The Journey Isn't Done, But I'm Working Toward Seeing The Destination More Clearly.

 

As the name of my blog--"The View Through My Keyhole"--would imply, these musings are about how I see things. It is also an admission that my view is limited. Recently two scenes appeared side-by-side in my vision of the world. One has to do with the current cultural moment and how we respond to it (here). It references some other observers/thinkers who operate on a higher pay grade than me. The other scene is timeless. It comes from the Psalms of ascent or degrees, songs the ancient Israelites sang as they made their way to the annual feasts that were anchors of their faith and way of life. You can find my thoughts here, here, and here.

A journey implies a destination.

A Beautiful Triad That Ends in Peace

 I'm sorry that I haven't gotten back to my thoughts on the Psalms of Ascent sooner. I've been hanging out with a couple of my grandkids and their wonderful parents. It is a blessed distraction. It's almost enough to take my mind off of the tragedy that is going on around us all. Almost.

As the ancient Israelites made their way to Jerusalem to worship the Lord by keeping the feast days, they too passed through a land of trouble. Listen as they sing.

Continuing Thoughts on Songs to be Sung on the Journey from Distress to Peace, Psalms 120-134

 Yesterday, with some help from Anne Murray, I posted the first of some thoughts and impressions about the fifteen songs in the Book of Psalms known as the "Songs (or Psalms) of Ascent." They are traveling songs. They were sung by Jewish pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for the feasts that were a central part of their worship. I am continuing to think about these Psalms, today.

You have to work hard for good news, but it's worth the effort.

 I'm sure you can't imagine why today's news reminded me of an old Anne Murray song.

On top of the epi/pan/en-demic, inflation, ugly politics, the war in Ukraine I woke up this morning to embarrassing revelations in the world of religion that are way too close to home. You're right, Anne, "we sure could use a little good news today."

I've been following a DIY devotional plan this year. Part of it is reading through Psalms each month. From month to month I use a different translation. May is King James month. I know that the ancient Israelites didn't speak with a British accent but to an old guy who grew up on the KJV, it just sounds a little more Psalmish than the ESV, NASB, NIV, etc.

After my dose of bad news, I landed at Psalm 120 this morning. It is the first of fifteen "Psalms of Ascent," or as the KJV labels them, "Psalms of Degrees." As the Jewish pilgrims made their way to Jerusalem for the important feast days their journey was mostly uphill--they ascended by degrees. I quickly read through these traveling songs, this morning. As I walked and sang along with these Old Testament worshippers of God, I was carried along by the mental/spiritual journey they took as they slowly made the sandals-on-the-ground trip to Zion. 

Making a journey like this took a lot of commitment for a group of people who spent their days laboring hard in the field, shop, or home.  Why would they take time away from their occupation--one that required hard and constant work just to get by--and bear the expense, trouble, and risk of a trip to the Holy City? Psalm 120 gives the answer. The opening chorus of the travel songs begins in a minor key, "In my distress I cried unto the LORD." Like Isaiah at his moment of clarity (Isaiah 6:5) the Psalm writer/singer saw the evil that spewed from people's mouths. He was tired of the lies, and worse, I get the idea that the Psalm writer knew that he was not free of the falsehood epidemic. "Deliver my soul, oh Lord, from lying lips." Is he pleading to be delivered from the harm that the liars that surround him inflict? Certainly. Is he concerned that, like Isaiah realized, he too was a "man of unclean lips"? I think so. In the New Testament, we read, "Bad company corrupts good morals."

Toward the end of the Psalm, you can hear the weariness of the God-worshipper with being surrounded day after day by the lie-tellers and peace-opposers. Meshech and Kedar are addresses of places in the world--the place that the Apostle John says, "lies in the power of the evil one." They are representative of everywhere in the world. They are places not unlike where you and I live. The ancient Israelite heard it in the marketplace or the gate of the city, Anne Murray took the rubber band off of the paper, and you and I click on a website. It's the same--there is a serious lack of good news.

The discontent motivated the faithful of  Israel to make the dusty journey, as you travel with them, you can hear their songs change. Hope enters; there is joy. Where does one find help? "My help comes from the Lord." The distress is transformed into gladness as the pilgrims contemplate the stability that comes to those who worship the LORD. As the contemplation of communion with the God of truth and peace built toward a crescendo, someone broke out in song, singing the words the warrior king, David, had written,

I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 131:2–3, ESV)

I may pick up these wonderful songs again, soon, but for now, I leave you with David's words. "Hope in the Lord." That's good news we can all use.

Trying to Live as a Positive Christian Influencer in a "Negative" World

 I begin by mentioning three articles that I think are worth thinking about. I finish with some--probably unfinished--thoughts about where I find myself, in this regard, in my emeritus phase of life. 

Here are the three articles:

• Welcome to the Negative World: Why We Need American Reformer, Aaron Renn
• A Critique of Tim Keller Reveals the Moral Devolution of the New Christian Right, David French
• How I Evolved on Tim Keller, James R. Wood
• Plus, note the bonus article at the end.

Psalm 31: A Hard Journey for David and for Me

In so many of the Psalms, especially those of David, there is a raw—almost painful—honesty. I’ve been emphasizing Psalms in my devotions this year. I’m impressed anew with the openness of these prayers and songs of worship.

 Take Psalm 31 for instance. It came up in my reading for today. In verses 1-8, David utters a number of statements of dependence on and trust in the Lord.

·        

•       He says he has “taken refuge” in the Lord (1).
•        In verses 2-3, refers to God as a “rock,” “stronghold,” and “fortress.”
•        He is confident of the Lord’s guidance and deliverance in verses 3-4.
•        He commits his spirit to God’s keeping (5) and trusts in Him (6).
•        He clearly aligns himself as standing on God’s side (6).

From these verses, one could get the idea that David is above it all, but we see something else appearing in verse 7. By the time we get to verse 9, it is an outright admission, “I am in distress.” When I go back and read those words of faith and affirmation in the light of the confession of verse 9 they take on a different character. I can hear a measure of desperation in David’s voice. He’s holding on by his fingernails. In verses 9-13, David pours out a description of his troubles, and they are troubling.

I’ve been there, living in the dissonance, seeking to hold onto what I know about God in the face of evidence that many hold up as proof that the Lord doesn’t care about me at all. We can turn to other portions of Scripture, particularly in the New Testament, that tell us about patience that comes from tribulation, refining of our spirits, and lessons of holiness learned in the school of pain, but let’s not go there too quickly. Let’s let the voice of the Psalmist, raw though it is, speak to our hearts. I need to take time to listen to the Holy Spirit’s stirring in my heart, asking, “Howard do you ever feel like that?”

“Yes, Lord, sometimes I do.”

“So, my son, what are you going to do about it?”

Beginning in verse 14, David begins his journey back toward daylight. His requests are consistent with the affirmations he made in the Psalms opening verses. Look where he comes out.

As for me, I said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;

Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications

When I cried to You.

             O love the Lord, all you His godly ones!

The Lord preserves the faithful

And fully recompenses the proud doer.

             Be strong and let your heart take courage,

All you who hope in the Lord.^[1]

David expressed this whiplash-inducing journey in one brief poem. I suspect it took him longer to live it than to write it. I know it does me.

Lord, help me to come to the right conclusion.

 

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^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ps 31:22–24). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

My Ears and Eyes Smell Something That Concerns Me

 I'm not going to do the research, or present a word/article count. I'm just going to ask a question. It is a question akin to, "Do you smell something burning?"

Have you noticed the frequency with which articles and even bills being considered by state legislators no longer refer to "pregnant women" but, rather, talk about "pregnant persons?" 

A bit of thinking and looking--I'll leave it up to you to do some investigation--will show the reason behind this language shift. In the new scheme of things, it is possible for a person who is a biological female, a woman (a human who from conception has the XX chromosome pairing, and who as a result typically has the ability to bear a child) to declare themself to be a male, a man (a human who from conception has the XY chromosome pairing, and who as a result typically has the ability to impregnate a woman) to become pregnant. I realize the previous sentence is complicated. I left it that way because the reasoning it is dealing with is complicated. Go back and parse it and think about it. Here is the simplified version.

In other words, if one accepts the doctrine of gender fluidity it is possible for a man to be pregnant. So one can't/shouldn't/mustn't speak about pregnant women. One needs to use the more general terms "pregnant people," "pregnant persons," or "birthing persons."

So, I pose the question more generally and simply:

Do you smell something?