Psalm 78, part 2 from Nan Merrill’s Psalms for Praying

Did they not know how their rebellions

separated them form the Source

of all that is?

How often the people lost faith

on the journey,

not trusting in the saving power

of the Beloved!

Even so, their complaints were answered

with compassion;

And the doors to heaven opened

raining down their sustenance,

the very grain of heaven.

They ate of the bread of the angels;

food was sent in abundance.

Thew East wind blew in the heavens;

and the South wind was

called forth;

Out of heaven’s abundance came the

winged birds,

as many as the sand of the seas;

They fell right in their midst,

all around their habitation,

And the people ate and were well filled;

all that they craved was given

to them.

Yet Justice prevailed, retribution

was made,

even as their mouths were still

filled with food.

To restore the balance, the stronger

among them died,

the strongest in their midst.

In spite of all this, the people

continued to separate themselves

from Love;

their eyes and ears are closed.

So they lived their days in fear,

and their years in terror.

When they fell, they sought the Most High;

they repented and sought help

earnestly.

They remembered then the Rock,

who was their strength,

the Almighty One, their Redeemer.

Flattery poured from their tongues.

Their hearts were not filled with love;

they were not true to the covenant.

Still the Beloved, being compassionate,

forgave their hypocrisy and

gave them new life.

How patient was the Eternal Lover,

how blind to their fickle hearts,

Knowing that they believed themselves

to be but flesh,

a wind that passes and comes

not again.

How often the people rebelled against Love

in the wilderness,

grieving the Beloved with their

Distanced