Oxygen from Psalm 32 (Messiah's Confession)

Psalm 32 is a penitential song.  Twice we are told that David was deathly ill; once, after bringing the Ark into Jerusalem early in his reign and later after his adultery with Uriah's wife and conspiracy to murder Uriah.  David interpreted his sickness as a judgement against his cover-up of his sin.

Scholars say these texts are not Messianic because Christ' was sinless.  He didn't need to pray these confessions.  But I wonder if Jesus didn't learn to pray these prayers of repentance.  Why would he skip over these?  Why else did he submit to the baptism of John.  His sinlessness was not something he inherited from his virgin mother, but something He, like you and me, won by grace.

1 Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
    whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
    that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
    Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!


Living Christ,

We confess Thy sinless life,
But how came you to this bless'd condition?
Was your moral clarity
from your mother's virginity
as say the Popes and all their clergy?

Or was your moral victory
helped by Thy unique divinity?
Was your flesh not quite like mine,
but virgin born and all divine,
Thy sinlessness mere shadowboxing?

Confessing Psalms cannot be
Messianic, scholars say.
"His sinlessness was existential,
not God-conferred, not penitential."
But what precludes Thy true confessing,
of temptation's downward pull?

Did You get sick and groan in pain,
wonder like all other Jews
who walked the Roman Galilee
if Father God might be displeased,
about some rancor in the heart,
an errant dream, a horrid thought,
some alm omitted, like the man
You passed each day at Beauty Gate?

Or was Thy sinless life apace
won as mine -- by Father's grace;
not the lopsided victory
of One possessed of purer flesh,
but by confession, if not of sin,
of human need to come clean within;
if not of pride, of drives inside
the mind of our true Emmanuel?

How else comes our sanctification
from sin's awful domination
if not that we confess
the allure of sin to flesh
but sin not, beat temptation,
yield, obey Thy Spirit's pull
into Thy praise-filled hiding place?

So may I pray as perhaps with Thee,
"God be my guide, my bit and bridle."
Let me follow Thee Whose title
to the Baptist was declared,
rising from repentance water,
Beloved Son, well-pleased Confessor!
Be my health and heavenly treasure.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 31 (Besieged)

Psalm 31 is a powerful song which, like Psalm 22,  was most likely on the Savior's lips as he endured the rejection of the chief priests and the pain of Golgotha Hill.  Indeed, the last words of Jesus upon the cross are found in verse 5.  David probably wrote the words in thanksgiving for his having survived the siege of his city by enemies.  But the words clearly describe the faith of the Righteous One (v.18).


1 Yahweh, I have come to you for protection;
    don’t let me be disgraced.
    Save me, on account of your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to listen to me;
    rescue me quickly.
  Be my rock of protection,
    save me to the mountain fortress.
3 You are my rock and my fortress.
    For the honor of your name, lead me, guide me.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
    for I find protection in you alone.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit.
    Rescue me, Yahweh, faithful God.
6 I hate those who worship worthless idols.
    I trust in Yahweh.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your covenant love,
    for you have seen my troubles,
    and you know the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to my enemies
    but have set me in a wide open place.
9 Be gracious to me, Yahweh, for I am in trouble.
    Tears blur my eyes.
    My body and soul are withering away.
10 My life finishes with grief;
    my years in sadness.
   My punishment has drained my strength;
    I am wasting away from within.
11 I am scorned by all my enemies
    and despised by my neighbors—
    even my friends are afraid to come near me.
   When they see me on the street,
    they run the other way.
12 I am shunned as if I were dead,
    a broken pot.
13 I hear the many rumors about me,
    and I am surrounded by terror.
   My enemies conspire against me,
    plotting to take my life.
14 But I am trusting you, Yahweh,
    saying, “You are my God!”
15 My destiny is in your hands.
    Rescue me from those who persecute me.
16 Shine on your servant.
    In your covenant love, rescue me.
17 Don’t let me be disgraced, Yahweh,
    for I call out to you for help.
   Let the wicked be disgraced;
    let them lie silent in the grave.
18 Silence their lying lips—
    those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the Righteous One.
19 How great is the goodness
    you have stored up for those who fear you.
   You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,
    blessing them before the watching world.
20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
    seclude them in your tabernacle
   away from contentious conspirators.
21 Praise Yahweh,
    for he has shown me his covenant love
    in the city under siege.
22 In panic I cried out,
    “I am cut off from all help!”
   But you heard my cry for mercy
    and answered my call for help.
23 Love Yahweh, all you his covenant people!
    For Yahweh preserved the faithful,
    but he repays the prideful with interest.
24 So be strong and he will strengthen your heart, 
    all you who put your hope in Yahweh.


Psalm 31 -- DKB Interplation


God our Father:

What terrors did Your Christ confront
to set his people free
from the besieged citadel
of hell masquerading as Your church.

Dying on Skull Hill that Friday
Which pain the more excruciating?
Rome's cursed crucifixion
or priestly rejection and denunciating?

Rome did not betray our Christ.
Romans did not shout "Crucify!"
Pilate offered Him release,
the Mrs. warned in sleepless dreams.

It was His friends who rejected Him,
scribes and elders on the church board,
those who felt their power threatened,
they betrayed and killed their Lord.

Religion's full of worthless idols
before whom the pious pray,
laying siege to God's elect
with rituals as strong as chains.

As though by these religious acts
we might earn some extra merit.
Christ's work is never finished     (John 19:30)
according to Constantinian clerics.

None but self-righteous can devise
such tortures of the soul,
to deprive of hope and wealth,
even those who've lost their health.

What then these mumbling priests?
What good these religious yokes?
The institution's only purpose --
preserve the stories of faithful folk.

And when these tax-free shelters run
a muck of truth and lose their passions,
let them be anathema!
Pronounce Ichabod o'er their ashes.

Let me find Your holy comfort
in this sweet sustaining song,
when disgraced and when rejected,
when persecuted for no wrong.

Comfort me with strength sublime
Shelter me within your grace,
and when the siege of life is done
set me on Your wide open place.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 30 (Morning Dance)

Although this Psalm probably was composed for the dedication of David's palace (not the Temple), it also speaks wonderfully to Messiah's resurrection.  What David may have meant metaphorically, Jesus experienced on that first Easter.

1 I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.
    You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you restored my health.
3 You brought me up from the grave, O Lord.
    You kept me from falling into the pit of death.
4 Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!
    Praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.
6 When I was prosperous, I said,
    “Nothing can stop me now!”
7 Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.
    Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.
8 I cried out to you, O Lord.
    I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
9 “What will you gain if I die,
    if I sink into the grave?
   Can my dust praise you?
    Can it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me.
    Help me, O Lord.”
11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
    You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!


Psalm 30 (NLT)

Risen Christ:

I would lose all thought of self,
dance and sing, cavort with joy,
see the morning eclipse mourning,
stand in solidarity with saints,
know forgiveness reaches me,
prompts repentance, grace unleashed;
practice for the new Earth morning
when I see you face to face.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 27&28 (Time-stream)

27:14 Wait expectantly for the Lord.  
    Be brave and courageous.
    Yes, wait expectantly for the Lord.


28:1  I cry to You, Yahweh, my Rock.
    Do not be silent to me,
    for if You are silent, I might as well be dead.


28:2  Hear the voice of my supplications.
    I lift my hands toward your holy throne (lit. oracle).


28:6  Blessed be Yahweh because he has heard 
    the voice of my supplications.


28:7  Yahweh, my Strength, my Shield,
    My heart trusted in him and I was helped.
    My heart rejoices. I praise him in song.


28:8   Yahweh is the fortress of his people.
    the saving strength of his Anointed.


28:9   Save your people.
    Bless your inheritance.
    Shepherd them and lift them up forever.




Holy and Awesome God:


When we pray and intercede
for ourselves and those in need
we, in this created time-stream,
speak to You who dwell outside of time,
lift our hands toward Your Throne;
we, carried along as day to day,
the time-stream makes its inexorable way
to where You dwell and wait for us
at the confluence of our ever-rolling tide
and your eternal Now.


Down the time-stream we all float,
some on rafts and some in boats,
all adrift in one single current;
somewhere ahead the waterfall
will capsize and sink us all.
But You, like the eagle, fly above
this river's frenzied fate
and cast Your light through the blue gloom,
translucent spears of infinity.


You know how time will end, indeed
it has already ended as You decreed.
We live in Your past tense (as it were),
this world and all therein,
rush toward your uniting
of all things under Your Christ.      (Eph. 1:10)
This is revealed: we have already died,
our lives hid with Christ in Heaven. (Col.3:3)


So, if our prayers are already answered,
we need not wait for the flow we measure
in months and years to reveal your will.
You are not slow nor need cajoled
by years of fruitless prayer.
Teach us how to pray the prayers
You have already answered,
and, like David, realize mid-song
that You were working all along
to bring glory to Your Christ.


What then are our supplications?
Why should we pray for daily bread,
for Kingdom come when Your outcome is assured,
You having fixed the day and hour
this river flows no more to sea
but flows to Thee at Earth's Renaissance?
Prayers are bubbles in the time-stream,
made of spirit, they ascend
to surface where You reign
and mingle with the praise of saints
in Heavens' rarefied atmosphere.


Answered prayers reveal your presence,
objectify a more dimensioned place
than we could e'er conceive;
bequeath to us a higher aspiration,
stream-bound mimes could ne'er deduce,
a destiny greater than the final plunge,
a Rescue at our final moment,
and buoyant rise in Heaven's skies.


Amen.