David writes to be remembered. It is not himself that he wants to be remembered. It is his God. David is enthralled with YHWH ( יְהֹוָה ). He is intoxicated with a vision of God and the knowledge of God’s greatness. Sixteen times he invokes the name of Israel’s God. Sixteen times he remembers that … More Have You Been Humbled into Gladness?
Sometimes we tell stories backward; Maybe most of the time. We announce the joy or sorrow and then we tell how it happened. “I got a new job!” and then we fill in the details. “My wife has been diagnosed with cancer,” and then we tell the story of how she hasn’t felt right for … More Writing the Story Backwards
I’m not a political junkie. But I did write a book on political leadership. It was a study through all the passages in the book of Proverbs that mentioned words like “king”, “governor”, “ruler” and words associated with ruling or judging. It was a close examination of what these leaders were commanded to do, what … More Doing Justice: The Job of Leaders
We are still traveling in West Virginia and I have little time to write, but here is a brief meditation and prayer based on a portion of Psalm 18. The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance. Read Psalm 18 (esp. 1-3, and 25-29) An Offering for The Poetry Project Our Stronghold in the Darkness O LORD, my … More Psalm 18 Light Piercing Darkness
Read Psalm 28 A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer. The terms, metaphors and names of God in the 28th Psalm: LORD (vs. 1, 5, 6), YHWH My Rock (vs. 1), the LORD is my strength (vs. 7), the LORD is their strength (vs. 8) (or “… His people’s strength”) … More The Strength of the Weak
“For I, the LORD, do not change;Therefore you, O Sons of Jacob,are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 Read Psalm 106 Training a Nation to Remember that Faithless Hearts Need a Good God Oh He is good.He has been good.He has promised good.He does good.God is good and does good and your whole history declares it.So one … More Psalm 106 Rehearsing the Past for the Glory of the Future
Sometimes, God has to use a 2×4 to get our attention. Read Psalm 80 and 102 Psalm 102 is a personal lament prayer of one who is afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. It captures some of the emotion that many of us are feeling during this time … More Friday, Day 6, A Lament from a Spiritual Desert
In December of 2009 or thereabouts, my son, Marty Schoenleber III (aka Marty S. Dalton), put a video up on Youtube.com. It inspired me to keep working on a project I thought of a couple of years ago. The idea is to write a poem of personal reflection for each Psalm in the Psalter. Here are some … More Praise is Meaningless
Read Psalm 38 God’s words are authoritative. Mine are not. Sometimes however, trying to put God’s word’s in our own “paraphrase” can be helpful at getting to a deeper understanding of God’s authoritative standard. In the following lines I have tried to rephrase “the feeling and passion” of God’s word. I hope it is helpful … More When We Deserve the Worst
Read Psalm 75 Today, I was reading a unique book that is a great addition to any worshippers library. “The Book of Psalms for Singing” (1973), is a book that takes every psalm in the book of Psalms and puts them into English verse with “musical settings designed for singing in public and private worship. … More When the Name of God is Near
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