Poetry Thursday: Psalm 118

Appropriately, I read this on Tuesday. It was a bit of a down day for me, as you can imagine. You know, reading through Leviticus is tough. I mean, all those regulations, and all those sacrifices...really made me think about how deprave we are as humans. How capable of evil and filth we are. And it's only through Jesus Christ that we can be called Holy. It is only through his sacrifice that we can put off our sinfulness and become who God has designed us to be. So, the whole thing really had me melancholy.

Oh, that's not the reason you thought I was down on Tuesday? Well, yes, also the inauguration of Obama had me down. And it's not that I'm still sore about the election, but the extreme jubilation of his followers really irks me. It's like he walks on water. It's as if Obama will save them from their troubles. Anyways, it all got me down.

Imagine my joy when I turned to Psalm 118 that night. I had a fresh outlook. To bad I read it at 9:30 at night; I could have used this much earlier in the day. And it is also my answer to the issue of extreme jubilation over one man. It's something I plan to keep in mind for the next four years, at least.

Excerpts from Psalm 118

1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
5) In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.
6) The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7) The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8) It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
9) It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
13) I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me.
14) The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15) Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The Lord's right hand has done mighty things!"
17) I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18) The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19) Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20) This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter.
21) I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22) The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23) the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

This is not an easy thing for me to say, much less to live out. I know, and can still be overjoyed, that what God has done is rightly done. Who am I to question the ways of the Lord?