John Koza

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of the readings for today is Psalm 19: 7-14. A beautiful psalm. A lovely prayer. And I think that the ending, verse 14, is just about perfect. It reads: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (NRSV). Perfect in its simplicity. Perfect in its intention. Quite easily memorized, as well.

I have a fondness for this verse, because many years ago a colleague asked me to sing in a quartet for the Jewish high holy days at the synagogue in Carmel Valley, California. I very well might have been the only gentile in the temple. (Oy vey!)

For the setting of this verse, a duet had been selected for tenor and baritone. I sang the tenor, my friend Nathan sang the baritone. The music was so lovely.

We first sang it in Hebrew, “Yih’yu l’ratzon,” then sang the English. For me, it was such a moving experience that it etched those beautiful words into my memory. I encourage you to memorize this simple, beautiful sentence, and you can pray it easily and often.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heat be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

In Christ,

—John