One thing that comes up a lot in Psalms is the subject of enemies. There’s a lot of requests from the writers’ part for God to bring vengeance on enemies who are wrongly accusing or harassing the writer. Psalms 109 (and I guess sort of Psalms 110, too) bring up how enemies should be taken down by God. Psalms 109 even says stuff like how the enemies’ children should be fatherless, that the children should be beggars. It’s pretty harsh. It’s hard for me to imagine wanting this stuff to fall on people, and it’s especially hard for me to try to wish these things on people when I know that I, too, am not perfect. Maybe someone’s out there wanting bad stuff to happen to me. Who knows.

Geez, I need to stop leaving this until the end of the day because by this point, my brain is barely coherent. I haven’t even been keeping up with journal, either, and I’m afraid I’ll miss some details if I try to recap the whole trip on the flight back home.

So tired. Need sleep…and alone time.

One of the coolest things about reading through Psalms is being able to recognize verses that have been turned into songs. Take this one for example: For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies (Psalm 108:4). The writers back then were incredibly poetic and descriptive, so it makes sense that songwriters today would take their words.

It’s also been good to read the praises of other people, and I notice they’re all simple and clear. The words aren’t all about jargon and “Christianese.” It’s just about the basics and the truth of how great God is, and how appreciative the writer is. That said, just as trends for fashion and slang comes and goes, so do buzz words in Christianity. I’m guilty of using some of those phrases that have gone in and out of style, but I am noticing it more and more, and trying to stop myself from saying things that only churchgoers would understand. Although sometimes the buzz words are the first things that come to mind, sometimes it may come across as being overly spiritual – and if we’re explaining something to someone who doesn’t go to church, they might get turned off or confused.

On a related note, Matt and I are finding ourselves asking more questions about why we do things (in terms of what we believe is “right” for Christians). Do we really need to be in a small group – or do we feel obligated to be in one because we’ve been in youth groups or small groups since we were young? What about tithing to the church – or other ministries that we feel even stronger about? And praying before a meal? I’m all for expressing my gratitude for a meal and the means with which to buy the ingredients to make that meal (especially knowing that there are people around the world – including nearby street corners – who don’t have any food). But when the prayer before a meal includes all these other things, with a quick word of thanks for the food thrown in as a side note, does that mean we’re praying out of habit rather than out of true gratitude? So what activities, behaviors, buzz words am I throwing into my life in excess, thinking that doing so makes me a “good Christian”? And which of those things are not really necessary?

I’m sure these psalmists were not concerned about finding the right “small group” or using the right buzz words. After all, their praises were simple, heartfelt, and honest – and I think that it’s not such a bad idea to follow that example.

Chapter 106 summarizes all God did for the Israelites and how, despite their shortcomings, God was faithful to carry them through the desert. The Israelites always crack me up because they go back and forth from being mad at God and complaining to being in awe and thankful for how He provides for them. He does these amazing miracles right before their eyes, but then shortly after, they forget and doubt Him! Sounds a little (or a lot, I guess) like how I can be doubtful of things working out when there has been evidence in my past about how they do…

In chapter 107, the phrase “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for me” is repeated multiple times. Something suitable for the holiday season, especially coming out of Thanksgiving. The verse I liked was “They (meaning sea merchants) saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.”

Matt and I recently went to the Seattle Aquarium for the first time, and this particular verse reminded of all the “wonderful deeds in the deep.” We saw some amazing sea creatures – some were familiar (like sea horses, jellyfish, anemone, etc.) while others were completely foreign to us. But even the most familiar ones – like sea stars – were still mesmerizing. There were sea stars of all sizes, including ones that had 20+ arms! God definitely has creativity and artistic talent to create such beautiful (and some not so beautiful, but still interesting) creatures.

A couple of years ago after a camping trip with Keba and Aaron at Larabee State Park, Matt and I stopped at a beach on the way home. We encountered thousands and thousands of black sand dollars that were piled on top of each other, digging their way into the sand. (See all those clusters of black specks in the sand behind Matt? Those are ALL sand dollars!!) We had never seen THAT many sand dollars all at once – and black ones, at that. When we took a closer look, we saw that they were covered with tiny, tiny hairs that bristled as a way of pushing themselves along. As the hairs pulsed, the color of the sand dollar slightly changed, just like a person’s hair color slightly changes when it’s tossed around. Absolutely incredible.

So what does that have to do with Psalms? Not much, but I couldn’t help but think about it when I read this chapter. :)

Not much to say about this one…the only verses that stand out to me are these:

The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes, whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. (Psalm 105:24-25)

So does this mean God maneuvered the hearts of people to become enemies of the Israelites??

Hhhmm…with a full day of traveling, I’m not sure if this counts as day 3 or day 4. We left Seattle on Thursday afternoon but now (after traveling, arriving at the hotel, and eating a late-night meal), it’s about 3 a.m. Saturday morning (HK time) – but still 11 a.m. on Friday morning in Seattle.

Regardless, I read Psalm 104 this morning before we left the house – and I’m excited to write about it! The chapter reminds me of Job 39-41 where God is describing all the natural wonders He has created, and how no man can boast of the same things. In this chapter of Psalms, the writer is praising God for basically the same things.

I love the imagery that is in this chapter: God wrapping Himself in light as with a garment (vs. 2); making the clouds his chariot (vs. 3); the waters flowing down mountain and valleys into places God assigned for them (vs. 8). The chapter also describes how animals are fed by nature, and how man relies on creation’s natural cycle to survive.

I also like the description of how nature comes alive at night after “the sun knows when to go down.” Then when the sun comes back up, people go to work while the nocturnal animals rest. There obviously is an intricate, well-planned system that WORKS and is too perfect to exist simply by chance.

Vs. 14 is one that I’ve used in reports at work before: “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth; wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains the heart.” Coincidentally, in two things I read today, the authors mentioned the relationship between man and nature. Now, I’m not talking about the whole existentialist viewpoint of being one with the carrots or anything cooky like that. But you can’t deny that there is some responsibility on our part to understand that we have to take care of the earth so that we can continue to benefit from it. Every little plant and creature was handcrafted by God with beauty and purpose that we may never understand.

One of the things I read was an interview in The Sun magazine with psychologist Leslie Gray. She’s very in tune with Native American practices, and one of the focuses of Native Americans is their relationship with the earth. Leslie says, “Don’t take anything without giving something back. That may seem simple, but it isn’t. Had we included that value in the prevailing culture from the beginning, I dare say we would not be in the ecological mess we are in today. Reciprocity and gratitude are necessary values for us to have to be proper caretakers for this place and to use its resources well and replenish them to keep the cycle of life going.” The other thing I read today suggests even just planting one thing that you can eat from – like an herb or a simple veggie plant – and it will open your eyes to the relationship that we have (and rely on) with nature.

I’m guilty of not doing more, but I think even learning more and being aware is a good step. Even just by having a garden, I’ve learned more about the natural cycle of life and death, of things breaking down and providing nutrients for the soil, of how I can grow plants to feed us. Obviously there are many levels of how we can do this, and I think the important thing is that we understand what we can do – and then take little steps to do what we can, depending on our means and our living situation.

OK, time to sleep before the sun comes up!

This chapter is a great reminder of God’s traits – compassion, graciousness, slow to be angry, rich in love…I’m so glad God is not like me. I am quick to be angry, can be petty (and choosy) with compassion, and I hold grudges and am bitter like you wouldn’t believe. It’s hard to comprehend that God – the one who knows our most selfish, wicked, impure thoughts – can STILL have that much love and grace toward us.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever … for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8-12)

For the past few months, two friends and I have been going through the book of Psalms and e-mailing each other with our insights. Although the e-mails are far more spaced out than they were in the beginning, it’s been great reading through the book with them and sharing what we’ve learned. There’s a lot of enemy talk, but every so often, there have been some gems that have stuck in our minds.

I’m definitely letting too much pass time in between my readings, though, so I’m committing to reading at least one psalm a day through the month of December. It hopefully will get me back into the habit of opening the Bible each day. But I don’t want this to be about reading the Bible for the sake of doing what a “good Christian” does. I want to make time for God, and through Psalms, feel the joy and praise that should be present even more so this season than any other season.

To make sure I keep this commitment, I’m making it public. I’ll post a short blurb about what I’ve learned each day as I read a psalm. Sometimes it might be a comment as simple as “I didn’t get much out of this one,” but other days, I will have several paragraphs of my thoughts. I think this will get a little tricky as I travel out of the country for the next 10 or so days, but I’ll do my best to catch up with my posting if I fall behind. As for reading each day, that shouldn’t be a problem.

So here we go, starting with Psalm 102…

A common pattern with a lot of the psalms is that the writer often will sound extremely anxious and defeated at the beginning of the chapter. But by the end of the chapter, the tone always picks back up because he remembers that God is greater than him, and God is watching out for him. This chapter is no exception.

In the beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. (Psalm 102:25)