Daily Devotional • September 9
Psalm 45
1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
2 You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.
5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
let the nations fall beneath your feet.
6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
8 All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.
9 Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.
11 Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.
12 The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
people of wealth will seek your favor.
13 All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her—
those brought to be with her.
15 Led in with joy and gladness,
they enter the palace of the king.
16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.
17 I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.
Meditation
As I write, my wife of 53 years lives in a nursing home, with late-stage Alzheimer’s. She does not know who I am and cannot speak coherently. I see her frequently, and when I come home, I’m greeted by a screensaver slideshow on my TV that consists of nearly 1,100 images of her life, my life, and our life together. The transitions we have experienced over the years are starkly evident.
I am learning, slowly, to let go of my spouse. The woman from whom I can still usually coax a smile is not someone with whom I have a dynamic relationship anymore. Anything “we” will ever be in this world, we have already been. Even as I keep my vigil of grief, it is my vocation to embrace this new reality, that I may faithfully live into that which God yet has in store for me. I am in the midst of a major life transition.
Psalm 45 is about a major life transition. It is a paean to a new king—David, presumably—who is trying to lean into his royal status. It is a reality that has already overtaken him. He is invited to let go of his past and lay hold of his future: “Your sons will take the place of your fathers.”
And even though this is not a fairy tale, there’s also a princess involved, and the general occasion being described seems to be a royal wedding. She is admonished.
All our lives are full of transitions. Some we instinctively welcome. Others we try to delay. Either way, the holy work of a faithful soul is to be attentively receptive, to find in these transitions the grace that is just what we need, just when we need it.
The Rt. Rev. Daniel Martins is retired Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in the Episcopal Church.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Episcopal Diocese of Springfield
The Diocese of Oklahoma – The Episcopal Church
The Rt. Rev. Daniel Martins is retired Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in the Episcopal Church.
