Psalm is hard to Pspell

I had a very nice weekend trip to visit my sister's home and see some of my family there. I had really wanted to post something special for Easter, but with all of the hustle and bustle to get ready for the journey -- I never had time.

So I am posting a post-Easter psalm. Psalm is a word taken from the greek "psalmos." It is used to reflect the hebrew word meaning -- to pluck or to play a stringed instrument. A psalm is somewhat like our modern notion of a hymn.

For us, the psalms may seem to lack the rhyme and rhythm of many of our hymns, but they have poetic devices of their own. For instance, the psalmist may sometimes seem to repeat himself, except in reverse -- this is called chiasmus. Here is a pretty simplistic example -- it can get more complicated: ""And let the beauty of the Lord be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands, yea the work of our hands establish thou it."

The Hebrew literary tradition is also one of very strong imagery and metaphor: "Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; and they that dwell together. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together." (Psalm 98) or "My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread."

The psalms are a very ancient, very beautiful form of poetry. Here is part of one of my favorites:

Psalm 61 (in part)

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee,
when my heart is overwhelmed:
lead me to the rock
that is higher than I

For thou hast been a shelter for me,
and a strong tower from the enemy.

I will abide in thy tabernacle forever.
I will trust in the covert of thy wings.