the wicked are redeemed by the destruction of their (my) wickedness.

Dear God, open my life to your tongues of fire. May your cleansing flame burn away all that seperates me from you.

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)

Who are my enemies? Pride, fear, and envy are among my strongest foes.

Other enemies I have conquered or even made fast friends. But these three persist in their threats. These three have joined in an alliance to overthrow my happiness.

But with God's help I am in alliance with faith, hope and love. In every battle these friends have proven stronger than my enemies. O Lord, help me to keep and honor this friendship.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word. Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will. Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. (Psalm 103: 20-22)

Does God need us? Does God need me?

For many - perhaps most - Christians the answer is no. The creator God of the universe is beyond need. God creates, judges, loves, redeems, and much more. But God is entirely self-sufficient. God does not need us.

This is our Greek heritage - especially Aristotle's unmoved mover - continuing a sometimes awkward dance with the Jewish origins of Christian faith.

At the heart of our Jewish origins is a mutuality of need. We need the blessing of God. God needs our blessing.

We must work together to make the world whole.

God's intention is advanced in partnership with Moses, Deborah, Isaiah, Esther, Jesus and so many others. In each case God invited and encouraged the partnership. In each case the human partner - often reluctantly - agreed to work with God.

May I choose to bless God in what I do today. May our work together help heal what is broken.

Above is Tikkun Olam by Avery Mazor.

I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."... You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16: 2, 11)

Most translations of the second verse are footnoted with, "The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain." Even so the translator has captured what is a ground truth for me.

Apart from God I encounter confusion, anxiety, frustration, desperation and despair. The closer I am to God the more I experience clarity, confidence, fulfillment, enthusiasm and joy.

God is always with me. But God is gracious, even in giving way. God waits for me to begin the conversation, to ask the question, to reach out in relationship.