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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, hold me up, listen, Lynn Bauman, optimism, poet, prize of life, psalm 16, speak, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
There are many beautiful lines in Psalm 16 and many songs written from its contents. It speaks of a poet who finds confidence in relationship with God, regardless of outer circumstances. Here are a few lines from the translation by Lynn Bauman:
I am here to listen to your counsel, Lord, your inner teachings of the heart. Day after day, night after night, you speak through everything. You are the prize of life, the goal, the hidden good. You take my hand in yours and hold me up, and fill my heart to overflowing. This body-mind, this spirit, all are yours and each part finds a place to rest in you…From birth to death you are the path I walk upon, and you’re the guide who leads me through and far beyond, into your Presence, Lord, right next to you, which fills me full, my highest joy, my purest good.
Bauman’s commentary on the psalm offers an interesting challenge. In part, he says, “In this psalm the poet is living life to the full and has a deep sense of optimism. It is God’s presence, filling the cup of life, that makes reality like it is for the psalmist…What moments of your life have been like this for you? If, in this moment you are not experiencing this same kind of deep, satisfying delight, then express the reality of your heart to God as honestly and as beautifully as you possibly can. Does telling God this make a difference?” (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.36)
Let us think on these things…
