The Heart's Cry: A Prologue

If you have not noticed by now I tend to do things a tad differently, so when I began to think about the possibility of a Heart's Cry teaser I did not think about beginning with Psalm 1 but rather talking about Psalm 151. Right now there is a better than average chance that you are asking yourself, "Aren't there only 150 Psalms?" And the answer would be, "Usually." Most likely, if you open your Bible you will only find 150 Psalms, but if you were/are a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church or several other denominations you may well know that there is a Psalm 151. In addition you may, like me, know that there is a Psalm 151 because you had to purchase a particular type of NRSV for your Introduction to Bible class in college. For most of the church it is an apocryphal text, or non-canonical, or not quite holy enough to be included in the Bible, or left out because it wasn't in the correct scroll, but just because it is considered apocryphal doesn't mean it doesn't have worth. To that end, I present to you Psalm 151.

Psalm 151
a Psalm of David written following his defeat of Goliath

I was small among my brothers,
and youngest of my father's sons.
I was shepherd of my father's sheep.

My hands made a musical instrument;
my fingers strung a lap harp.

Who will tell my Lord?
The Lord himself, the Lord hears me.

The Lord himself sent his messenger,
and took me away
from my father's sheep.
He put special oil on my forehead
to anoint me.

My brothers were good-looking and tall,
but the Lord didn't take
special pleasure in them.

I went out to meet the Philistine,
who cursed me by his idols.

But I took his own sword out of its sheath
and cut off his head.
So I removed the shame
from the Israelities.

So, what good is this?

First I think it is a helpful reminder that the guy that would become 'a man after God's own heart' was not the strongest or the oldest or the best looking one. Too often in our society we strive to be better from a physical standpoint, whether that is achieved through buying new clothes or toys or bigger cars and houses. We keep thinking that what matters is the external and at least in part we think that way because our society keeps screaming and whispering it to us, here's the thing you need to be happy, here's the thing you need to get the girl or the guy to notice you, here's the thing you need to finally not need anything else, until the next thing of course.

Secondly, I think that we can too often overlook what Goliath really stands for in our lives, it is not merely the big thing that stands in our way but rather the thing that is bringing pain and shame to not just ourselves but to those around us, to our family or friends, to our community or nation. David took Goliath down with a rock, nothing of particular significance, but in the right hands the ordinary becomes the extraordinary, especially if those hands are acting in concert with God's moving.

+ In what ways have you given in to the culture's cry for bigger and better? In what ways have you fought against it? If you need a new way to try to change you may try doing a reverse advent calendar this year [just google it], as an individual or family or small group or...

+ What Goliath's are bringing pain to those around you? In what small way can you begin to stand up to it?

The Heart's Cry: A Prelude

I sit here a shade over two weeks from the beginning of something new. But first, let me digress a bit...

A little over 2 years ago I set out to write a new blog that would be comprised of daily devotionals titled Red Letters, Black Letters it was a devotional based on Jesus sayings (hence Red Letters) and my thoughts on those sayings (hence Black Letters) I will say that it by and large worked, I went daily for quite awhile, then I took a break, and came back with 5 a week, taking weekends off, then I got a little scattered, but I got through the 135 entries by the middle of January 2015.

At that point I had decided to continue the blog weekly first looking at Jesus' parables and then jumping off into other things, instead I became a Pastor of a church again and let RLBL fall by the wayside. Roughly a year or so later I merged that blog with this one, so if you would like to read RLBL you can begin that particular journey at your leisure just click on June of 2014 on the right hand side of this page.

I didn't continue RLBL because life got busier, and so 1 year and 9 months passed and here we are at the beginning of a different, yet similar journey, in other words digression over.

The Something New: A Heart's Cry: 150 devotionals based on 150 Psalms

When?: Beginning Monday October 3 and going until its done (hopefully)

When? Part 2: posted nightly Sunday through Thursday and shared on Facebook daily Monday through Friday

Why?: Well there are multiple whys.

Why? Part 1: Several months ago I gained possession of a book titled The Abbey Psalter, it is a beautiful rendition of the Psalms made by and used by the Genesee Abbey in New York.

Why? Part 2: From January of 2015 through March of 2016 while I preached on other things my main thrust of preaching came for the Gospel of Matthew. And while I was thinking about my sermons in 2017 I decided that I wanted to tackle some other large topic and landed on the Psalms. I have preached on them multiple times over the past 5 years of preaching full time and even had a one month series on them when I was at Linton I think I would like a larger dip in the Psalm pool. At the same time I do not want to spend the next three years preaching on Psalms only so I thought that I could use this outlet to cover all of them to some extent and also decide which ones I would like to take a deeper dive into.

Why? Part 3: If you look at the overall history of this blog you will notice that I write a lot. At the same time if you look at recent history of this blog you will notice that I haven't write much. I would like to go back to how I used to be, so this is one way that I can set a goal of writing more.

Why? Part 4: As in WHY DO YOU CARE?, well to a very large degree I cannot answer that question, only you can. But I can give a few possibilities: 1) you have read other things I have written and like the way I think/write, 2) you like the Psalms and wonder what kind of crazy stuff I might have to say on the subject, 3) you might need a little more God in your life, and while I am not God I might be able to help you get a little closer, 4) you are extremely bored and just happened upon my blog,

Why? The Final Part: You may not always agree with the way I read the text, and I welcome your interpretations. Feel free to comment when I say something you think is crazy, or if you prefer just track me down on Facebook or email and complain to me personally. On the other hand what I have to say may strike a chord in your heart and help you to understand what our God has been trying to say to you. Again, feel free to comment or track me down. It is my fervent hope that you will be inspired by what I and the Psalms have to say.

Thanks for showing up, we start October 3. Walk with me as I walk through the Psalms.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K