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BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.  Psalm 63:1  NASB

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Psalm 63:1 – Apparently I find this verse particularly important.  I’ve written directly about it eleven times.  Here’s the list:

https://skipmoen.com/2019/07/parched-for-god/    CLICK 1

https://skipmoen.com/2019/07/just-think-about-it-2/   CLICK 2

https://skipmoen.com/2019/07/who-is-god-2/  CLICK 3

https://skipmoen.com/2005/08/the-kingdom-attitude-1/  CLICK 4

https://skipmoen.com/2019/04/the-kingdom-attitude-1-2/  CLICK 5

https://skipmoen.com/2018/04/sunburned-1/   CLICK 6

https://skipmoen.com/2018/04/sunburned-2/   CLICK 7

https://skipmoen.com/2018/04/sunburned-3/  CLICK 8

https://skipmoen.com/2018/04/sunburned-4/   CLICK 9

https://skipmoen.com/2018/04/sunburned-5/  CLICK 10

https://skipmoen.com/2013/11/breaking-dawn/   CLICK 11

With all these comments written on a single verse, it seems as though there would be nothing more to add.  Nevertheless, I am compelled to take another look.  Perhaps not at some individual word in this text but at the whole of it; the feel of it; the agony of this plea.  I wonder if it is possible to really know what this psalm is about if we haven’t experienced this torturous place.  I wonder what it would be like to thirst for God, to have our bodies writhe because we can’t find Him, to covet His presence.  We read the words but I wonder if we actually feel them.

Robert Alter makes the compelling point that biblical poetry is intended to be heard, not read.  The rhythm, alliteration, cadence of the poem gets lost, not only because it is translated but also because it is printed.  Here are the words:

Elohim eli ata ashachareka tzamah lecha nafshi kama lecha vesari be eretz tziya veayef beli-mayim.

Now let’s add some cadence:

Elohim eli ata

asha-cha-reka

tzam-ah le-cha naf-shi

ka-ma le-cha

ve-sa-ri be-eretz tzi-ya

ve-a-yef be-li-ma-yim.

Can you hear it?  The rhythm, the similar sounds?  Don’t just read.  Weep!  These are sounds made with tears.  These are cries, not black letters on a page.  Go to a dark corner in the room and grieve.  God is gone.  How can we survive?  There is a black hole in the spiritual universe.  Those of us who have come close to its edges know what it means to lament.  Everyone else turns the page.

Topical Index:  Psalm 63:1, rhythm, rhyme

Rosanne posted a new recipe on Friday.  Here it is.