Laying Down, Sleeping, and Waking (Psalm 3)

I really love singing Scripture songs.  Our church has a really fun Psalm 3 song titled "Shield for Me" that I just love.  But as I was reflecting on Psalm 3, I realized:  singing Scripture songs have helped me memorize some passages, but they do not always help me reflect on them.  What the composer of the song chooses as the most important element (For Thou, O Lord, are a shield for me; You're the glory and the lifter of my head) may not be the part I need to focus on every time that I read the passage. 

Psalm 3 talks of enemies all around and crying out for God's help in the midst of those who mock your faith.  I love the song we sing based on this Psalm, but reading the Psalm with the song in my head made me miss the line I needed to reflect on: "I lay down and I slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me." 

Do you ever just long to be able to lay down and sleep?  Walt can do it - he'll often just conk out while we're snuggling on the sofa, and I'll have to wake him up to keep my arm from turning purple.  When Daniel lays down for a nap, sometimes we lay down to rest, too, and Walt can often fall right to sleep.  Most of the time, Daniel doesn't nap long enough for me to fall asleep myself. 

It's not that I don't need the sleep.  I certainly do need it.  But the littlest thing can keep me up.  A late salty snack means I'm too thirsty to sleep.  A worry about a conversation with a friend makes me think about ways I could have better phrased something.  A song in my head that's just too upbeat.  Watching a tense movie on TV.  It's too hot; the floor is creaking; I can't remember if I turned off the oven; maybe I should recheck our budget sheet to see if we can really afford the...

I lay down and I slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.

That's the kind of peace I want and need. 

Psalm 2

(yes, I'm late - the choir concert made for a full weekend)

Psalm 2 is the "why do the nations rage?" song.  I always like that "the Lord enthroned in the heavens laughs" at the great plans of kings. 

But last week what struck me in this Psalm was verse 11: worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling.  The first part here (worship with reverence) is a pretty common theme.  The "rejoice with trembling" was what I mainly reflected on this week. 

In church music, people have a tendency to label some songs as "praise" and others as "worship."  I personally think that the two (praise and worship) aren't fully separate things.  Praise comprises rejoicing, proclaiming who God is and what He has done, celebrating those things, expressing gratitude.  Worship includes reverence towards God, humility, reflection on who God is and what He has done, responding to those things, expressing gratitude.... there's definitely overlap.  If I picture them, I think worship involves bowing down and praise involves lifting up.  But I'm always very wary of separating them - you can't fully have either one without the other. 

Praise without reverence is shallow; worship without joy is short-sighted. 

....

I really want to write more on this, but I feel like I'm out of time.  And I need to get back to reflecting on Psalm 3.  So, discuss as you wish... I'm sure I'll come back to this theme again, as it is a main theme of my worship music philosphy.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man... whose delight is in the law of the Lord... He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water.

Delight. 

I often forget about that part of this Psalm.  I've heard and read lots of messages and commentaries about this Psalm (in full below for those of you who can't recall it), and many focus on the first verse - watch the company you keep; sin gradually moves you from walking to standing to sitting, until you are so entrenched you can't move; scoffers and mockers are the worst of all, as they actively undermine the good that others are doing - or on the second part of the second verse - you need to meditate on the word, be consistently reading and reflecting; are you reading the Word enough? - but I realized this week that I don't focus much on the "delighting" part.  I do pretty well with the first part, I think.  I don't take advice from the wicked.  I don't walk in sinful paths.  I try to avoid "scoffers," at least in the spiritual arena, and I try to defuse scoffing when I come across it.  (Ok, so I do occasionally scoff about political and business topics.  Maybe I should work on that).  And I consistently read my Bible.  I might miss a day now and then, but at least six days a week I read and medidate on the words I have read. 

But do I delight in it?  Not every day.  Some days it's just part of my routine.  It's not always the part of my day that I anticipate most joyfully. 

I'm taking a slow walk through the Psalms right now.  As an aside to my regular Bible reading, I'm going to spend time reflecting on one Psalm each day for a week.  Then I'll write something about the Psalm over the weekend.  My posts may not be any good, but I need to write them anyway.  This is part of my "following my own advice" project.  I need to write more, and I need to be sharing what I'm thinking about.  And yes, I know that one a week would take three years.  It may not last that long - but maybe we'll get through Book 1, anyway.  (that's the first 41 Psalms, for those of you not counting).

And I'm going to delight in it... even if I have no readers.  Actually, taking a little extra time to focus on one passage (versus my regular "read two chapters a day every day" routine) has been helpful in making the process more joyful and less of a duty.  I can remember what I read more if I repeat it, and Psalms are short enough to stick in my head. 

Psalm 1 (NASB)

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

Following My Own Advice

I finished a paper for a grad class recently and was having some difficulty motivating myself to edit well.  As I restarted yet again, I realized that I knew exactly what I would tell my own students to do at this stage:  firm up the thesis statement, then walk through the paper one paragraph at a time, making sure that each paragraph has a focused purpose that is clearly relevant to the overall thesis statement.  Right. 

So, firming up the thesis statement... that part wasn't too hard.  I knew what I wanted to say.  The problem was that I had said it four different times in four different phrasings and I had to pick which ones worked the best.  Took some time, but it was worth the effort.

The paragraph at a time thing?  Good heavens!  That's really hard!  I would read the first body paragraph, then at the start of the second would think, "oh, that quote from page 6 would work better back in this paragraph."  Then I end up revising the paragraph on page 6, which means the quote at the end of page 5 doesn't fit there anymore.  By the time I've resorted all the rest of my information and get back to my revision, I realize that I'm only on paragraph number two!  And thus it all begins again. 

Luckily for me, I already know how to write topic sentences, conclusive sentences, and transitions.  (Not that I'm doing that in this blog post).  But, WOW, this is hard work.  And this is what I've been telling my students for years.  I know that it's important work, but I think that I never really expressed to the students just how much time it takes.  For a high-schooler to revise the way I was expecting would take a week for a five-page paper.  Students were expecting me to give them comments on what they could "fix" overnight.

If I'm really going to be effective as a teacher or leader, I need to be actively practicing my own advice.  It's one thing to say, "go through the paper a paragraph at a time and revise each one individually," but it's not going to make sense to the students if I'm not really aware of how much time and effort it's going to take.  So, I need to be writing regularly and revising my work well.  I need to be doing what I expect others to do.

I was about to transition this back into spiritual metaphor, but... I think that it's self-explanatory.  Besides, I hear Daniel not-napping, so I think I'll go attend to him. 

last call for addresses

We're getting ready to send out fun pictures of Daniel and lovely hand-made cards, so make sure that I have your updated address.  You may want to send me your address if:

-you have moved in the last few years

-you haven't gotten a Christmas card from us in a while

-I tagged you in this post on Facebook, meaning I'm not sure that I have your proper address

Thanks

(we actually wanted to send these out last week but had a printing error on every copy of the picture we ordered, so we've been working on getting that fixed and probably won't have them out until after we get back from vacation.  as if you really were worried)