Evergreen

The righteous flourish like a palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 93:12-15

Psalm 130

Though great our sins and sore our woes
His grace much more aboundeth;
His helping love no limit knows,
Our utmost need it soundeth.
Our Shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free
From all their sins and sorrows.

-Martin Luther

Psalms

So this summer I've been studying the book of Psalms with a bunch of college-type girls. At the beginning of the summer, we each shared a favorite Psalm, and we've been working through them week by week. Here's our list:

Psalm 1 - Beth
Psalm 27 - Emily
Psalm 32 - Lydia
Psalm 34 - Leta
Psalm 37 - Bella
Psalm 51 - Sarah
Psalm 131 - Ali
Psalm 136* - Courtney
Psalm 139 - Lissy

*See Bella's post on this one!

Sunset

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

-Psalm 65:8b

Psalm 119

I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.

-Psalm 119:32 (NIV)

My Portion

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

-Psalm 16: 2, 5-6

I hear echos of these verses (and also below) in Augustine’s oft-quoted Confessions.

The Heavens Declare the the Glory of God

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their measuring line goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

-Psalm 19:1-6

PSAL. I. Done into Verse, 1653

Bless’d is the man who hath not walk’d astray
In counsel of the wicked, and ith’ way
Of sinners hath not stood, and in the seat
Of scorners hath not sate. But in the great
Jehovah’s Law is ever his delight,
And in his Law he studies day and night.
He shall be as a tree which planted grows
By watry streams, and in his season knows
To yield his fruit, and his leaf shall not fall,
And what he takes in hand shall prosper all.
Not so the wicked, but as chaff which fann’d
The wind drives, so the wicked shall not stand
In judgment, or abide their trial then,
Nor sinners in th’assembly of just men.
For the Lord knows the upright way of the just
And the way of bad men to ruin must.

-John Milton