Preview of coming attractions

In addition to this blog I have two separate writing projects in the works. One is an exploration of the theology of joy, a topic I’ve not heard preached on often enough. The other is an edition of selected psalms for morning and evening prayer. In truth, both of these endeavors arise from a sense of mild frustration, a low-level gnawing feeling that while there is material out there (there are more than enough translations and editions of the Book of Psalms, many far more competent than I can accomplish), those that I’ve encountered somehow leave a sense of having ‘missed the mark,’ of coming close to resonating with the unspoken prayer in my heart, but not quite.

And so I am taking on the challenge of selecting and editing a small volume of psalms for morning and evening prayer, composing a reflection for each one. My “translations” are not truly translations from the original — my Hebrew is nowhere near that good! But I am working with an interlinear edition of the psalms, that is, an edition in Hebrew with word-for-word English between the lines, along with numerical keys to the roots of the Hebrew terms. The reflections are snapshots - glimpses of thought intended to capture an impression, an emotion, an insight into the human quest for the Divine. For the most part they address layers of meaning that a simple translation cannot capture.

If you’re curious, here’s an example:

“Psalm 30 

1 I will raise my voice in praise to You, Yahweh,
     because You drew me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

2 Divine One, I cried to You,
     and You healed me.

3 You lifted me up from Sheol,
     You kept my soul alive that I might not go down to the Pit.

4 The godly ones sing praise to You;
     give thanks and remember Your holy name.

5 Your wrath endures only a moment,
     Your favor for a lifetime.

6 Weeping may spend the night,
     but in the morning, glad songs….”

“…In its entirety, Psalm 30 is a study in contrasts: raising and lowering, weeping and singing, night and morning, wailing and dancing, wrath and favor.  God’s wrath (v. 5), or simply the perception of God’s absence (v. 8), casts the psalmist into a pit of darkness and terror.  God then lifts up, heals, and liberates in loving response to the psalmist’s calling out.  And that act of liberation, described metaphorically as opening (pittatah) the sackcloth to set its contents free (v. 12), results in singing, dancing, and voices raised in praise.

“As a morning psalm this lovely and favored prayer places one on the liminal edge of life with God or life without God’s grace.  The rise of the sun, the first cup of coffee, the opening of the day’s to-do list, each of these poses the opportunity to commit to walking in faith – and to singing and dancing one’s way through the day – or to going it alone, without God’s grace and strength and guidance, risking a day (or a lifetime) of weeping and loss.  And yet, even if we miss the mark, we are assured that our weeping will pass with the next night, and the promise of joyous song becomes new every morning.”

I’ll keep you posted on my progress. And thanks for reading!