A Tender Testament

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, grace, lift up, Lynn Bauman, psalm 121, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Your hand shall guide me

The psalm from today’s lectionary in most Christian denominations is a familiar and consoling one. At least the first two lines are generally recognized. (“I lift up my eyes from the mountains from whence comes my help. My help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” PS 121) The psalmist seems to begin in these verses to be stating his confidence in God and then changes his address to his listeners, giving reasons for all of us to have trust in God.

Lynn Bauman has chosen to frame the psalm as a direct address to God, a kind of testament to relationship, one might say, which I found quite beautiful this morning. I write it here as a streaming totality, a love letter maybe, that flows from the pen of a grateful servant. See what you think.

“The summits of the mountains draw my eyes and lift them upward and beyond to you, the secret source of all my being. For in the height and depths of you, in you alone, I find the grace and help I need to walk upon this path called earth and never stumble nor go astray. For you as guard and guide keep watch; you will not sleep by day or night as we do. I walk into your wakefulness; your guarding eye, your guiding hand protects and shades my way. The sun by day, the moon by night provide no better light than yours, no better shade. And in the shadows of the mountains deep you preserve me from its evils. And in this traffic of the heart you shield my life and keep my soul in all its many wanderings, until at last I come to stand, my weary feet now firm upon the borders of your land, eternity.” (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.315)

Perseverance

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Amalek, Hebrews, Joshua, judgment, Moses, patience, Paul, perseverance, prayer, psalm 121, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy

The lectionary readings for this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time seem like a chain whose links build a good argument for “stick-to-itiveness” (Can that really be a word?!)

First we have Moses and the Israelites in a battle with Amalek which seems rather outrageous. Moses is up at the top of a hill watching the battle led by Joshua. His staff in hand, Moses watches and directs the fight. (Here’s the part that seems rather strange.) “As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight but when he grew tired Amalek got the advantage.” Happily, Moses had a rock to sit on when his legs got tired and two men to hold up his arms when his arms were giving out, so Israel won the fight. (Perseverance with a little help: yes?)

Next we have Psalm 121 (1-8) with all kinds of encouragement about how “our help is from the Lord,” followed by Paul’s challenge to Timothy (TM 4: 1-2) to “be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient,” advising him specifically to “convince, reprimand and encourage through all patience and teaching.” (That last part — patience and teaching — seems to me the most likely to be effective.)

Finally we have the story of the unjust judge who rendered a decision in favor of the woman whose presence and bothering would not let him rest. His reasoning is weak but the point of the woman’s perseverance is made and drives home the point of all the elements in the chain. Moreover, it seems to me that it all can be summed up by the verse before the gospel that assures us: “The word of God is living and active, discerning reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (HEB 4:12)