Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today’s readings include a portion of the longest psalm of them all: Psalm 119, the ‘Yodh’ section, verses 73-80. This portion of Psalm 119 provides an intimate view of the orientation to God that is possible for us, if we will be open to him.

In a time when the prevailing culture describes human beings as “star stuff,” and the surprising result of natural, mechanistic processes, Scripture such as this remind us that we are much more than this. We are creatures, fashioned through God’s love.

This is not to reduce the discussion to the terms of a debate about Creation vs. Evolution, but rather to see ourselves as the result of God’s loving telos and sustaining activity, as individuals made in the image of God. As Saint Paul said, we “live and move and have our being” in God, or as the Greek philosophers said “For we are his offspring” (Acts 17:28).

According to the Psalmist, this reality causes a person to desire God, to be pulled back toward him. It is the basis for the request to understand God’s commandments.

A particularly beautiful choral setting of this Yodh section is that of Robert White (c. 1538-1574), a contemporary of Thomas Tallis, a musician associated with Ely and Chester Cathedrals, and later with Westminster Abbey.

Manus tuae fecerunt me, Robert White

Yours in Christ,

—Justin