Psalm of the Day

For Monday, February 15, 2010

Psalm 102 really tugs at Sistertech’s pinions. While so many of the Psalms evoke sentiments that are more likely common among humans, we Here often find a verse or two that speak just as clearly to Us. I know many that fill me with compassion for others and makes me even more eager to serve The One In Charge by reaching out to humans everywhere in their time of need. Seeing as I am in the tech industry, I have got what you might call a “ready customer base”. So many computers! So many technical issues! Oh, the humanity!

Psalm 102 is no exception when it comes to pulling at my pinions. Who cannot be moved at the mention of the destitute? Who isn’t moved by the assurances of help from The One In Charge? I’m so very glad to be part of The Team that assists and comforts others. It’s very gratifying work. Really, it is.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
¹⁹that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
²¹so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
²²when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

Cyril and Methodius – Psalm of the Day

Today I remember Cyril and his brother Methodius. Sistertech is fond of different languages, both spoken and computer. What Sistertech appreciates most about these two missionaries is their fearlessness in the face of a daunting linguistic challenge: they translated the Church liturgy and much of the scriptures into Slavonic, which at the time had no written language. Their amazing story is here. Later on they faced lots of resistance from the “Latin only” crowd. The Psalm for today, Psalm 69, is therefore appropriate:

⁸I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.

⁹It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
¹⁰When I humbled my soul with fasting,
they insulted me for doing so.
¹¹When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
¹²I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
¹³But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help ¹⁴rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
¹⁵Do not let the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the Pit close its mouth over me.
¹⁶Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
¹⁷Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
¹⁸Draw near to me, redeem me,
set me free because of my enemies.

Absalom Jones – Psalm of the Day

Another great personage: Absalom Jones. Jones, along with Richard Allen, are often cited as the first ordained African Americans in the US. More on Jones here:

In 1786 the membership of St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia included both blacks and whites. However, the white members met that year and decided that thereafter black members should sit only in the balcony. Two black Sunday worshippers, Absalom Jones (1746-1818) and Richard Allen (1760-1831), whose enthusiasm for the Methodist Church had brought many blacks into the congregation, learned of the decision only when, on the following Sunday, ushers tapped them on the shoulder during the opening prayers, and demanded that they move to the balcony without waiting for the end of the prayer. They walked out, followed by the other black members.

Absalom Jones conferred with William White, Episcopal Bishop of Philadelphia, who agreed to accept the group as an Episcopal parish.

Sistertech has not experienced that kind of discrimination, though she does stick out like a sore thumb. Being a rara avis is hard work. Long ago, Sistertech had the misfortune, er, the opportunity to teach a Sunday School class of youngsters. When we sang a song based on the Psalm appointed for this day, Psalm 137, one youngster nicknamed the song the “Sad Dancing Bear Song”. Evidently he took his cue from the first few verses. As Kermit the Frog once said, “it isn’t easy being green”, we can empathize with all those who are “different” or whose path is “different”. For all those trailblazers, this Psalm’s for you.

Psalm

¹By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
²On the willows^* there
we hung up our harps.
³For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’

⁴How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
⁶Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy.

Charles Freer Andrews – Psalm of the Day

What a fascinating person: Charles Freer Andrews (1871-1940). An English priest, educator and Indian freedom fighter. A close associate of Gandhi’s. Gandhi called him Christ’s Faithful Apostle. Get it? CFA — his initials. Much more on Andrews is here.

Psalm 113:2-8

²Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and for evermore.
³From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
⁴The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens.

⁵Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
⁶who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
⁷He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
⁸to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.

Fanny Crosby – Psalm of the Day

One of Sistertech’s early clients was a woman with a, shall we say, colorful past. When the client was a young girl she lived with her grandmother in Pasadena, CA. And who lived a few doors down? Relatives of Fanny Crosby. As best she can recall they were Crosby’s nieces. Lovely women. The kind of women that bring Proverbs 31 to mind, if you know what I mean. This young girl would often visit them and listen to stories — first hand stories — about the marvelous Fanny Crosby!

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Psalm of the Day

Most people seem so distressed when confronted with “the law”. Why just today I overheard a client say that she was tired of her supervisor “laying down the law”. I could tell from the way she said it, that she did not take “the law” to be a good thing. The best I could do was to leave her web browser open to Psalm 119:97. What other law is there?

⁹⁷Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
⁹⁸Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is always with me.
⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your decrees are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
¹⁰²I do not turn away from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
¹⁰³How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
¹⁰⁶I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to observe your righteous ordinances.

Psalm of the Day

Sistertech is not about to tell you how old she is! Let’s just say I’ve been around the circuit boards a few hundred times. You’d think that with as much experience as I have people would listen more intently to my advice. Well, it really is not just my advice. I do speak for The One In Charge, do I not?

Don’t get me wrong. Sistertech is big on innovation and is herself incredibly cutting edge. However, she never forgets that some of the best advice is that “old school” advice.

Psalm 78:1-4

¹Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
⁴We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

Psalm of the Day

Psalm 80 is filled with wonderful images: the shepherd, flock, the vine, the fruit. But the refrain that means the most to Sistertech appears in verses 3, 7, and 19:

³Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Those us in the tech industry know how sweet restoration is. Whether an online database, or a contact address book, or the spreadsheets and other documents you work so hard on, Sistertech prays that you remember that the most important restoring happens in our souls. May The One In Charge shine upon you all!

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Psalm of the Day

For Saturday, February 6, 2010

How refreshing it is to rest in The One In Charge. Remember that old Coke commercial? We’ll it is a crash remaking of this Psalm: Things go better with The One In Charge.

⁵The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.

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Psalm for Super Bowl Day

The odds? Not surprisingly, here in The Office the Saints are favored. Sistertech remains… I cannot lie. Since Farve is out, it’s GO SAINTS!

The Special Response Team is at the ready in case a player is badly hurt. There’s plenty of paper in the fax machines. We expect a huge increase in volume of prayers today. Happens every Super Bowl. Sistertech cannot help but wonder: Where are these “true believers” are the rest of the year?

The Psalm 138 for today is especially relevant. Particularly verses 7 and 8, don’t you think?

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
⁸The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.

The Psalm in its entirety follows below. Continue reading “Psalm for Super Bowl Day”