March 7: An Appeal for Guidance and Deliverance
♫ Music:
Day 6 - Monday, March 7
Title: AN APPEAL FOR GUIDANCE AND DELIVERANCE
Scripture: Psalm 143
Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no one living is righteous.
For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has made me dwell in darkness,
Like those who have long been dead.
Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is distressed.
I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah
Answer me speedily, O Lord;
My spirit fails!
Do not hide Your face from me,
Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies;
In You I take shelter.
Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Revive me, O Lord, for Your name’s sake!
For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
In Your mercy cut off my enemies,
And destroy all those who afflict my soul;
For I am Your servant.
Poetry:
Miracles
by Richard Jones
I need to witness miracles today—
a river turned to blood,
water become wine,
a burning coal touching the prophet’s lips,
black ravens swooping down
to bring a starving man bread and meat,
a poor fisherman raising the dead!
I’ve heard theologians say
this is not the age of miracles,
but still, I’m easy to impress.
I don’t need to climb out of the boat
and walk on water; I’d just like
to put my head on the pillow
while the storm still rages, and rest.
AN APPEAL FOR GUIDANCE AND DELIVERANCE
As an assemblage artist I’m continually thinking about riveting visual images that have the potential to leave a memorable impression on those who view my work. For today’s art piece, Of Strongholds, I drew inspiration from C.S. Lewis’ evocative tale, The Great Divorce, a story that takes readers on a fantastical bus ride from hell to heaven. Along the way, the narrator encounters a series of fellow ghosts with a variety of problems. One ghost in particular garnered my attention because a nasty lizard of lust seemed permanently attached to his body. When I happened upon a taxidermied lizard at a flea market, I knew I was ready to construct the piece of art you are looking at now.
Two figures with “creatures” on their backs huddle motionless in a vast wilderness of weather. One holds a useless umbrella as they wait in silence. I refer to my artistic process as an open-ended narrative, that is, the viewer must participate by bringing his/her own storied meaning to my art for it to be its most potent. I often ask viewers, “What do you notice or what do you think is going on?” Are these hapless men in their overwhelming suffering about to be taken out by the enemy, or are they in a state of perpetual limbo, or is God about to intervene in their lives?
The embattled psalmist of Psalm 143 desperately cries out to God in the midst of profound torment and affliction. “For the enemy has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those who have long been dead. My heart within me is distressed. My spirit fails!” The gravity and intensity of Penderecki’s musical setting lends a visceral charge to the psalmist’s urgent prayer. How many among us have uttered similar prayers, unable to escape the dark bondage of clinging sins and unrelenting addictions that nag at our souls and bring us down into the pit? Every sin we commit is a personal betrayal of Christ, and but for God’s grace we would betray Him constantly. Often our sins are the result of carelessness on our part. We find ourselves trapped in dank mine shafts hardly able to breathe—prisoners of our own faulty thinking and emotional baggage. In the pit we imagine that God has given up on us, that we are hopelessly beyond repair. But in the midst of absolute heartache David acknowledged that God was there, actively listening to his petitions, lavishing unconditional love as Christ sympathized with David’s weaknesses.
The psalmist acknowledges that there’s no place to turn for help but to the Lord. Christ is our shelter in the time of storm, our safe refuge. He’s always faithful even though it sometimes doesn’t feel like it. In the heat of his trials David was able to get beyond self-pity and recount how God had intervened for him in the past. When we let pain and darkness envelope us—humble, profound thanksgiving is frequently the key to restoration. In meditating on what God has already done and what He might want to accomplish in us during difficult experiences, through the power of the Holy Spirit we may be able to rise above lingering burdens. The Holy Spirit was given to make us holy. So as Christians our sin should drive us to Christ and toward repentance.
“Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.” Reverend Patrick Reardon writes, “The governance of the Holy Spirit is developed in a context of struggle, of resistance to temptation. Being led by the Spirit of God is not an easy thing, for there are spiritual enemies at work to subvert our efforts. Psalm 143 speaks of conflict with enemies of the soul. Such is the daily struggle and suffering with which Psalm 143 is concerned.” We will never be free from temptation and sin in this life. How weak we are and how deadly sin is. Yet our demons, burdens, anxieties and flaws—these “enemies of the soul” keep us constantly mindful of a desperate need for Christ’s perpetual benediction in our lives. “What exactly do you do at that monastery of yours?” a monk was once asked. His response, “We fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up again.” Walking in uprightness is a constant choice, repentance is a lifelong process.
The psalmist, like today’s poet, desires to “witness miracles.” He spreads his outstretched, imperfect hands in cruciform up to God, beseeching the Creator to revive his soul and guide him in paths of righteousness. A wise Christian friend once suggested that there must be a little hope in the work of Christian artists. The two figures in Of Strongholds are standing in what appears to be the beginnings of a blizzard. To me, the falling precipitation indicates that God is at work, sending snow to wash and cleanse, purify and heal. In The Great Divorce a ministering angel asks the lizard ridden ghost if he would like the pernicious reptile removed from his back. After some hesitancy the ghost finally consents and “Next moment the Ghost gave a scream of agony such as I never heard on Earth. The Burning One closed his crimson grip on the reptile: twisted it, while it bit and writhed, and then flung it, broken backed, on the turf.” Parting with our sins can be a painful process—one never accomplished without God’s miraculous grace and intervening Spirit.
So very much of this life is an unsolvable puzzle. We are complex beings with diverse personalities, a stockpile of past experiences, unique family histories, cultural conditionings, and patterns of thinking and interacting that collectively affect the choices we make. We stumble. Sometimes it seems impossible to understand why things are the way they are. Yet there are bottom lines—questions we can ask ourselves that clear the thick layers of fog that surround us. Do I hate the sin in my life? When I fall into sin am I contrite and repentant? Do I want to change? Can I sense that God is at work transforming me? Do I more than anything else want my life to be pleasing to Him? Can I say with the psalmist, “In You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You?”
Prayer
O immortal King, the Bestower of great gifts, O generous Lord and Lover of man, Be merciful to me, a sinner who is devoid of any good deeds. Raise up my fallen soul, defied by immeasurable sins, and remove from me every evil intention of this visible life. Thou who alone art without sin, forgive me all of the sins I have committed against thee this day, in knowledge or in ignorance; in word, deed, or thought; and through any of my senses. By thine divine authority, by thine inexpressible love for mankind, and by thy power, do thou cover me and protect me from every assault of the enemy. Cleanse, O God, cleanse the multitude of my sins. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me from the snares of the evil one and save my passionate soul, and when thou comest in glory, do thou overshadow me with the light of thy countenance.
Amen.
—Macarius of Egypt (300-391)
Barry Krammes
Professor Emeritus, Art Department
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Of Strongholds from The Morality Theatre Project
Barry Krammes
2019
56" x 28" x 10"
Assemblage sculpture of found wood, figures, and objects
Of Strongholds is an assemblage piece by artist Barry Krammes from his The Morality Theatre Project series, which presents the culmination of a studio project spanning seventeen years. This sustained investigation takes its form as a series of assemblage sculptures depicting narrative scenes––reminiscent of miniature theatre sets. The objects and figures that populate these scenes have been gathered from flea markets and dumpsters, estate sales, and antique shops; they have been found, bought, made, and gifted. Each piece has been selected and prepared by the artist for its new role, but each still bears the marks of its unique history. The densely packed works are loaded with visual and historical associations that activate the imagination. Referencing medieval miracles and morality drama steeped in allegory, Krammes opens the doors to a "Theatre of Struggle" filled with wonders and nightmares. In this layered world of ambiguity and mystery, viewers must grapple with open-ended narratives that ask difficult questions. A palpable spirit of longing permeates Krammes' work as he invites participants to ponder the things that matter most.
About the Artist/Devotional Writer:
Barry Krammes
Professor Emeritus, Art Department
Biola University
Artist and educator Barry Krammes (b. 1951) received his B.F.A. in printmaking and drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and his M.F.A. in two-dimensional studies from University of Wisconsin, Madison. For thirty-five years, he was employed at Biola University in La Mirada, California, where he was the art chair for fifteen years. Krammes is an assemblage artist whose work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions, regionally and nationally. His work can be found in various private collections throughout the United States and Canada. He has taught assemblage seminars at Image Journal’s annual Glen Summer Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Krammes has served as the visual arts coordinator for the C. S. Lewis Summer Institute in Cambridge, England, and has been the program coordinator for both Biola University’s annual arts symposium and the Center for Christianity Culture and the Arts (CCCA) for several years. He has also been the editor of CIVA: Seen Journal for Christians in the Visual Arts, a national arts organization. For the last five years of his time at Biola, he was the planning coordinator for the CCCA. Krammes was the originator of the Advent and Lent Projects for Biola University.
https://www.barrykrammes.com/
About the Music:
“Psalms Of David: Psalm CXLIII“ from the album Penderecki Plays Penderecki, Volume I
Right from the beginning of his career as a composer, Krzysztof Penderecki incorporated Jewish themes and motifs into his work. One of his earliest pieces is 1958’s “David’s Psalms,” based on texts by the great sixteenth-century Polish Renaissance poet Jan Kochanowski. Penderecki took his text for his work from a small part of Kochanowski's poem on Psalm 143.
https://literat.ug.edu.pl/jkpsalm/index.htm
Lyrics: (English)
Hear, Eternal God, my prayers
And incline your holy ears to me;
According to its truth, according to its pity
Save me in my trouble.
Do not be with me, merciful God,
To walk around with the law; no man alive
It is not so holy to be at your judgment
It was not supposed to be exposed to any harlotry.
Behold, the evil man afflicts my soul,
And I have to live in blind caves
Knowing no light, even to the dead,
Under the blind ground to be put.
In such worries and in such timelessness
I was thinking about the past;
What miracles you did, what you did,
That you may keep your faith.
This is the consolation of my cares and sighs;
I am waiting for the enterprise of your love;
A troubled soul waits,
Scorched earth waits as rain.
Answer me in time, save me in time, Lord,
I am already barely strong and will get souls;
Where thou see me, I am long in the earth
And let me be counted among the dead.
Hope in you, my thoughts in you
Everything is in place, and you have your mercy
The symptom 'above me and show me the way,
On which I can be safe when walking.
He will deliver me from the hand of fierce enemies,
Defender of the sad and the fortress of the poor!
Teach me to live in your holy law,
For you yourself are my God.
Let your true spirit work me,
And he shows you a straight path.
For your fame, solve my difficulties
And use your usual pity on me.
Take care of my sad soul,
Cruel thought is cruel to enemy;
Destroy them on the ground in your fierce anger
And remember, Lord, that I am Your servant.
About the Performers:
The Warsaw Philharmonic and Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki
The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw, Poland. Founded in 1901 during World War II, its building was destroyed by German air raids and almost half of the orchestra members lost their lives. The reconstruction of the building was completed in 1955. Currently, the National Philharmonic has one hundred twelve outstanding instrumentalists and one hundred choir artists. They are regularly invited to the most famous music centers in the world, such as Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Royal Festival Hall, Suntory Hall, La Scala, La Fenice, and Musikverein. The orchestra has performed in the series The Great Orchestras of the World in London and participated in renowned music festivals, including the Athens Festival, the Bergen International Festival, the Berliner Festwochen, the Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern, the Festival Montreux, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Interlaken Festival, and the Festival Due Mondi in Spoleto. The National Philharmonic organizes many symphonic concerts, recitals and chamber evenings in each season, performed by the most outstanding Polish musicians, as well as artists from almost all over the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_National_Philharmonic_Orchestra
http://filharmonia.pl/en/
http://filharmonia.pl/o-nas/historia
About the Composer:
Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (1933–2020) was widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the last half of the twentieth century. Movie directors who have used selections from Penderecki’s classical songbook include Stanley Kubrick (The Shining; 2001: A Space Odyssey), William Friedkin (The Exorcist), and David Lynch (Inland Empire, Wild at Heart, TV’s Twin Peaks). A vast portion of Penderecki’s work has addressed Christian themes and over the course of his career, he wrote pieces that were overtly Jewish both thematically and musically. Penderecki’s early work, in pieces like Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima and The Passion According to St. Luke, were solidly avant-garde and atonal. Over time, his music grew more melodic, although it was never wholly conventional. It was always colored by his wide-ranging palette of sounds, included extreme dynamics from a whisper to a scream, and pulsed to an inner rhythm that seemingly defied any measure of time. By the mid-1970s, however, he was considered a neo-Romantic composer, an heir to the geniuses of the late nineteenth century, including Mahler, Brahms, Beethoven, and Wagner, rather than an acolyte of his earlier influences, including John Cage as well as Webern, Boulez, Stravinsky, and Stockhausen. Penderecki also addressed the Holocaust when he composed Dies Irae (also known as the Auschwitz Oratorio) in homage to the Holocaust’s victims. This work took its place as part of his monumental Polish Requiem. It was first performed on the grounds of Auschwitz in 1967. Rock fans know Penderecki from his work with Radiohead composer/guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who was always a huge fan. In 2012, Penderecki recorded an album with Greenwood.
https://forward.com/culture/442806/kaddish-for-krzysztof-penderecki-a-christian-composer-with-a-jewish-soul/
About the Poet:
Richard Jones (b. 1953) is an American poet. Born in London, England, he received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.F.A. from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He is the author of eleven books of poetry, most recently The Minor Key (2021), as well as a number of limited edition volumes. His first book, Country of Air, won the Posner Award in 1986. The Blessing: New and Selected Poems, a selection of poems from six of his books, received the Midland Authors Award for Poetry for 2000. He is also the editor of the critical anthology Poetry and Politics (1985). In 2000, he published a CD, Body and Soul, in which he discusses the art of poetry. In 2011, he published Thunder on the Mountain, a nonfiction book that explores the relationship between poetry and painting. He is editor of the literary journal Poetry East and its many anthologies, including The Last Believer in Words and Bliss. He is currently professor of English at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where he has taught since 1987. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jones_(poet)
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/richard-jones