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The way I approach these daily readings is to read the day’s lesson scripture first thing in the morning before I go to work, and then contemplate this during the day before commenting in a post at night (usually later in the night than I’d like).  As I read the scripture this morning, however, my attention was caught and stopped on verses 5 and  6.  Let’s look at the lesson scripture from the start (verse 3) to that point:

3 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. Selah
4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:  Psalms 77:3-6 (NIV)

I’m not sure if everyone reading this post is familiar with the concept of lectio divina, but it is a way of approaching scripture that holds some interest for me.  One of the best ways I’ve heard it described is this - you let the scripture work on you instead of you working on the scripture.  One way of approaching this – of letting God’s spirit guide you as you approach his word, is to stop your “assigned” reading when you are struck by a feeling or a particular identification with the scripture.

So, I stopped dead in my tracks as I read verses 5 and 6.  I was literally transported to feelings and emotions – to vivid, physical recollections – of instances of confident joy and optimism from years ago (I’m talking about forty plus years ago).  This wasn’t anything rational, but it wasn’t emotional either.  It just was.  In that same moment, I realized that I had to share that experience in reflecting on today’s lesson scripture.  I wish I could put into words not just the feeling, but the stark physical presence of those feelings of a number of different occasions over the early years of my life – when I lived in Spain before I was twelve, when I lived in Nebraska at the age of fourteen, when I first moved to Mississippi when I was sixteen and then later, in college, when there were particular occasions (once walking in the Circle in front of the Lyceum at Ole Miss late at night) that were compressed into one feeling, yet still separate, of complete trust and confidence in God’s will for my life then and now.

It really was overwhelming, but lasted less than a few seconds.  Then, during that brief moment, I felt the words of the psalmist stir something in my soul.  I think, as I reread these verses and consider the commentary contained in my study Bible, that they may speak to each of us differently – not only as individuals, but according to the occasion and timing in each of our lives.

As I began reading again, I stopped at verse 8.  The feeling wasn’t as compelling for me this time as it was for the first four verses, but I’ve been told that the Spirit may affect each of us differently as we contemplate God’s message for each of us in scripture and that the meaning may change for us from one time to the next:

7 ”Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever? Are his promises at an end for all time?  Psalms 77:7-8 (NRSV)

Here I was stopped in a more cerebral sense by the phrase “steadfast love” which is the NRSV’s translation of the Hebrew “chesed” – something that has been also translated as God’s “loving kindness” and something we’ve discussed in class before.  The word “chesed” is difficult to translate from the Hebrew, but carries with it the connotation of God’s unconditional, covenantal love – a love that breaks through our human insistence on guilt and responsibility and frees us to covenant with God in joy and happiness.

I read on:

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
10 And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.  Psalms 77:9-11 (NRSV)

Now I was called to consider the theme of this quarter and the lessons we desire to learn through the work of our author and the editors of the Adult Bible Study series this quarter.  I could understand the context of this scripture in the overall lesson plan of remembering God’s deliverance of the people of Israel.  As God called Israel repeatedly to obedience – but more than obedience – to forgiveness – he constantly and consistently reminded Israel of the fact that his deliverance of the people and of his choosing of Israel was something that occurred without merit.  It was always an act of God’s grace.  Suddenly, I was called back to my perspective as “teacher” – a role that I still wonder at considering my background and wayward ways in life.

But then as I finished my reading I was overwhelmed with the total “otherness” and goodness of God – with the sure belief and conviction that God is ultimately just and merciful and able to control the cosmos and all dimensions imagined and unimaginable.  Surely there had to be a similar feeling when the words of the psalmist were sung in the courts of the Temple three thousand years ago:

12 I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah  Psalms 77:12-15 (NRSV)

I have been forced to put these feelings into words that are not susceptible of being put into words, and to stretch into sentences and paragraphs what are feelings and emotions outside of time.  But I feel strongly compelled to share these thoughts and feelings since reading  God’s word this morning.  Maybe it’s to let you know that this may come across sometimes as a “links-laden” academic exercise, but it starts with the heart – every day – and the way to God is not ultimately through rational thought, but through reason informed by faith.  Selah.