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Hi everyone! I trust you’re having a good week. It’s certainly been a beautiful week! I hear that there may be some rain coming on the weekend (and pray that there will be good showers where the fires are burning), but I’m certainly enjoying the sunshine and pleasant temps while we have them. May you find ways to make the most of these lovely summer days, too.

All in all, it’s been a quiet week here at the church. I guess that comes with the territory in summer. There’s still plenty to do, and individuals and groups continue to come and go as always. But people are away, some programs are taking a bit of a rest, and I think we all feel somewhat relaxed even when we’re busily working on the ever-present projects that go across our desks. I’ve even been wearing shorts and sandals on some days—which is partly a response to a warm office building, but also probably a sign that things are quiet and we’re in summer mode.

There have been a few adventures—though the main one is affecting other team members more than me. Apparently some of our computer/internet systems have decided to take a summer vacation. If you tried logging into our livestream this past Sunday morning, or you went looking for the usual YouTube recording of our service, you’ll already know this, because the system shut down and didn’t allow us to broadcast or record this week. The team is working hard to get things back up and running again. But as you can imagine, it’s a little more difficult than usual to get tech support online these days, as our service providers are also in summer mode.

If you happen to think of it, by all means pray for us that the team will find solutions and that all our systems will be back up and running at full steam for this next weekend. For some of our members who are traveling or who are currently unable to join us physically, the online versions of our worship times are an important ministry. So these issues have spiritual implications as well as pragmatic ones. We’ll keep doing our best to find solutions, but we recognize that even with these practical things we are in need of God’s guidance and help.  Thanks for praying!

Your prayers are welcome as WVBC makes preparations for the fall, as well. (I know, I know, many of us would rather not be reminded that fall is just around the corner. But there is prep to be done, even as we continue enjoying August.)  We’ll be starting into a new teaching series. There are always some new initiatives in the works, and most of our regular ministries will be thinking about fresh ways to do our business, even when it’s more or less the same business as we’ve been doing all along. Lots of our members will be gearing up for new seasons of work, school, etc., too.  So we all need wisdom, energy, and a clear sense of our Lord’s leading as September inches closer.

This all reminds me of several lines in this week’s psalm. They read like this:  I will praise the Lord, who counsels me … I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken (Psalm 16:7-8). It’s good to know that God really does lead. May we all have grace to keep our eyes on Him and our hands firmly planted in His.

As this suggests, we’re going to turn to Psalm 16 this coming Sunday. It’s a bit longer than Psalm 15, but still an easy read with 11 verses. By all means have a look at it between now and Sunday. 

It’s introduced as A miktam of David.

Nobody really knows what “miktam” means anymore. Some people think it had to do with the musical style, now long-lost. The root word relates to “gold,” but that doesn’t really explain things. There might be a link to the idea of inscription, but that doesn’t help either. There are 5 other psalms that have this term in the intro: Psalm 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60. But it’s hard to see what they all have in common. So I’m not going to make any big points about it being a “miktam.”

Many psalms have “David” in the title. David wrote a lot of songs, and I think that in many cases this means he was the author. There may also be some places where “of David” means someone wrote the song in David’s honor or with him in mind, so we can’t be certain in every instance. But I’m going to assume David wrote Psalm 16 (as Acts does—see Acts 2:25 and 13:36). If you’re reading Psalm 16 this week, you might find it helpful to imagine David singing these words. It’s worth asking whether the things we know about David help us to appreciate the psalm even more.

Well, that’s about enough for this week. Have a wonderful week, and I look forward to seeing you soon. Richest blessings in the meantime!

—Pastor Ken