Daily Church Epistle for February 5, 2021.
Happy Friday to you! Darci here.
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c is the daily reading for today in the Upper Room Disciplines.
Praise the LORD!
Because it is good to sing praise to our God!
Because it is a pleasure to make beautiful praise!
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem, gathering up Israel’s
exiles.
God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.
God counts the stars by number, giving each one a
name.
Our Lord is great and so strong!
God’s knowledge can’t be grasped!
The LORD helps the poor, but throws the wicked down on
the dirt!
Sing to the LORD with thanks; sing praises to our God
with a lyre!
God covers the skies with clouds;
God makes rain for the earth;
God makes the mountains sprout green grass.
God gives food to the animals – even to the baby
ravens when they cry out.
God doesn’t prize the strength of a horse;
God doesn’t treasure the legs of a runner.
No. The LORD treasures the people who honor him, the
people who wait for his faithful love.
Praise the LORD!
The author of the reading asked us to read the Psalm silently first and then out loud. After that, write it out in a notebook, and see what jumps out. I decided to type the words out instead of doing a copy/paste for this DCE.
I am a little weird perhaps but the first thing I wanted to know is what was in the parts the lectionary left out. Obviously, there are verses 12 through 20. These verses seemed familiar to me and I checked back to see they had been in our lectionary for December 31. Our Zoom prayer services focus on the weekly Psalm, so they are highlighted in my memory. If you have not experienced a Zoom prayer service, I highly recommend giving one a try. We are a friendly lot.
Back to the verses assigned from the Psalm for today.
I have a love of astronomy so the verse about God naming all the stars jumped out. We humans are trying to number and name all the stars too! We can only number the ones we can see but God can number and name them all. I am easing the winter blues by obsessing about gardening. The verses about God causing rain to fall on the earth and causing the grass to grow is the other part that jumped out. It is interesting to me that the two parts that hit me were things I can identify with from experience. Many of the Psalms are meant to be songs so the command to sing feels familiar. You know I love to sing.
I am writing this DCE on Wednesday before the Zoom prayer service happens, and I will learn more from the others attending as we explore the Psalm together tonight. “God’s knowledge can’t be grasped!” That verse reminds me of the saying that we do not know what we do not know. It is a blessing that we can learn from each other as we ponder scripture together.
I will remember this Psalm as I look at the night sky and think about God knowing the name of each star. I will think about God’s gift of rain as I start my seeds inside and plan for the gardening season.
What jumped out at you? Read it silently and then out loud. I am betting something different came to the surface for you. We each have a different perspective. God treasures us all.
Dear God, thank you for your word. Thank you for church friends to ponder the meaning with me. You have created us to be in community. We pray for each other. We pray for all the members of Hudson UMC and for people in the area that might be drawn to join us. Thank you for the stars and for the seedlings. Thank you for giving us the privilege of offering our praise whether that be in word or in song. Amen
Beams and blessings to you each!
