Wednesday's Big Idea: Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is such a great psalm - to pray through it is so easy and there is a goldmine there for all kinds of prayers. I don't have a lot to say about it right now - just a few key things - so I'm going to quote in full, below. We applied the psalm to a few key people who could use some prayer and I'm confident that God hears our petitions.

Here are a few key things that stand out to me:

1) It begins with a corporate call to worship (see also "Hallowed be thy name"). I love this invitation: "Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together." This is just so right. It is a call to unity - I'm going to glorify the LORD, won't you join me?

2) It is a Messianic prayer (see verse 20), referred to in the Gospel of John

3) It was noticed by Rick P (I think) that this Psalm was written when David was fleeing from Saul and pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech. Abimelech was also the name of the king whom both Abraham and Isaac had told that their wives were their sisters. Not sure if this is meaningful in any way, but it's interesting.

I've like this psalm for a while now, and so I'm just going to reprint it here courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

Psalm 34 (New International Version)

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.

^{1 [a]} I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

⁹ Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹² Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

¹³ keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Obedience School

A couple of Saturdays ago we were waiting outside a restaurant waiting to be seated for breakfast. This particular place is a neighborhood eatery with outdoor seating and as it was a fine summer morning, a few people had brought their dogs with them. One couple in particular had just walked up with their Labrador-mix and Avi, being the curious 19 month old he is, wanted to see and pet the dog. After getting permission from the couple, Avi walked up to pet the standing dog. Not wanting the lab to jump or move around, the lady said, "sit down," and tapped the dog's rump. Avi promptly dropped down on his bottom and stuck out his hand to touch the dog! The dog also sat down and seeing a friendly little boy in front of her began to lick his face. Avi thought that this was so great that now, every time he sees a dog near him, he sits down and extends his hand.

Vacation

I'm back from a week-long vacation and it seems too short. I've been thinking about vacation (which ties into the idea of Sabbath and rest very directly) and realizing that there are different kinds of vacations:

1) The "doing stuff" vacation - e.g. Disneyland
2) The "doing nothing" vacation - no plans, no destinations
3) The "Going somewhere, doing whatever" vacation - go to Victoria, do whatever strikes your fancy

I'm sure there are other permutations, but in terms of actual rest, 2 gives the most followed closely by 3 (travel reduces the rest factor) and finally 1. My vacation was almost entirely of the "Do stuff" variety. Travel to San Diego, go to Sea World, go to the Aquarium, go to the zoo, see friends. One thing that did give some respite was Avi's daily naps which afforded us 3 or more hours of relative quiet each day. Still, we were in a hotel room with Avi waking up between 6:30 and 7:00 every day, followed by getting ready to go out, eating breakfast and off to some destination. Just when you think you might avoid the alarm clock, there's one sleeping in the crib right next to your head. (Don't get the wrong idea, I quite cherished the extended time with my son - I just prefer it start a little later in the day.)

As I have gotten older 2 and 3 have become more and more appealing, which makes sense. During my school years I had 3 months every summer of no plans and no destinations. Doing stuff was a welcome punctuation to the lazy days of running around with my friends doing whatever it was kids did that particular summer.

Now, I work five days a week with no extended break. Vacation is therefore a welcome time to do very little. A "do something" vacation affords little rest since there is still a schedule, still things that must get done with an artificial urgency and leaves no time for actual rest. Additionally, these vacations tend to be in very crowded areas and I tend to need some sense of solitude to rest, so that makes for an additional complication to finding needed rest.

Despite all these things, my vacation was good and enjoyable, just not as restful as it could have been. I suspect that with the onset of children, vacation is never really same. A deliberate attempt will have to be made to find rest where it can be found and to simply enjoy doing the things that we will be doing. Now I'm just looking forward to that next day off.