Picture: Sunset in Newfoundland.
These are only the opening lines of Psalm 80
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
before E’phra.im and Benjamin and Manas’seh.
Stir up your might, and come to save us!
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
[AMEN]
Picture: Eerie display of Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) as seen from Yellowknife, Canada.
Today has been a very introspective day for me. I chose today to be still, relax and reflect on things for all day. I also spent time writing a blog and catching up with my 360 pals, their blogs etc. Not to mention I did some random pleasure reading. But as it is 9pm and I must stay ready for two more days before the weekend, I came across this Psalm 89. Actually, just on a whim I pulled out my little KJV Bible out of the drawer. I don’t read KJV but keep it for comparative readings. Hmmm… I opened it on random and the latter part of psalm 89 was in front of me. It instantly struck some chords within me. And here it is: I am sending it out into the cyber world before I go to bed.
Psalm 89 is a long psalm of David. What is beautiful about this psalm is that it is almost broken into two parts. In part one David praises God and remembers his great promises to him:
”Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm…Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.”
But in the latter part David expresses his utter anguish as he feels left out and forgotten by God. Now, you don’t have to be a religious person to appreciate the beauty of these verses. The Psalm encapsulates, the emotional honesty, the pain of alienation, rejection, dejection, the feeling of impending doom and no way out. But eventually and fortunately for David, God is his refuge and savior; but only if He would listen to his heart cries….:
Psalm 89 (verses 38-52)
But now you have spurned and rejected him;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.
You have broken through all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not support him in battle.
You have removed the scepter from his hand,
and hurled his stone to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame.
How Long, O LORD? Will you
hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short my time is—-
for what vanity you have created all mortals!
Who can live and never see death?
Who can escape the power of Sheol?
Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted;
how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,
with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,
with which they taunted the footsteps of
your anointed.
Blessed be the LORD forever.
Amen and Amen.
Picture: Photo of Wonder Lake and Mount McKinley in Denali National Park with beautiful fall colours in Alaska, USA (Courtesy: hickerphoto.com)
Ok, fasten your seat belts and don’t be scared. A quick Bible reading blog. I want something out of the Good Book and here it is. 
)) I chose Psalm 91, not only because it is so positive for those who believe but also I think, at any rate, it is just grand writing. I’m using NRSV Bible.
But first some words from the hymn, Nearer my God to thee:
1. Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
2. Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
yet in my dreams I'd be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
Psalm 91
You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Will say to the LORD, ''My refuge and my fortress;
My God in whom I trust.''
For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
He will cover you with His pinions,
and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD your
refuge,
the MOST HIGH your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels
concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against
a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent
you will trample under your foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
Please, mention your religious/ spiritual and other beliefs in the poll
section. It would be nice to see who is stopping by.
NOTE- It was originally posted at my Yahoo360. In the poll
EVERYONE VOTED ''Christian'' It does make you wonder
about how diverse the internet surfers are...? By the way,
one of the votes was from me.
”I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me… but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world.” From movie, American Beauty
Today.. has been a weird day for summertime (in Southern Hemisphere) : Cold, gray, windy, gothic. Strange, I was reading Wuthering Heights.. and it made it so real for me because the descriptions of the landscape and bleak cold days on the wind blasted moors of England bear some resemblance to the weather today. Yeah, you can call it dull.. But I’m not ashamed to say I love it. Cold, gray, rainy, autumn, winters. I always loved them. )
But anyhow, I suddenly felt pangs of angst within me today. Sadness welled up for no apparent reason or source. There is so much evil and viciousness all around us, maybe it gets us and we don’t even know when or why. The other day I was shocked… if you type ”Massacre” or ”genocide” in Google Images… you can come across pretty gruesome pictures… I saw this blood covered man’s dead body lying on the ground and two little girls lying by his side… they looked pretty in their little dresses… just like little dolls that are sleeping. Only they were covered in blood and dead too.. and then.. i thought… how chaotic and evil this world has always been. But in any war humans kill humans who are all related to each other biologically/ genetically. That’s why this simple quote rings so true:
”All War is Fratricide” – Louis De Bernieres in Birds Without Wings.
Everyday I go online news pages always have stories of suicide bombs going off in Iraq and other places. I know I know…. we are so desensitized to it, we hardly feel anything. I’m sure many of you would be lot more upset if your plastic shopping bag tears off when you are walking with it! But still… my heart goes out to those families who live in daily terror…. and everyday they lose a loved one to bloodshed over which no one seems to have any control… I pray that all who want peace shall get it…. and all who generate hatred, malice, violence, evil will be destroyed. The latter maybe MUCH more closer to home than we could imagine or care to think.
Naked greed in some sections of Western governments has caused more deaths, genocides and suffering than hundreds of Osamas ever could. The latest is reports about French government’s support (including arms, ammunition) for the perpetrators of Rwandan genocide (About 1 million butchered, raped, hacked like cattle) is another reminder. But who cares, it’s not on TV! Real evil hides behind pretty faces.
I am thankful to God that there are no bombs, gunshots going off around me and my family/ friends/ and you people reading this blog!!! I am thankful for the strength that I have to fight against all odds. I am thankful for the amazing grace of God that miraculously carries me through all storms when I thought the game was over and ”darkness is my only companion” (Psalm 88) But here I would like to write , probably most quoted Psalm (23) so that those who hope in God may seek comfort:
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will 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 love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Obtained from www.biblegateway.com (NIV version of Bible)
