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Day 328: More Carrot Cake!

My daughter had another birthday party yesterday, her actual date of birth.  Her in-laws surprised her after she came home from work.  And they brought carrot cake! So, I had another piece when I got home from work- I had to compare it to the one I got Thursday night!  Oh, man it was good. I think even better than Fred Meyers. I need to find out where they got it! On second thought, perhaps not.

I am up early this morning, about to make my smoothie and then go to Mass before I teach. I am making a berry, banana, psyllium smoothie with almond milk, ginger and turmeric.  Very tasty! And I have read much about the healing properties of all these ingredients. I wonder if they melt off the calories of carrot cake?

Alas, I do not have time to make it to the gym today.  I teach until 5:30 p.m. and then have a chamber music rehearsal from 6 to 8. But I will walk briskly to the bus stop and do some yoga in between students.  Then back to the gym Sunday I am!

My psalm of the day is psalm 22. I found a lot of interesting commentary on this psalm.  I recognized the first line, of course, from Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46:

"And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?")."


In my limited knowledge, I assumed Jesus was quoting the 22nd psalm  in the gospels and that when David wrote this psalm, he  was feeling forlorn.  But many scholars claim this psalm is prophetic:


". In many ways this is the most amazing of all the psalms. In it we have a picture of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, painted by David the Psalmist one thousand years before Jesus Christ was born. It constitutes one of the most amazing predictions of all time." 
http://www.raystedman.org/old-testament/psalms/the-suffering-savior

 I could spend days on end studying these commentaries.  But I particularly enjoyed this article
http://considerthegospel.org/blog/2015/04/01/a-funny-gaffe-fit-for-a-good-friday/

It certainly opened my eyes and heart to consider a different meaning to this psalm altogether. Good timing to reach psalm 22 so close to Easter!


Psalm 22



My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.
O my God, I call by day and you give no reply;
I call by night and I find no peace.

 Yet you, O God, are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you set them free.
When they cried to you, they escaped.
In you they trusted and never in vain.

But I am a worm and no man,
scorned by men, despised by the people.
All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
 "He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend."

Yes, it was you who took me from the womb,
entrusted me to my mother's breast.
 To you I was committed from my birth,
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Do not leave me alone in my distress;
Come close, there is none else to help.

 Many bulls have surrounded me,
fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.
 Against me they open wide their jaws,
like lions, rending and roaring.

Like water I am poured out,
disjointed are all my bones.
My heart has become like wax,
it is melted within my breast.

Parched as burnt clay is my throat,
my tongue cleaves to my jaws.

Many dogs have surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet
and lay me in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones.
These people stare at me and gloat;
 they divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.

 O Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!
Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of these dogs.
 Save my life from the jaws of these lions,
my poor soul from the horns of these oxen.

 I will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.
"You who fear the Lord give him praise;
all sons of Jacob, give him glory.
Revere him, Israel's sons.

 For he has never despised
nor scorned the poverty of the poor.
From him he has not hidden his face,
but he heard the poor man when he cried."

 You are my praise in the great assembly.
My vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!

 All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,
all families of the nations worship before him;
for the kingdom is the Lord's, he is ruler of the nations.
They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.

And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
 declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:
"These things the Lord has done."

I am so enjoying studying the psalms daily.  I feel like I have just touched the tip of the iceberg for I have so much to learn, but it gives me peace. And something to look forward to!

And now, I must start my day.

Happy Saturday!

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