Reflections On A Psalm And A Small Gathering

WED., MAR. 23, 1994, 8:57 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM HALL

Before you settle into a day of preparation and writing please hear Me, the Holy Spirit, as I offer some reflections on this marvelous psalm and on the discussion of it in your small breakfast gathering. You should not be surprised as I assure you that this is one of My favorite psalms… as it is of yours. On the day he wrote this David was feeling a special blessing from Me, and he couldn’t but reciprocate. He heard not a word of negative judgment from Me on that day; he was completely “taken” bv My mercy, love, and forgiving nature. This psalm is certainly a portent of My fundamental message as Jesus… the Christ… the Messiah. The only people to whom I didn’t address this gentle, loving proclamation were the Pharisees – those who wanted no more revelation and nothing to complicate their picture of Me… even Me, Myself.

There is much use of the term “bless” in this psalm. And you note that it is reciprocal… I am blessing you and many others, but I also should be blessed by you. Of course, I don’t “need” the blessing, but it is good for your spirit to be doing what I do, which is to bless. And this reciprocal blessing is more effective, more powerful than blessings that are only one-way.

There is much assurance of forgiveness and mercy in these verses, with no focus on repentance. Perhaps there is a presumption that she who is forgiven repents of her transgressions and is ready to be absolved. But such is not stated, which points to My initiative rather than yours. I want you forgiven, blessed, and whole. I want you to feel the freedom only I can give to live fully for Me and for others. And thus I want you to forgive yourself as readily as I forgive you. ( 9:22 / 9:26 )

There are several ways in which the messages of this psalm do not agree with other passages of Scripture. Be aware of this, and be not reluctant to use it as an example when critics of your written accounts of what I tell you charge that these do not agree perfectly with some Scriptures… or interpretations thereof. This psalm doesn’t even square with other psalms that David composed. It was truly written on a day of enlightenment… a day when he felt & saw Me as a positive, nurturing Presence, in every life situation.

You have read and studied this with the same positive frame of reference. Even the passage equating human life with grass… the wind comes and it is gone… has a positive “ring” to it. You are coming out of the season in which the grass has been dead… blasted by winter winds. Yet in the present season the grass returns to life, green and growing. So, as you know, death is not the end but just a transition, a time of resting before you come alive again.

Since I have been characterized as a wind, like unto the breath of life and a mighty roaring wind, in this passage I can be portrayed as He who causes death. All healing has earlier been identified as coming from Me, so, now, also death is Mine to bring about. (9:44 / 9:47 ) And yet, in My perspective death is just another form of healing, as well as a response to the physical realities of earth life.

The experience of a small gathering like this one is one of life’s best. Even the 4 of you… gather, pray, and eat… then share interpretations of and observations on a beautiful piece of Scripture. The hour passes in this wonderful way, you join hands in prayer, and you each “go forth.” You have the added blessing of a Teaching from Me in this quiet, beautiful place, and life goes on, but enriched.