Sunday, October 30, 2011

To seek forgiveness

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PsalmChallenge is hosted by Robert of Daily Athens.

LinkPsalm 32

1 A Psalm of David. A Maskil.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. [Selah]

5 I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. [Selah]

6 Therefore let every one who is godly offer prayer to thee; at a time of distress, in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
7 Thou art a hiding place for me, thou preservest me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with deliverance. [Selah]

8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.



9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not keep with you.

10 Many are the pangs of the wicked; but steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

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Revised Standard Version translation. For Hebrew-English see Mechon Mamre. For Rabbi Segal's translation and commentary see A New Psalm.
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Photos:
Ceremonial horse trappings. Brass with turquoise and coral inlay. Bukhara, 19th century. At the Museum of Islamic Art, Jerusalem.
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Confession booth, St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia.
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As a Jew, I sometimes wonder what it is like to make confession to a priest. But I do like how the Catholic church now seems to call it the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

For the early Church, Psalm 32 was considered one of a group of seven Psalms of Atonement.
In Jewish tradition, it is the Psalm recited on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
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16 comments:

  1. It is interesting to read that the Christian church has continued the Jewish tradition of using this Psalm as a Psalm of atonement.

    A fine interpretation of the Psalm, Dina.

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  2. the horse trappings are beautiful...excellent photo

    I like your interpretation of these 2 verses of the Psalm, the verse plus the photos enables the mind to think more deeply about what it is that God wants us to do

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  3. Great words "steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the LORD"!
    I also wonder how it is to confess to a priest.., well we do in a way here as a Christian too, but we call it a conversation.
    Hope you have good days Dina. And hope it is safe in Jerusalem. I read that there is a lot of rockets these days in the south and terrorist threats.
    Hugs from north:-)

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  4. One of the few I know, I am so ignorant about Psalms...

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  5. Wonderful that Christianity and the Jewish religion are connected by the psalms and the prophets among other parts of the bible. We are all God's creatures even our enemies. Oh, could we live in peace in this dark world where hatred seems to rule humanity!

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  6. Those ceremonial horse trappings are quite interesting....a kind of jewelry for our equine friends (I wonder how they like it?--probably not very much!)

    Like the psalmist, I prefer to talk to the Lord, though I've always wondered about confessionals and priests, too.

    There are so many things about the Christian faith that have their roots in Judaism and it is astonishing how forgotten that fact is...I've only been discovering it myself the past couple of years.

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  7. Beautiful Dina, as always.

    I am a Catholic who was away from the church for 18 years, now back 21 and work for the church no less!

    Confession was always a tough nut for me to crack, but I feel so differently now. It helps that I have a wonderful confessor to speak with regularly.

    It is less about "being bad" and more about setting things right. Which is why the sacrament of Reconciliation is a beautiful thing.

    Sadly, not all have that chance or do not want to take the risk. I do understand.

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  8. Thank you very much for this entry of yours. teaching once again the very essence of a Psalm.

    Haven't made a confession so far to a priest, yet spend many an hour in 'discussion' while being inside a church.

    Please have a good start into the new week and please join again !

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  9. Neat photos :)

    Many churches no longer have the confession "booths" anymore. At my church, confession, or reconcilliation, takes place in a small room with two chairs and a little table in between. In some ways I think that's harder than the old way with the screens separating the priest and penitent.

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  10. Thought provoking. Thank you.



    Aloha from Honolulu

    Comfort Spiral

    > < } } ( ° >

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  11. As always, so thought provoking! Makes me want to try my hardest. Always........

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  12. Another great Psalm challenge, Dina! Your door makes me think of a line from the "Sound of Music" movie:
    "Where the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window."

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  13. beautiful Dina, this is a beautiful post,and my interpretation because my god is light and love is that our sin should be released from the darkest recesses of the soul and brought to the light to heal.
    hugs

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