The Psalms

The Chichester Psalms; Leonard Bernstein, composer

I love the Psalms. They provide me with an oasis. While much of the bible is instructive, life-sustaining and redemptive, the Psalmists have provided us with an opportunity for us to meet God where we are – right now. If I am angry, I can sit at the desk of the Psalmist as he or she writes in Psalm 109 …

Place a wicked person in command over him;

Let a persecutor stand at his right hand.

When he is tried, let him be convicted;

Let intercession for him fail.

When I am fearful, I can abate the terror and panic as I peer at Psalm 27 …

The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? …

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;

Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

The book of Psalms provides a resting place for nearly any spiritual ailment, whether it’s humiliation and betrayal or petition, thanks and praise. The Psalms allow us to come into the presence of God with our dirty clothes and our smudgy faces, our sin-stained hearts and our reckless emotions all splayed out like a peacock. In this place, God says, “I hear, I feel, I know, I understand, I share, I commend, I forgive. And I love.”

In Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms”, the maestro places himself and the members of the performing ensemble before God in order to praise, to wail, to cry and to express gratitude. During the second of the three parts of this masterwork, Mr. Bernstein bisects the peace of the 23^rd Psalm with the painful lament of Psalm 2 …

Why do the nations rage, and the kings of the earth set themselves together

Against the Lord and against his anointed?

During a Congressional memorial service in the Capitol Rotunda a few days after the catastrophic September 11, 2001, Senate Chaplain Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie rose to the microphone with a countenance of peace and assurance and offered this …

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea…

Be still and know that I am God.

That was the point where I started to feel better.

Credits: To the Psalmists. Thank you