The Man in the Orange Hat

  If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, Let Israel now say— If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men 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. So far in my haphazard reflections on the Psalms of Ascent, I have thought about travelling with people on unfinished journeys. Their feet have slipped, their eyes have looked to the hills, their voices have lifted in longing, in protest, in hope. These have been psalms for unfinished journeys—of pilgrims still walking. But Psalm 124 feels different. This is a song sung no...

  Unto You I lift up my eyes, Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He has mercy on us. For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud. O You who dwell in the heavens. As I was reflecting on this psalm, I found myself at Cambridge Pride. I watched my fabulous daughter, Carys, performing on stage with "Sing Out Cambridge" and I joined the parade, walking alongside her and many others through the centre of Cambridge. There were flags and feathers, music and dancing, protest signs and prayerful hearts. And as the crowd surged around me — joyful, defiant, deeply human — I realised that Psalm 123 speaks directly into this moment. It is a psalm of lifting our eyes. Of facing down contempt. Of longing for mercy not just privately, but together — out loud, in colour, in community. This is a re...

Debbi Cooper’s 1988 iconic black and white picture of two young boys, one in a yarmulke and the other with a keffiyeh wrapped around his neck. I knew this one was in the stack somewhere, it has often made me uncomfortable.  But I have been pleased to grapple with it and come to some kind of accomodation with it. I was glad when they said to me,  “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Our feet have been standing  Within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built  As a city that is compact together, Where the tribes go up,  The tribes of the Lord,  To the Testimony of Israel,  To give thanks to the name of the Lord. For thrones are set there for judgment,  The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls,  Prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brethren and companions,  I will now say, “Peace be within you.” Because of the house of the Lord our God  I will seek your good. It is se...

  I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence (see note) comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore. From the first stanza to the second there is an abrupt change of voice.  We were in the first-person, but now we are in the third-person.  Some scholars suggest that this is the Psalmist having a kind of internal dialogue with himself - like Smeagol/Gollum in the Lord of the Rings:   Sméagol: "Leave now, and never come back!" Gollum: "No... we needs it. Must have ...

Looking back over Edale to Mam Tor and the Great Ridge   I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore. Psalm 121 seems to be coming from a very different place than Psalm 120.  Whilst it begins with a question about where to find help, it seems much less raw, much less in-the-moment.  It doesn't sound like this Psalm is uttered "in my distress..." rather, after some time and reflection has passed. Back in 2010, when Twitter was still a fairly new phenomenon, Chris Jub...

In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue? Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree! Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar! My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace. I am for peace; But when I speak, they are for war.  I learned this on day one.  It was the only one I learned while walking - but I think it has stuck!  I love the alliterative "L"s in "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips", and I love how "my soul" has so much more depth then "me". In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue.  I learned these opening couplets over several miles.  At times I was in distress myself - climbing steeply up Kinder Scout!  I love how the psalmist just bangs...

Lifting up my eyes unto the hills on day one. I wanted to learn the fifteen Psalms off by heart.  I don't know much scripture off by heart, but he bits that I do I often find very helpful.  My plan was to walk with them - literally.  I have a plastic waller that you hang around your neck with your map inside to stop it getting wet.  On day one I had the map on one side and a large-print of Psalm 120 on the other, so that I could walk with it and learn it as I walked.  I succeeded! If I am to learn something, I can do without the language being clunky.  The Psalm from the section that already mostly knew off by heart was Psalm 121 "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help?"  That's the King James version (with one tiny change in puctuation as I mentioned in an earlier blog!) I can remember that because of the poetry of it.  I looked through some different translations and took the beginning of Psalm 121 as my test couplet...