CN | Sheltering Mercy w/ Ps. 15's Rooted Way during Epiphany

 

"A Hill of the Heart" by Nathan Swann from Sheltering Mercy

To be so rooted in Your ways that I may not be shaken + from Psalm 15 | A Hill of the Heart in Sheltering Mercy

Emmaus City Church (ECC) continues in our series in the Psalms based on the Lectionary Year A Readings that parts of Jesus' Church around the world are using in 2023 during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent. 

This weekend's Psalm is Psalm 15, focused on the one who will never be shaken. What a gift to encounter life and be secure enough to never be shaken off a sure footing, a place of serenity, an habror of peace. 

In Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms, Ryan W. Smith and Dan Wilt have written a targum (i.e. the ancient practice of rewriting sacred text in today's vocabulary; see Psalm 29 | Living Word, Psalm 40 | A Testimony of Salvation, and Psalm 27 | Light and Life for other examples). And while this prayer attempts to follow the structure of Psalm 15, this is not a paraphrase or translation; it is a prayerful response. The title they give 15's targum is "A Hill of the Heart."

For 2023, phrases that have helped shape my prayers for the year ahead are "Enter the Holy Wild. Pay attention to the Voice in the wilderness. Worship Jesus." My prayer for Emmaus City Church is that our worship would increase in such a way that those who interact with us, whether at a Sabbath gathering, with a City Group meal or mission, at work or at home, would experience God's holy presence in light of how our hearts lean towards worshiping Jesus. We want to rest and risk in light of His holiness (see also "In the Holy Wild with the Lion Who Offers Us the Stream").

Psalm 15 that inspired the targum, "Light and Life," helps us worship the One who is holy as we continue in the holy wild of this season of Epiphany.

Psalm 15 | A Hill of the Heart

There is a hill called "Holy,"

stark against a sky of fire;

a tabernacle of tree and stone,

where wind

and flame

and tremor

guard the gentle whisper of God. 1

But who can tread that sacred ground?

Meet You in that hurricane eye?

Who can bear the closeness of the flame

at the celestial pole,

strung between earth and heaven?

The one who keeps to Your path

when others withdraw.

Who stockpiles truth in the hollows of the heart.

Who dispenses grace to friends and foes alike – 

resisting evil,

cherishing good,

whatever the cost may be.

This, Lord, is my desire:

to be so rooted in Your ways

that I may not be shaken,

and by Your grace to meet You 2

on Your holy hill.

1 1 Kings 19:11-12

2 Psalm 42:2

Bonus Listen

Psalm 15 by Poor Bishop Hooper

Bonus Reflection

Most Deeply Loved Psalms for Christians in Pakistan

Next post: CN | Endless Grace w/ Ps. 112's Generous Justice during BHM

Here are links to other recent City Notes (CN) books:

Red Skies; Story of God in a Sanitation Truck; The Artistry of What's Next; Seeds of Hope in the Rain & the Dark; Wrestling with God in Doubt; I've Seen What Hope Can Do; Baptism as the Way of Life; The Cross and Peacemaking Presence; Being with God; Knowing and Naming True Friends; Listening Closely & Paying Attention; Living and Loving Curiously with Wonder; Praying with Mary and Jesus; Waiting is the Womb; In the Holy Wild with the Lion Who Offers Us the Stream

With wild grace and holy shalom,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

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