Psalm 6: 6-10

Text
I am weary with my groaning, all the night I make my bed to swim, I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief, it waxeth old because of all mine enemies within. Depart from me all you works of iniquity, for the guide hath heard the voice of my weeping. The guide hath heard my supplication, Love will receive my prayer. Let all these enemy thoughts be ashamed and sore vexed, let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

Text Notes

• The phrase "enemies within" makes explicit that, in personal meditation, our primary enemies are within us.
• "Love" is used occasionally as a translation of YHWH in Psalms for Meditation. This is at least as accurate as using an Anglo-Saxon title of nobility ("Lord").

Reflection
In my experience, the normal struggles of life have been made much worse by fundamentalist religion. When religion falsely amplifies feelings of guilit or anger, then it is destructive and punishing. Allowing all of this simply to "depart" (as in the text above) is the best solution. True religion and true prayer are a joy! Enemy thoughts return whence they came and I am free to live in Love's presence.

Psalm 6: 1-5

Text
Dost thou rebuke me in anger? Or chasten me in hot displeasure? Thou hast mercy upon me even when I am weak. O guide, heal me for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but thou, O guide, how long? Return thou, deliver my soul, oh make me whole for thy mercies' sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Text Notes

• Here again is another example of how, in the Psalms for Meditation, context determines whether a sentence is a question or a statement.
• Thus the first verse above consists of two questions which are then answered in the next line: "Thou hast mercy..."

Reflection
I join with the Psalmist in questions about anger. And, I join in the affirmation of mercy as well! Often the cause of my outward affliction is my inward turmoil. That is, my bones are "vexed" because my soul seems "sore vexed"! But, life feels very full and rich when I am "whole", in right relationship with the light and with others.

Psalm 5: 8-12

Text
Lead me, O guide, in thy rightness because of mine enemies, make thy way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth, their inward part is very wickedness, their throat is an open sepulcher, they flatter with their tongue. They destroy themselves, O divinity, they fall by their own counsels. They are cast out in the multitude of their own transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee. But let all those who put their trust in thee rejoice, let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them. Let them also who love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou wilt bless the right, with favor wilt thou encompass as with a shield.

Text Notes

• As noted earlier the wonderful word "righteousness" has accumulated some theological baggage over the centuries. In Psalms for Meditation "rightness" is typically used to convey the original sense.

Reflection
Self destructive behavior is again noticed in this text. It is characterized by a lack of faithfulness and by flattery. Perhaps one of our greatest temptations is to be less than genuine. To be a fake is to transgress. To trust our inward light and be real: that is something to love and shout about!

Psalm 5: 4-7

Text
For thou art not divinity that hath pleasure in wickedness. Neither shall evil dwell with thee. Foolishness shall not stand in they sight. Thou hatest all works of iniquity. They destroy themselves who speak lies. Thou wilt abhor the bloody and deceitful work. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy awe will I celebrate toward thy holy temple.

Text Notes

• The K-JIV used in the Psalms for Meditation often renders the 1611KJV's discrete nouns as abstract. Thus, "wickedness" rather than "wicked" persons. In meditation, it is the internal struggle that is contextually significant.
• As noted earlier, to worship is to celebrate.

Reflection
I cannot respect myself if I engage in 'evil', destructive behavior. There is no place in divinity for wickedness. To lie is to destroy oneself! There is an abhorrence in our divine center of the two traits named by the Psalmist: bloodshed and deceit. Rather, in meditation, I enter God's House, the realm of the spirit. I partake of awe and mercy. And, finally, celebration!

Psalm 5: 1-3

Text
Give ear to my word, O guide, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my inspiration and my divinity, for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O guide. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.

Text Notes

• The Hebrew text anthropomorphizes as "King" in verse two. In these psalms for meditation, the key personal sense of "inspiration" is sometimes used.

Reflection
"Consider my meditation". To the ancient Hebrews, meditation was not so much a placid state as a heartfelt cry. And a focus on "my inspiration and my divinity." In meditation, I want to connect to Spirit, for my cry to be heard, to know the divinity of love. This is real prayer!

Psalm 4: 6-8

Text
There are many who say, Who will show us any good? O guide, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us! Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their grain and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou only makest me dwell in safety.

Text Notes

• This text is a good illustration of basic fidelity to the text of 1611 wherever possible in Psalms for Meditation. Aside from a modest update of an archaic verbal form and the usual translation of YHWH by "guide", the K-JIV text remains very close to the KJV.

Reflection
It would be easy for me to echo the question above: "Who will show us any good?" Fundamentalist religion feeds our war mentality. Greed masquerades as the free market. But, the light of love's countenance puts "gladness in my heart". And this deep rooted sense of gladness is not a shallow euphoria. It is something more than even when "their wine increased". For me, it is an experience of peace and safety as a place to "dwell"...and from which, to live.

Psalm 4: 1-5

Text
Hear me when I call, O divinity of my rightness. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. May I enter into mercy; and hear my prayer. And you, fellow children of humanity, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah. But know that this Presence hath set apart the one who is loving. Thou wilt hear when I call unto thee. Stand in awe and be not self-centered. Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of rightness and put your trust in the guide.

Text Notes

• The word translated "Presence" in this context is usually "Guide" in Psalms for Meditation.
• The K-JIV "Self-centered" is translated "sin" in the 1611KJV. The broad sense of the Hebrew word is: to miss.

Reflection
I love the Psalmist's language: "Thou has enlarged me". That's exactly it: my capacity to engage life needs to be enlarged! Even as some dwell on the superficial, may I live in the Presence as one who is loving. Indeed, I would "stand in awe" and learn to commune with my own heart AND become "still": a good definition of the process of meditation.

Psalm 3: 5-8

Text
I laid me down and slept. I awakened, for thou didst sustain me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, who have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O guide. Make me whole, O my divinity. But, would I wish, that thou smite all mine enemies upon the cheek bone? Or that thou break the teeth of the selfish? Wholeness belongeth unto thee. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

Text Notes

• As noted earlier, the original does not indicate whether a given verse is a question or statement. It is a matter of context.
• The word translated "salvation" in the 1611KJV has a broad semantic range: deliverance, safety, restoration. In these Psalms for Meditation, it is usually "wholeness" or a synonym.

Reflection
In this text, meditation leads to a blessing: "I laid me down and slept". Heartfelt cries to our inward guide often lead (eventually) to genuine peace. And, even the confidence to stand against 10,000 others who disagree with our convictions! Sometimes my sense of fairness feels like asking, with the Psalmist, for "the selfish" to have their teeth broken. Then I realize that justice would have to begin with me! What I really require is Wholeness. Throughout the Psalms, there is a continual refrain of thankfulness for true wholeness (or "salvation") in living. What a blessing, amidst life's growing pains, to find a sense of satisfaction and rest in divinity within us.

Psalm 3: 1-4

Text
How are they increased who trouble me! Many are those who rise up against me. Many there be who say of my soul, There is no help in divinity. Selah. But thou, O guide, art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of my head. I cried unto thee with my voice and thou didst hear me out of thy holy hill. Selah.

Text Notes

• Because these are psalms for meditation, the Hebrew word Elohim, usually "God" in the KJV, is translated in a way that captures the fullest possible sense of the word. Plural in etymology, but often rendered by the singular, Elohim has a broader semantic range than is usually conveyed by the English word "God". Most often, in the K-JIV, the best translation is "divinity".

Reflection
What is the nature of God's help for me? Too often both we and those whom we see as enemies misunderstand the essence of divine help. Is there help in divinity? Yes! Our guide is, indeed, a "shield" and a "lifter up of my head". There is profound inward strength available in the divine center. There is no guarantee of not suffering in this world, but I have learned to be open to divine power within my spirit. And this power of Love lifts me in wonderful ways.

Pslam 2: 10-12

Text
Be wise now therefore, O you leaders. Be instructed you judges of the earth. Celebrate the guide with awe and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the child, but not in anger lest you perish from the way when wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in thee.

Text Notes

• Where the KJV translates YHWH as "Lord", in the K-JIV we often read "Guide". The 1611KJV rendered a personal Hebrew name by an Anglo Saxon title of nobility. In Psalms for Meditation, "guide" or related nouns are at least as accurate a translation of YHWH as "Lord".
• Here, the K-JIV has "celebrate" rather than the KJV "serve".
• "Trembling" may also be "quaking".
• The phrase "Kiss the child, but not in anger" is unclear in Hebrew. Several possible renderings.

Reflection
In meditation, I look inward to the guide, divine love within. Out of this sense of God, celebration and awe overwhelm me. And I find myself quaking! Kissing and anger? Can they go together? More questions to sit with. One thing seems sure: anger (though sometimes appropriate) can lead eventually to "perishing on the way". A better, blessed, way seems to be that of trust.

Psalm 2: 7-9

Text
I will declare the decree: Thou hast said unto me, Thou art my child, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. They are broken with a rod of iron. They are dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Text Notes

• Because these are inclusive psalms for meditation,"son" in the 1611KJV is "child" in the K-JIV. The Hebrew word is often used generically.
• The word "nations" is elsewhere "heathen". Here the context is global in scope.

Reflection
The images of this passage cover the gamut! From personal family relationship to global inheritance to the brokenness we see in the world! And the world often looks that way to me: broken and in pieces. Do we want to "inherit" a globe like this, even if we are meek? How do I grapple with all this? For me, having a sense of community, of spiritual family, is a wonderful place: a place to work from, in small ways, to address the larger world's struggles.

Psalm 2: 4-6

Text
Dost thou sit in the heavens and laugh and hold them in derision? Dost thou speak unto them in wrath and vex them in sore displeasure? Thou hast set thy leader upon thine holy hill of Zion!

Text Notes

• Verses 4 and 5 are questions in Psalms for Meditation rather than statements as in the 1611KJV. In the original language texts of scripture, there was no punctuation. Context dictates whether we render as question or statement. See more in the reflection below.

Reflection
What I used to understand as statements, I find myself now engaging as questions. How do I listen to the inward guide? Do I anthropomorphize my concept of divinity? In this second Psalm, good questions are asked about the nature of anger and its role in human life. And, then the answer: there is a leader "upon thine holy hill of Zion". There, in the sacred place, is real guidance.

Psalm 2: 1-3

Text
Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The leaders of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against thee, and against thine anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us!

Text Notes

• The KJV 1611's "heathen" (otherwise "nations") is often retained in the K-JIV, particularly in a setting of conflict.
• In these inclusive psalms for meditation, the word "kings" becomes "leaders" which is within the semantic range of the original.

Reflection
One of the problems of organized religion is the concern to name "others" as different than ourselves. Too often, my tribalism blinds me to a simple fact: I am the heathen. I am the one working against "thee"...the light of my divine center. And, as in our text above, it is too often true that it is our society's political leadership that plots to destroy the bonds of our common humanity and divinity.

Psalm 1: 5-6

Welcome back to Psalms for Meditation!

Text
Therefore the unloving shall not stand in the judgment, nor selfishness in the gathering of right. For thou knowest the way of right-living, but the way of unloving shall perish.

Text Notes

• It's a great word, but the English word "righteous" has gained theological baggage over the centuries. It is healthier to meditate on "right" or "right-living" which better reflect the sense of the Psalmist.


• The phrase "the judgment" in the original is not necessarily a future, eschatological event. Rather it is a recurrent experience of our human lives in which unloving acts become self evident.

Reflection
Some translations have "self destructive" for "shall perish" in the last verse. We perish or self-destruct without love: I perish when I act without love. And, I have had some "perishing" times! My experience is that I can respect myself when I live rightly. And, for me, this is the essence of integrity: self respect and respect for others.

Psalm 1: 3-4

Text
And they shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season. Its leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever they do shall prosper. The unloving are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Text Note

• Inherent in the inclusive method of translation is the use of plural pronouns when appropriate. So, in the Psalms for Meditation, "they" is often used rather than "he" as in the 1611 KJV. This common English convention is frequent throughout the K-JIV. Ironically, it is often true that the Hebrew does not use a gender specific pronoun. The same is true of the Greek NT as well.

Reflection
Though I've transitioned from conservative evangelical/anabaptist (mouthful!) to unprogrammed Friend, I feel the same rootedness in the spirit. I feel the blessing of being planted by rivers of water. I've left behind a lot of my strident doctrinal positions, but I appreciate the ongoing sense of stability that trust in Love provides. Without that Love as guide, my modern life becomes so superficial that I really am as chaff driven by wind: empty and all over the place!

Psalm 1: 1-2

Each of these posts in Psalms for Meditation will usually be threefold: the Text, the Text Notes, then a brief Reflection.

Text
Blessed is the one who walketh not in the counsel of the unloving, nor standeth in the way with the selfish, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But whose delight is in thy law; and in thy law doth meditate day and night.

Text Notes

• During personal meditation in the Psalms, it is helpful not to be distracted with gender, so, "man" (1611KJV) is now "one" (K-JIV) in spite of the male root of the Hebrew word.
• Where possible in this version, the Psalmist addresses the Guide directly. So,in the verses above, there is "thy" (K-JIV) rather than "his" (KJV). That is, Psalms for Meditation, K-JIV, speaks first person (to our guide) rather than third person (about the guide). This is the spirit of prayer.
• The word "unloving" illustrates another type of updating. The underlying Hebrew word is not etymologically derived from a component of "god", as in the 1611's "ungodly". The word indicates those who have strayed from the basis of right living: wickedness, waywardness, unloving. To retain the flow of the KJV, "unloving" is used here.
• Similarly, K-JIV's "selfish" rather than the 1611's "sinner" is within the semantic range for the original word.

Reflection
Blessing (or happiness), says the Psalmist, often lies in avoiding those who counsel these three traits: scorn, selfishness or unloving acts. I don't have to look too far to find this counsel: its right in my heart! And, to compound my temptation, our culture sometimes places the highest value on just these traits except we tend to call them "healthy skepticism", "taking care of yourself" and "being pragmatic". My answer? It's the second verse: day and night meditation. Meeting for Worship is wonderful, but personal meditation is possible 24X7. That's the fun and dangerous part: meditation may break out at any moment!