I’ve been thinking of not writing Interruptions on Saturday.
Let’s pause for a collective gasp from the readers. I know you are thinking, “Does Pastor Grant have COVID? Is this a sign of the end-times? Has he fallen away from the faith?”
I can say confidently none of the above.
I enjoy writing Interruptions. I get up and I write. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun. Can you imagine spending about 560 hours during the past year doing something that you don’t enjoy? (I have written 446 Interruptions which take an average of an hour and fifteen minutes to write.)
Why consider not writing an Interruption on Saturday? I could use the time, and I believe they are least read on Saturday.
Go ahead and prove me wrong!
Now I come to the Psalms. I love focusing on the Psalms during my weekend devotions. During the week, I read four to six chapters of the Bible each day, but on Saturdays, I tend to relax and read a Psalm.
Then off for a weekend bike ride.
I’ve noticed when I read one Psalm and nothing else, I remember the Psalm better.
I will continue writing on Saturday but will focus on Psalms and what I’m calling Psalm on Saturday. Not sure when I will stop writing; perhaps when I have written a Psalm on Saturday for all 150 Psalms.
I’m not writing about a specific Psalm today. I’m just talking about them. What I find fascinating about the Psalms is that all of them were written thousands of years ago and yet they translate so well into any language today.
Consider the 23rd Psalm:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. (Verses 1-3)
Composed about 3,000 years ago in Hebrew, and just read by you in English in 2021, no doubt it had as much impact just now as when it was written in another language, in another culture, and in another century
Yet, as effective as if written today for you.
Who doesn’t understand lying down in green pastures, who doesn’t want to walk beside quiet waters, and wouldn’t it be great to have our soul restored?
That’s the Psalms – current, concise, and convicting.
The Psalms are sneaky. I could use the word surreptitious.
They change your worldview without you knowing it. You can be angry and then you can’t be angry anymore. You can be mad at God and then you can’t be mad at God. You can feel guilt and not feel guilt. You can disbelieve and find faith.
The Psalms sneak in to grab your attention, shake off the doubt, and breathe new life.
You must be a hardhearted skeptic not to be moved by David’s confession in Psalm 51:
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (verse 7).
I had to Google “hyssop” to find out that it was a herb used in healing. But just reading the words of Psalm 51 gave me release. Who wants to live in guilt and self-condemnation?
That’s the Psalms – relevant, freeing, and gracious.
For the next dozens of Saturdays, you will now get out of bed thinking, “Wow, it’s Saturday. I wonder what Psalm Interruptions will discuss today?”