Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Psalm 89:15

Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance; ...

This is another prayer for deliverance from enemies [specifically a battle defeat for King David], obviously a reoccurring theme.

This Psalm repeatedly makes use of the Hebrew term hesed, which can be translated many ways, but in the NRSB is rendered "steadfast love." God is seen as continually faithful. God's hesed is as firm as the heavens. God continually keeps covenant with God's people. The Beings which surround God in Heaven praise God's hesed. God's hesed is joined with righteousness and justice. Even when we transgress, God corrects us but maintains hesed. Even when we cannot see God in the world, hesed is there, and our prayer, as we march toward Jerusalem, is the same as King David's in the last verse:

... Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and Amen.

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