"Seeking God’s direction for your life does not always mean waiting for a road map to drop from heaven before you go anywhere – sometimes it means just setting out and figuring out where it is you’re going on the way."
on wings like eagles
I'm memorizing Psalm 103 this month - one verse a day - and meditating on it as I go. Here's what I know so far:
Praise the Lord, o my soul,
all my inmost being, praise His holy Name.
Praise the Lord, o my soul,
and forget not all His benefits:
who forgives all your sins,
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
- Psalm 103:1-6
I've been reading study notes for a bit this morning on this psalm, and learned a few things that helped me internalize the truth of these verses a bit, and I thought I'd share them with you. The Nelson Study Bible (KJV) has a "wordfocus" section that defined "soul" a little more clearly - in Hebrew the word is nephesh, and it can mean your very breath, your life force as connected to your blood, your personality (what makes you... you), and it can also refer to the seat of your intellect and emotions. So this psalm really does call us to worship God with everything we've got - all that we are is to respond in worship to Him.
This reminds me of a sermon Scott preached last summer where he proved on a metaphysical basis that the universe is actually singing. There's these tiny, tiny particles that make up protons and neutrons that are zinging around comprising matter, and each of them emit a unique frequency - creation is musical! How cool is that?
Another thing that jumped out at me this week is the phrase in verse 5 about your youth being renewed like the eagle's. I know eagles can live a really long time, but renewed youth? What's that about? The NIV Study Bible says that this refers to an eagle's "proverbial unflagging strength." Thinking about eagles always makes me think of that verse in Isaiah 40 about flying on "wings as eagles" - which reminds me of a sermon Ben Patterson preached once at Hope College. He described the way that eagles fly: they tuck their wings, dive headfirst into the air, plummet toward the ground at high speed, and then, at just the right moment, they spread their wings and catch the current, to float along effortlessly on the wind. (Not quite a comforting analogy, is it? God says we will soar on those sorts of wings. That explains a bit...)
Something else I learned as I was studying is that "desires" in verse 5 can refer to food - which gives implications to renewed youth as well, I think - we need sustanance to be renewed; if we don't eat, we faint. Similarly, in our spiritual walk, we need spiritual food to keep going. When we're not engaged in the spiritual disciplines, we're not unflaggingly strong at all - but when we're in the Word and praying actively (and not just "oh God help" sorts of prayers, but rather the 2-way conversation, listening sorts of prayers) and honestly seeking to follow Him not just in how we think but in what we do - then those eagle-wing moments are no longer scary, but exhilarating.
actually looking for an explanation of verse 6; I get the justice part, but am wondering what it means for God to "work righteousness...for the oppressed." I've always thought of righteousness as an abstract characteristic, not so much as something you could "do" - or that God could, in this instance. Anyway, I've come across some great commentary worth sharing.
From Matthew Henry: "In singing this psalm we must in a special manner get our hearts affected with the goodness of God and enlarged in love and thankfulness." (I love that - "we must...get our hearts affected..." It's possible to read the Word and miss it. God, let that not be the case with me; affect my heart, please!)
Praise the Lord, o my soul,
all my inmost being, praise His holy Name.
Praise the Lord, o my soul,
and forget not all His benefits:
who forgives all your sins,
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
- Psalm 103:1-6
I've been reading study notes for a bit this morning on this psalm, and learned a few things that helped me internalize the truth of these verses a bit, and I thought I'd share them with you. The Nelson Study Bible (KJV) has a "wordfocus" section that defined "soul" a little more clearly - in Hebrew the word is nephesh, and it can mean your very breath, your life force as connected to your blood, your personality (what makes you... you), and it can also refer to the seat of your intellect and emotions. So this psalm really does call us to worship God with everything we've got - all that we are is to respond in worship to Him.
This reminds me of a sermon Scott preached last summer where he proved on a metaphysical basis that the universe is actually singing. There's these tiny, tiny particles that make up protons and neutrons that are zinging around comprising matter, and each of them emit a unique frequency - creation is musical! How cool is that?
Another thing that jumped out at me this week is the phrase in verse 5 about your youth being renewed like the eagle's. I know eagles can live a really long time, but renewed youth? What's that about? The NIV Study Bible says that this refers to an eagle's "proverbial unflagging strength." Thinking about eagles always makes me think of that verse in Isaiah 40 about flying on "wings as eagles" - which reminds me of a sermon Ben Patterson preached once at Hope College. He described the way that eagles fly: they tuck their wings, dive headfirst into the air, plummet toward the ground at high speed, and then, at just the right moment, they spread their wings and catch the current, to float along effortlessly on the wind. (Not quite a comforting analogy, is it? God says we will soar on those sorts of wings. That explains a bit...)
Something else I learned as I was studying is that "desires" in verse 5 can refer to food - which gives implications to renewed youth as well, I think - we need sustanance to be renewed; if we don't eat, we faint. Similarly, in our spiritual walk, we need spiritual food to keep going. When we're not engaged in the spiritual disciplines, we're not unflaggingly strong at all - but when we're in the Word and praying actively (and not just "oh God help" sorts of prayers, but rather the 2-way conversation, listening sorts of prayers) and honestly seeking to follow Him not just in how we think but in what we do - then those eagle-wing moments are no longer scary, but exhilarating.
actually looking for an explanation of verse 6; I get the justice part, but am wondering what it means for God to "work righteousness...for the oppressed." I've always thought of righteousness as an abstract characteristic, not so much as something you could "do" - or that God could, in this instance. Anyway, I've come across some great commentary worth sharing.
From Matthew Henry: "In singing this psalm we must in a special manner get our hearts affected with the goodness of God and enlarged in love and thankfulness." (I love that - "we must...get our hearts affected..." It's possible to read the Word and miss it. God, let that not be the case with me; affect my heart, please!)
coffee randoms
"Coffee Randoms" was the title of a poem my roommate Sara wrote when we were in college. (It is now also the title of her blog.) I don't remember all of the poem; to my memory it was mostly about scenes in which people were drinking coffee (I could be wrong about that - at any rate, we were in it and likely drinking coffee - both in the poem and while reading it) - but anyway, she used this phrase in her poem in reference to coffee that I think of almost daily. She called it "lifeblood." I am identifying deeply with that concept this morning.
how not to be tired
I think right now the fundamental shift I need to make is from sheer exhaustion to Sabbath rest. Recently I took a trip to Alaska with my family, and over the first couple of days I did pretty much nothing. I read Bonhoeffer's Reflections on the Psalms. I slept - a lot. I worked out. I listened to music. I just...was.
It was nice.
Lately there has been very little just existing and very much running around like crazy. Even today, Sunday, is less than restful. Okay, I suppose sitting here and writing is restful - but I should be writing papers, or planning the set for Emerge this week, or .... "should." Maybe that's the word that really troubles me.
I "should" do this, that or the other thing....
"The expectations upon me are...."
But what does God expect? If I were following that a little more closely, I think perhaps I would not be quite so tired.
It was nice.
Lately there has been very little just existing and very much running around like crazy. Even today, Sunday, is less than restful. Okay, I suppose sitting here and writing is restful - but I should be writing papers, or planning the set for Emerge this week, or .... "should." Maybe that's the word that really troubles me.
I "should" do this, that or the other thing....
"The expectations upon me are...."
But what does God expect? If I were following that a little more closely, I think perhaps I would not be quite so tired.
what's in a name?
It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from. - C.S. Lewis
August 13, 2010
Once upon a time, this blog was called A Fundamental Shift (hence the url) and who knows, maybe someday it might be again. The Shift was so entitled because of something my friend Chris said once that stuck with me in the middle of a sermon (about which I remember nothing else): "...and there's this fundamental shift that happens..."
He was talking about the shift that happens when you become a follower of Christ - and there is one (quite a massive one, actually!) - and then there are all these other shifts that continue to happen as He sanctifies you and makes you more and more like Himself. There are times when it feels to me like the spiritual version of plate tectonics - bits of me scraping off and wreaking havoc on the world around me, as the very landscape of my soul changes, and things pile up and fall off and get flattened... There is one continual groaning and shifting within the core of who I am that results in periodic lulls between metaphorical earth...er, soul-quakes... and sometimes it feels more like continual quake than lull...
Then, a couple of years ago, I changed my blog title to ...the most curious thing... because of something my pastor said about me being a curious thing (the story is here, should you be so inclined to wonder about the details) - but now it just feels like time for a new name and a new look. It's a new season, and new seasons always bring change. So welcome - to simple felicity.
happy-ness
the 411:
Nope, Happy is not my real name.
Yes, I do actually go by it in real life. well, that, or Hapicheep.
C.S. Lewis is amazing.
So is Madeleine L'Engle.
I believe in miracles.
I love to read.
I prefer European football to American football.
I've been to Albania. (and I don't know a lot of people who can say that.)
I have a day job that I love but I'm also an associate pastor for a church plant called Torch. It is one of the best and most fun and occasionally crazy things I've ever done, and I learn and grow daily in that role.
Finding, creating, and teaching others how to find and create Sacred Space in their own lives is my passion. What does that mean? I'm still figuring that out, but enter "Sacred Space" in the "search blog" box over there and you'll find some posts that sort of explain it. Sort of.
Chocolate, coffee, and ice cream are their own food group.
Lost is one of the best t.v. shows ever. Tho I will always have a fondness for older shows like The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Green Acres, and Star Trek (Next Generation).
I have extremely eclectic taste.
and then there's all this:
Questions? :)
Nope, Happy is not my real name.
Yes, I do actually go by it in real life. well, that, or Hapicheep.
C.S. Lewis is amazing.
So is Madeleine L'Engle.
I believe in miracles.
I love to read.
I prefer European football to American football.
I've been to Albania. (and I don't know a lot of people who can say that.)
I have a day job that I love but I'm also an associate pastor for a church plant called Torch. It is one of the best and most fun and occasionally crazy things I've ever done, and I learn and grow daily in that role.
Finding, creating, and teaching others how to find and create Sacred Space in their own lives is my passion. What does that mean? I'm still figuring that out, but enter "Sacred Space" in the "search blog" box over there and you'll find some posts that sort of explain it. Sort of.
Chocolate, coffee, and ice cream are their own food group.
Lost is one of the best t.v. shows ever. Tho I will always have a fondness for older shows like The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Green Acres, and Star Trek (Next Generation).
I have extremely eclectic taste.
and then there's all this:
Questions? :)
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