Psalm 16 - A Holistic Psalm // Psunday Psalm Psummary
A bit of a combination post
Let’s start with Psalm 16 and then move to the Psunday (instead of Psaturday) Psalm Psummary…
Psalm 16 - A Holistic Psalm
I’ve read the Psalms a lot. But one of the beauties of re-visiting something is when you see something you don’t remember seeing before. I know I read this verse in Psalm 16 but I honestly don’t remember it speaking to me in this way before. I think a lot of it had to do with reading it in Fischer’s version as it is not only using some different ways of speaking but also laid out more like a poem rather than the way that the Psalms are traditionally written in the Bible. When we get to verse XX there is this:
So my heart rejoices
My spirit is glad
And my body rests secure
In the NRSV it is shared in nearly the exact same words but it is laid out different - basically as a single sentence.
What spoke to me today was how the writer of this Psalm comes to the place where they feel secure in heart (emotions), spirit (soul), and body (physical). There is a beautiful holistic sense to this song/poem. It may not have been a conscious choice on the part of the writer to conceive of it in this way (or maybe it was) but it is there.
That’s one of the things that I feel engages me about walking and praying a labyrinth. Labyrinth prayers/walking engages the physical body as one travels around the paths. It engages the emotions as the twists and turns the closeness and the distance from the center feel like the twists and turns of life and the closeness and distance from the divine. And it engages the spirit as it is intended to be a practice of prayer.
I am so grateful for the gift of being introduced to praying the labyrinth years ago and it has led to other practices such as regular yoga which is one of not only my most consistent exercise practices (physical) but also emotional (centering and relaxing) and spiritual (I am often praying as I move). It is also why I continue to be grateful for the labyrinth on the inside of my right arm. An ever present reminder of this.
How do your practices engage you in all of these areas? How do they help you connect with God or something/someone beyond yourself?
Psunday Psalm Psummary
It’s been a bit of a week around here so I didn’t get to sharing a Psummary yesterday so here it is on Psunday. This week felt like a really deep week, feeling a lot of deep things, and hearing the Psalms speaking to a lot in my life. I hope into yours as well.
Psalm 12 - Dreaming of Something Different
Today, we’re going to do something different. At some point years ago, I heard about the idea of reading parts of the Bible in the opposite. So, read Psalm 23 all in the negative...The Lord is not my shepherd, I shall be in want, etc. Doing this helps to lift up the full depth and power of those words. The opposite is true - with something that feels mo…
Psalm 13 - Two Reflections on One Psalm
Ok - two reflections on one Psalm. I had one thing in heart (pun intended as you’ll see below) most of the day and then tonight as I was sneaking in a dog walk before a denominational zoom meeting tonight, something else caught my heart. So, let’s go with both.
Psalm 14 - I Refuse
Right now, it is really easy to choose to hate. There are people currently who are acitvely making choices that will do lasting harm to large groups of people both in the United States and across the globe. Their choices are not only affecting those whose names I’ll never know but also affecting people who are dear to me, including many whose gender and…
Psalm 15 - Measuring Up
There’s a really fun thing painted on a downspout on the side of a laundromat near our house. It faces our local middle school and is next to a an outdoor mural depicting the commitment to education in our community. The downspout is painted line a combination of a pencil and a ruler. But the ruler isn’t just inches or centimeters but instead in feet. E…
On a final closing note, I am kicking around getting off Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter entirely and having my social media connections solely here on Substack and on BlueSky. Curious about others’ experience who have done that. Thanks.
Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed
I don't go to FB except if I want to sell something on Marketplace and I still have a hard time finding my way around substack. As for your deep week - Does a deep dive into the bottomless soul make you sleepy? It's very hard work but at the same time it has no hard edges and feels like satin. The Holy Spirit is in there messin' around with you. Such a good thing.