Psalm 61
I was inspired by friends to memorize this psalm. Other than the fact that it was short, it was chosen randomly and at a glance would seem a rather random passage to memorize. It took a ridiculous amount of time to memorize it, but I finally have gotten to the point where I can type it and say it somewhat fluently. Let's see how I can do here (I memorized it in NIV):
Hear my cry, O God,
Listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you;
I call as my heart grows faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
I long to dwell in your tent forever,
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah.
For you have heard my vows, O God,
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Increase the days of the king's life,
his years for many generations.
May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;
appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
Then I will ever sing praise to your name,
and fulfill my vows day after day.
Other than some punctuation, looks like I got it. At first I was a bit weirded out by verse 5 about increasing the king's life. This is a psalm of David, and if David is the king and he is asking for a long life in return for singing praise to God's name, that seemed a little bold, not that I don't feel that way too sometimes. But I talked with a friend about it and he suggested that "days" may really be more of an illustration of abundance, where life is synonymous with salvation (which would be in synch with the rest of scripture) and he is asking for salvation in abundance. Putting it that way, it seems quite beautiful and of course it is not hard to imagine the Christ picture there... king, enthroned, etc. Pretty cool. I highly recommend this memorization thing. If I had just read this psalm a couple times through, I probably would have glossed over all that. When you memorize it, each word makes you stop and think. Pretty cool. Next up: Ephesians 6:10-18.
Hear my cry, O God,
Listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you;
I call as my heart grows faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
I long to dwell in your tent forever,
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah.
For you have heard my vows, O God,
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Increase the days of the king's life,
his years for many generations.
May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;
appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
Then I will ever sing praise to your name,
and fulfill my vows day after day.
Other than some punctuation, looks like I got it. At first I was a bit weirded out by verse 5 about increasing the king's life. This is a psalm of David, and if David is the king and he is asking for a long life in return for singing praise to God's name, that seemed a little bold, not that I don't feel that way too sometimes. But I talked with a friend about it and he suggested that "days" may really be more of an illustration of abundance, where life is synonymous with salvation (which would be in synch with the rest of scripture) and he is asking for salvation in abundance. Putting it that way, it seems quite beautiful and of course it is not hard to imagine the Christ picture there... king, enthroned, etc. Pretty cool. I highly recommend this memorization thing. If I had just read this psalm a couple times through, I probably would have glossed over all that. When you memorize it, each word makes you stop and think. Pretty cool. Next up: Ephesians 6:10-18.
Click here to direct-link to this post
2 Comments:
You're welcome!
Hi Andy
Umm you know how you thought it was kinda bold of the king to ask for a longer life in return? Umm do you think its wrong to do that? I kinda ask for that kinda stuff and a lot more things that may seem selfish (I'll tell you on IM)because God says to ask....What do you think?
Post a Comment
<< Home