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{"id":1248,"date":"2011-03-04T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T08:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mamamonk.com\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2011-03-04T00:01:53","modified_gmt":"2011-03-04T08:01:53","slug":"psalm-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michaboyett\/2011\/03\/psalm-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 31"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

But, today, at 39 weeks pregnant, when I didn\u2019t find a spot anywhere closer than 3 blocks away, at the base of a hill, and somehow\u2014despite my yelling his name and reaching into the backseat to tickle him, and rolling the window down\u2014my son still fell asleep in the car while I searched for a spot, I carried his 36 pound body home, his butt perfectly positioned on my humongo baby bump. It hurt.<\/p>\n

All that to say, I wish I were sitting on my couch on Thursday night at 9:45 with a full and pleasant heart, longing to whisper my most joyful insights of the week, but the truth is, I\u2019m kind of unpleasant right now. I\u2019m achey and crampy and rude to my husband who just brought me tea and dark chocolate.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I need to remind myself of Thursday\u2019s Psalm. If you\u2019re reading a Psalm a day with me<\/a> (I\u2019ve decided to keep it going into March), then Thursday, in the midst of my grumbly full term prego body, you and I read Psalm 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe a rock of refuge for me,
\na strong fortress to save me!\u201d (v 2)<\/p>\n

\u201cI will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
\nbecause you have seen my affliction;
\nyou have known the distress of my soul,
\nand you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
\nyou have set my feet in a broad place\u201d (v 7-8).<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, how abundant is your goodness\u2026\u201d (v. 19)<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed be the\u00a0Lord,
\nfor he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me\u201d (v. 21).<\/p>\n

\u201cBe strong, and let your heart take courage,
\nall you who wait for the\u00a0Lord!\u201d (v. 24).<\/p>\n

The Benedictines <\/a>make the Psalms a living part of their prayer lives because it draws them into reality. I need to be reminded that my reality is not the ache of my back or the discomfort of carrying a seven-pound baby inside. My reality is not the fear of what labor and delivery will be like or what life with two little ones will become. My reality cannot and should not be wrapped up in what I presently feel<\/em> but in what is presently true<\/em> about my Creator and Rescuer:<\/p>\n

I am loved and can find gladness in that love.<\/p>\n

The Lord is rock of refuge, a secure place to plant my feet.<\/p>\n

Because my fortress is strong, I can take courage. (I love that the wording is \u201ctake\u201d courage, not to passively receive it. But reach out and demand it. I can stretch out my hand and get a tight grip, letting myself hold brave<\/em> like a jewel in my palm.)<\/p>\n

God has set my feet in a broad place. Such an image! I\u2019m from the Texas Panhandle. This girl knows something about broad places, land that stretches out so far the land seeps out of sight. To be set down in a broad place. To be given space to dwell and rest. To be released from the burden of being enclosed.<\/p>\n

Okay okay. I get it, Psalms. I\u2019ll stop complaining.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"