Wednesday, October 05, 2005
songs of ascent
If you have fifteen minutes, you should play this song while you read over this text. I'm on your side, sure, but so is the Lord our Father.
Psalm 124 NKJV
"If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,"
Let Israel now say-- [go ahead, say it out loud]
"If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men [or satan, or our broken selves] rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul."
Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
I do research with house finches. I catch them in wire mesh cages that I put around bird feeders that I've set out around campus. Some mornings when I come to empty the trap there will be fifteen in the cage, and some day there is only one. I know it's bad for research, but I always try to let at least one go, because it's such a thrill.
If you're examining a small wild bird, you hold it with its back in your palm and its head between your fingers so it can't move. If it is struggling, you can turn it upside down for a moment and it will relax reflexively. With it in your hand this way way you can extend its wing and hold it in place between the tips of your fingers if you want to look at the feathers or take a blood sample. When you want to let it go you just lift up your hand and open your fist like you're throwing a horseshoe. It flies off, swooping low to the ground before opening its wings and gliding just above the grass and heading straight for the nearest tree. They really do sing. Every time.
So when Don starts singing, "I will sing like a man set free, like a bird released from the snare of the fowler," I can see it, and hear it. And some mornings, after a lonely night in a cold single bed, in the bright sun with the breeze cool and light now that it's October, I know exactly what Don feels, and what the birds feel, and what Israel felt when it saw Egypt receding behind her, the wasteland opening up before her.
Because I almost didn't escape. The waters damn near went over my soul, except that He saw me, and made a way through the sea for me. He was willing to drown the army that pursued them, you know. And we are every bit as precious as Israel. We are Israel.
Psalm 126
When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
Bring back our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
The Psalms of Ascent (120-134) have been life to me on several occasions. My Bible's footnotes say about them, "This group of hymns was likely used by pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem to worship the Lord during the three annual national feasts. As pilgrim families made the arduous journey to the Holy City for festive worship, they would use these psalms as encouragement along the way. It is also possible that once they arrived in Jerusalem, they would sing these songs anew as they drew near the temple, reenacting their journey and affirming God's blessing on their path."
How cool is that?!?! They have been just this for me. Encouragement along the way, reaffirmation of God's blessing on my path.
