Birds in Scripture

My soul longed, even yearned
For the courts of Yahweh.
My mind* and my flesh
Cry out to the Living God.
Even the songbird** has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself
Where she may lay her young---
Your altars, Oh Yahweh of Armies,
My King and my God! (Psalm 84:2-3)

(Yahweh says)
"I know every bird in the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the forest are Mine." (Ps. 50:11)

In Yahweh have I trusted:
How do you [plural: "y'all"] say to my soul,
"Flee as a bird to your [plural] mountain"?? (Ps. 11:1)

(O, Yahweh),
Keep me as the apple of Your eye:
In the shadow of Your wings hide me. (Ps. 17:8)

"As birds flying around,
Thus will Yahweh of Armies protect Jerusalem.
Defending, he will deliver.
He will 'pass over' and protect." (Isaiah 31:5)

Mighty Yahweh,
You have made yourself known in your Son, Jesus.
Through His crucifixion,
You have established for us a "New Passover"
Where You "pass over" the wrongs we do
And the failures to do right.

As Jesus said, make us to trust
The way the ravens do
"Which niether sow (grain) nor reap
Nor gather (food) into barns"
And are yet fed by our Heavenly Father.
(Matthew 6:25-27 & Luke 12:22-24)

We are worth so much more to You
And, yet, we fill up our lives
With things that are worthless.
Forgive us, love us, and keep working in us
To give us the simple trust of your little birds.

Detail from a tablecloth sold by Vermont Country Store

[original Bible translations & explanatory verses]

*Literally "heart", which ancient Hebrews considered the seat of the intellect.
**"Sparrow" in some translations

Wildernesses [for Lent/Advent]

A message envelopes me, 

Permeating my whole person: 

The disembodied preaching, 

The tones of a tameless, timeless wind, 

Surge deep into my searching soul, 

As if, "A voice of one crying: 

'In the wilderness clear out the way of Yahweh; 

Make straight in the desert-plain 

A highway for our God.'" (Isaiah 40:3)* 

Ridge follows ridge into the horizon, 

Their shadows and mountain hues 

Growing hazy, at last to melt at the world's watery edge.

Ages old, yet seeming no older than I: 

Wind-whipped, scarred and, yet, still enduring. 

Forlorn, wild, untouchable seems this place... 

The lonely sadness of a lingering coyote howl 

Harmonizes the wind's haunting melody, 

Eerie to all but those who know and love such music, 

Whose very life and sustenance are this desert: 

Ground squirrels and kangaroo rats, 

Cacti and sagebrush, 

Rattlers, gnarly reptiles and other desert-dwellers 

Make peace with this wilderness, 

Surviving and thriving. 

In such a place settled Abraham, 

Blessed by Yahweh, prospering as a tent-dweller. 

Through such barrenness 

Moses led the multitudes of Israel. 

Elijah first retreated to the desert 

To find relief from wickedness. 

Christ came to the wastelands 

To fast His forty days; 

Here to be tempted, here to triumph; 

Here to prepare His soul 

For the rugged ministry ahead. 

And, so, a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12-13) 

Whispers softly inside me: 

" 'In the wilderness clear out the way of Yahweh; 

Make straight in the desert-plain 

A highway for our God.'"* 

---C. Marie Byars, November 1986 Ft. Irwin, CA

*original re-translations from the Hebrew Bible; somewhat more literal and, hopefully, more in line with poetic work