Highlighting just a couple Psalm-inspired songs today...
Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, / And renew a steadfast spirit within me. / Do not cast me away from Your presence / And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. / Restore to me the joy of Your salvation"
Psalm 57:9-11: "I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; / I will sing praises to You among the nations. / For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens / And Your truth to the clouds. / Be exalted above the heavens, O God; / Let Your glory be above all the earth."
But here are several New Testament Psalm references from this section:
- Psalm 53:1-3 ("There is no one who does good. / God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men / To see if there is anyone who understands, / Who seeks after God. / Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; / There is no one who does good, not even one."), which is almost an exact replica of Psalm 14, is quoted in Romans 3:10-12.
- Psalm 68:18 ("You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; / You have received gifts among men") is cited in Ephesians 4:8.
- Psalm 69:9 ("For zeal for Your house has consumed me") is quoted in John 2:17 as a commentary on Jesus driving the moneychangers out of the temple.
- Psalms 69:21 ("They also gave me gall for my food / And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.") is fulfilled by Jesus on the cross, as described in Matthew 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36; Luke 23:36; and John 19:29.
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14: "The LORD is my light and my salvation; / Whom shall I fear? / The LORD is the defense of my life; / Whom shall I dread?...One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: / That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life...I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD / In the land of the living. / Wait for the LORD; / Be strong and let your heart take courage; / Yes, wait for the LORD."
The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid?
The Lord is my light and my help; whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom should I shrink?
There is one thing I ask of the Lord; for this I long;
to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
I believe I shall see the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living;
Psalm 36:5-6: "Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, / Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. / Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; / Your judgments are like a great deep."
Note that these are just the songs that I can find on the internet. There are a few others that pop into my head when I read that I swear my own brain isn't making up, but they have either never found their way online, or I can't retrieve more than a tiny clip from my dusty memories to google them properly.
Regardless, I'm so thankful to have been soaked in the Scriptures for my entire life, from the very earliest age. (Thank you, Mom and Dad.)
And for the bonus, New Testament references from the Psalms...
- Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5 ("Into Your hand I commit my spirit") as He dies, in Luke 23:46.
- Psalm 40:7-8 ("Then I said, 'Behold, I come; / In the scroll of the book it is written of me. / I delight to do Your will, O my God") is quoted in Hebrews 10:7.
- Psalm 41:9 ("Even my close friend in whom I trusted, / Who ate my bread, / Has lifted up his heel against me.") is quoted by Jesus in John 13:18, in reference to Judas Iscariot, who left directly from dining with Jesus to betray Him.
- Psalm 44:22 ("But for Your sake we are killed all day long; / We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.") is quoted in Romans 8:36.
Here's an intriguing story I read this morning: a new project to set all 150 Psalms to music. (Which they once were, of course, though the tunes are lost to us now.)
I hope my own kids are so soaked in the Bible that they too will need read only a snippet to set them humming all the rest of the day.
Among other things, it means that Caleb's speech clinicians can no longer be amused by his aphorisms.
His clinician this semester was particularly good--and brave too, as she brought in a little trampoline for him and various games that involved throwing things, along with shaving cream to smear on the table and write letters in. (He wuved her.)
I tuned in to the audio just in time to see shaving cream splattering everywhere and the clinicians saying, "You're messy! I bet your mom has a hard time keeping the house clean with you around!" Caleb agreed that our house gets messy, and added, "But there's a special day called Saturday, when we clean up."
Presents are bought and wrapped and either waiting by the door to be delivered, or nestled under our tree. Somewhere among the boxes is Ears, in a secret new outfit tailored by Ada, waiting to be released on Christmas morning.
Hopefully Caleb will be appreciative, since Ada's sewing skills so far outstrip his own. I found him stapling fabric together to fit around Ears one day, and he told me it was "man sewing."
I'm glad to have a break from driving into town every week for speech. I'm guessing Lizzy and Caleb have mixed feelings about it. We did have an elating grand finale ride home for the last one, when we approached the railroad crossing as a train was approaching. They both begged me not to detour so they could watch the train, and I pulled up just as the safety arm was coming down. Caleb fervently uttered, "Ohhhh, my favorite part of my life!"
My friend agreed to take these pics of us at sunset--apparently one of the few times of day Caleb understands. One day at breakfast, he looked out the window and said, "Look, a sunset in the morning!"
Thankfully, now my anxieties have transitioned from school days to gift deliveries. I'm looking forward to a few weeks off and hoping to enjoy the family time regardless of all of our sometimes-provoking imperfections. I'm avoiding thinking of the transition back in January, and hoping I'm Relaxed Mom instead of Drill Sergeant Mom over Christmas break.
When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.
I hope that's where my mind goes this Christmas when someone is whiny and my house is a mess (in between those special days called Saturday).
After all, my suffering be big or small, this admonition from another article rings true:
When you suffer, think about the people watching you suffer, and what they're learning about Jesus.
When my children see me starting to twitch, I want them to learn that the Baby in the manger is worth magnifying no matter what life throws at us.
Grandpa interrupting school stopping by to drop off bagel bites and chocolate milk.
Caleb is taking the time off as an opportunity to spend more time with Ziggy the zebra puppet outside of school. He has made a very nice bed for Ziggy next to his own bed, and tucks him in at night (Ada pointed out that poor Ears is probably jealous). And then sometimes he sings him a lullaby: Go to sleeeeep, Zig-gyyyyyy....
Silent night, all is calm.
