You have put more joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, Lord,

make me live in safety

Psalm 4: 7-8

It's labeled as a Night Prayer. It's hard to imagine what night would be in David's time. No traffic humming on the highway, no electric lights shining through the windows, no steady glow of the alarm clock counting the hours 'til morning.

OK, so far it sounds wonderful. Imagine the incredible glory of the stars alone, shining without the constant dimming of the city lights.

But there's another side too. There was no quick flipping of a switch to identify the strange noise in the night, no reaching for the phone to call for help, no dashing to the car to quickly leave an environment suddenly unsafe.

Did David ever stop having enemies? Could he ever feel really secure?

And yet he did.

Filled with the joy of the Lord, that went far beyond grains and wine, he rested in the hands of God and slept in peace.

...his delight is in the Lord's instruction,

and he meditates on it day and night.

He is like a tree planted beside streams of water

that bears its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither

Psalm 1:2-3

The daily news scrolls along top of my screen as I read these verses. Teenagers with drugs, fights recorded on websites, violence and destruction across the country.

Where is our stream? What are we taking for nourishment?

The fruit is borne of the tree steeped in the fresh, flowing water. Water that soaks the banks and deposits life-giving minerals. Even in the winter, when the tree looks dead and helpless, it stores the life in it's core that will burst forth in brilliant color with the first warm touch of spring.

Where is my stream?

Am I resting in the mockers, the advise of the angry, the voices of revenge;

or am I soaking myself in the instruction of the Lord to produce His fruit in season?

The Levites:

Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel,

Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah

he and his relatives -

were in charge of the praise songs.

Nehemiah 12:8

Music was the backdrop of my life for as long as I can remember. Records on the stereo, singing in the kitchen, someone's stumbling practice on piano, saxaphone, or violin. When my children were small, it was the boom box perched on the top of the refrigerator, the brand new Christian radio station the constant joy of our days.

The stations changed, favorite tapes were discovered, then slowly gave way to CDs, but always the music was there. Then somewhere, in the midst of one more move, after school sports, the meetings and appointments of high school, it faded away. There was always still something on in the car, but I just never turned it on in the house anymore. Sometimes the kid's music would blast through the walls. Sometimes, I even liked it. But usually, even they listened primarily through individual earbuds.

And then they left. My house descended into silence.

I love that in the midst of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, repopulating the city, and recommitting their nation to God, they took time to set a group of men in charge of the praise songs.

It's time to bring back the music.

Today when you hear his voice,

don't harden your hearts.

Hebrews 3:7-8

Hebrews 3:15

Hebrews 4:7

Three times in twenty verses. Three promises I'll hear his voice. Three instructions to listen, to accept, to respond. Three reminders that I probably wasn't paying attention the first time anyway.

There are startling similarities to an eighth grade class. I walk around the room as my students work. "Read the instructions," I tell them. "Be sure you're modeling your answers." "I see lots of answers but not many models." Then, as I collect the papers, I hear, "Oh, were we supposed to draw models?"

I did manage to refrain from running screaming down the hall, but after all, it was only second hour. This scene would be repeated every forty-five minutes for the rest of the day.

So what do I tell my students? Desks cleared, sit up straight, eyes on the teacher. Take notes, ask questions, try every problem.

How much better would I listen, how much more would I hear if I cleared off all distractions, sat up straight with my eyes on God, and tackled every challenge?

You will be ever hearing but never understanding,

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Matthew 13: 14-15a

It's progress report day. The first tangible evidence of the new year's efforts, anticipated and feared, the promise of a new beginning and the hope of change. The very air feels frozen with tension as I begin to lay out the pages near hands suddenly uninterested in the day's notebook quiz.

The are muffled giggles of delight and gasps of horror. There are frantically raised hands and rustling papers determined to prove that every assignment had been completed after all.

The most desparate, the most shocked, are those students who certain they already know all I have to teach. The question comes daily, from one student or another, the words slightly different, yet so much the same. "We learned this last year." "Why do we have to do this again." I don't do it like that, can't I do it my way?" Ears stopped, eyes closed, beyond learning because they all ready know it all. Sometimes that first report is shock enough to bring a child back to focus, sometimes nothing ever is.

How often am I that stubborn child? Closed to God's leading, sure I know the way, appearing to listen, but silently charting my own divergent path? Open eyes, soft heart, and ever listening ears, the only hope to live the truth.

Wisdom has built her house;

she has hewn out its seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

Proverbs 9:1-2

The woman Folly is loud;

she is undisciplined and without knowledge.

Proverbs 9:13

Wisdom and Folly side by side, calling from the hills, promising gifts to all who respond.

There's effort in wisdom; hewn pillars, prepared meats and wine, a table set and ready. Focus and learning, with the hope of understanding, inspire the wise to greater heights.

Loud is easier. Attention without effort, words without thought. It captures the mob and flames their passions, increasing the roar of uninformed voices insisting they alone are right.

It's time to hew pillars, to stop, to study, to think; to find and honor wisdom before bursting into undisciplined action.

I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;

I possess knowledge and discretion.

Proverbs 8:12

Knowledge with discretion. We're packed with knowledge. At a click of the mouse, the awe of a newly discovered comet battles for attention with the best country artist of the last twenty five years. Tar balls travel to the Florida coast, and elections results are predicted before they close the polls. And that's just today. The knowledge pounds from internet screens, radio announcers, constantly scrolling bars across ever present televisions. Does it make us any smarter, any better, any more compassionate, or effective?

I'm not sure there's a lot of discretion to go with that knowledge. Does everything anyone knows really need to be announced to the world? Is everyone's opinion on every comment box adding value to important discussions?

Where do we gain the wisdom? The marriage of knowledge and discretion that lifts the dialogue from gossip to enlightenment, from anger and destruction to the construction of solutions.

There's no easy button, no website of answers, just deep thought, study, and prayer to seek the wisdom of God.