Welcome to Week Three of Little Miss Attila’s Reader Participation Bible Study! We are continuing our current theme of celebration and perseverence—and how the former can often facilitate continuing with the latter.
This week we’ll be looking at Psalm 118, 15-24. Let’s start with the New American Standard Bible:
The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
I will not die, but live,
And tell of the works of the LORD.
The LORD has disciplined me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
The righteous will enter through it.
I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me,
And You have become my salvation.The stone that the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
This is the LORD’S doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
I’d also like to see how that looks in the King James version:
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
How has the Lord disciplined you? And in what way are you rejoicing and showing how glad you are today—and this week, and this year? It might be quietly, depending upon your temperament and the challenges in your life right now. God does not want us to be “Stepford Christians,” and yet He makes it clear that for most believers, happiness is a virtue.
If you have allowed Christ into your heart, are you taking pleasure in your redemption and the gift of grace? Are you fully appreciating the good news of the gospel? Do you nourish your faith? Do you try to find pleasure in the fact of it even when you’re having a “desert experience” in your prayer life or your scripture-reading? Is there a quiet way to celebrate your relationship with God at even those moments when you feel as if you are on a spiritual plateau?
Do you keep a “gratitude diary,” or is there a section on your prayer list that mentions your blessings, so that you will remember to offer a few of them up in thanksgiving every day? Or do you use the system of “one blessing recognized and prayed about, every day, with no repeats in any given year”?
Is there some commonality between this passage and the 12-step tenet that “we insist on enjoying life”?
And how can we do this without being dishonest about real problems and real struggles? When does “acting as if” create unreasonable standards for those around us? Where do you draw that particular line?
UPDATE: Let us now praise quick-thinking lady friends, the agency through which the Lord sometimes works. “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” Huzzah, my friends.
Cross-posted at The Conservatory.
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Well, this obviously speaks directly to me:
“The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD…”
The LORD did chasten me sore. Indeed I am still sore around the rib cage when I cough or move about in sleep. And yet, and yet… due to a chain of what I can only regard as miracles since to take them as luck seems to undervalue them… He did not give me over unto death.
Instead he rendered me dead and then returned me to life. For what purpose and to what end I have yet to discern but it is still early days in this regard. I find myself standing silently at the beginning and the end of the day these days reciting the Lord’s Prayer to myself several times with a special emphasis on “Thy will be done.”
Beyond all this, as I said, I do not know as yet what it means and what it can mean. I was talking about this with a friend last night….. “Which direction is the way to go?” — that sort of thing. He said, wisely I think, “You just need to go, to begin, and let God take the path.”
I think that makes sense…. no my will, but Thy will…. My part will be showing up. After that, we shall see.
As the Psalm says, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
And I am. Excuse me while I go stand on the porch and greet the dawn.
More on this at my place.
Constitutionally cranky and queasy around emotional expressions of gratitude and PDA when younger….these days, more likely to thank God. Perhaps life has knocked a little sense into me. That, and being saved from the Valley of the Shadow by the Good Shepherd. I don’t know much, but God has been patient and kind with me. As I am NOT patient or kind with those around me. When I was serving in the parish ministry one of my middle schoolers snarled I the car after I had preached (about God in the wilderness and a lot about the Shackleton expedition, with which I obsessed) “Mom, they all think you are so holy and sweet, but we know otherwise…”. It reminded me of my old me tor’s advice to you g mi jesters not to be an angel on the highway and the very devil at home. Shortly afterwards, I quit to have more time for the family. But I’m still a jerk. Life isn’t Hallmark.
I am nevertheless, very glad that Gerard is recovering. Answered prayers. I also think that tho serious illness sucketh mightily, god’s light seems to shine brighter when we are down, in a dark place. We follow the wrong lights so often. Remember how St Paul had to be knocked off his ass and. Linder before he could become the man God meanthim to be.
We humans are like the bad dogs in obedience school. Liver treats and voice. Ommands don’t always work. Sometimes we have to be half choked before we get it. At least that’s true for me.
On another note entirely, it’s a pity the church doesn’t have as rousing tunes as military brass bands. All those British military bands I grew up with probably recruited more soldiers than any posters. music to make you rejoice and be glad and march to war. I don’t feel so exhilarated in a typical church, more often bored. So, for me, the faith is helped by rousing sermons and music, without which I get liverish and self pitying.
As usual, apologies for awful iphone touchscreen typos (and haste). If you, Joy , and Gerard ever go to Purgatory you will have to read millions of pages of typo-ridden copy to expiate any of your sins….