Reading this Psalm translation by Robert Alter, Jewish and literary scholar aloud for a great meditation on God’s bounty and beauty in all and through all, I am drawn to worship Christ, who is the FOOD we celebrate today!
“To you silence is praise, God, in Zion,
and to You a vow will be paid.
O, Listener to prayer,
unto You all flesh shall come.
My deeds of mischief are too much for me,
Our crimes but You atone.
Happy whom You choose to draw close,
he will dwell in your courts.
May we be sated with Your house’s bounty,
the holiness of Your temple.
With awesome acts You answer us,
our rescuing God,
refuge of all the earth’s ends
and the far-flung sea.
Who sets mountains firm in his power,
–He is girded in might —
Who quiets the roar of the seas,
the roar of their waves and the tumult of nations.
And those who dwell at earth’s ends will fear your signs,
The portals of morning and evening You gladden.
You pay mind to the earth and soak it.
You greatly enrich it.
God’s stream is filled with water,
You ready their grain, for so You ready it.
Quench the thirst of its furrows, smooth out its hillocks,
melt it with showers, its growth You will bless.
You crown your bountiful year,
and Your pathways drip ripeness.
The wilderness meadows do drip,
and with joy the hills are girded.
The pastures are clothed with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain.
They shout for joy, they even sing.”
The Book of Psalms, A Translation with Commentary, Robert Alter
