Guidance System

'ach pa' lIj ghop DichDaq Dev jIH, je lIj nIH ghop DichDaq 'uch jIH.

Even there your hand will lead me, And your right hand will hold me. Psalms 139:10

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Missiles, rockets, and spacecraft come in endless varieties. Different missions, different propulsion systems, and different fuels (some don't even HAVE fuel). Some only travel the airless regions of space, others are aerodynamic and need to contend with atmospheric travel. Some carry passengers, other are completly automated.

BUT, one thing they all do have in common is: a guidance system. Whether a pilot, a computer, or even simple fins on a primitive missile - in order to reach their destination, they all need guidance.

AND, so do we.

In marvelling at God's presence, this psalmist asserts that he cannot escape from God's presence. No matter how far he goes:

'ach pa' lIj ghop DichDaq Dev jIH, je lIj nIH ghop DichDaq 'uch jIH.

Even there your hand will lead me, And your right hand will hold me. Psalms 139:10

The guidance in this psalm is God's leadership, his drawing us forward through life. In the KLV I've used Dev, the Klingon word for "to lead." I used a form of that verb in the KLV of Psalm 23, DevwI' for "shepherd" (to lead, Dev, plus the suffix -wI', indicating something which leads). The Hebrew word in this psalm for "lead" is nachah. A primitive root meaning to guide, it appears almost 40 times in the Bible. (And it also appears in Psalm 23, "he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.")

Now, sometimes our problem is not LACKING guidance - but having too much. Radio, TV, Internet, bringing us news, entertainment and more can batter my spirit with "look here," "see this," and "what's that?" It goes on and on till I don't know what I think or believe. The great thing is, while we can NEVER escape God, we CAN turn off the media, we can set aside this confusing chaos of "leaders."

Recently I read a touching book "I'm Proud of You" about one man's friendship with the late Fred Rogers. It's a wonderful book - and one thing that struck me was - what a man of prayer Mr. Rogers was. Every day he took significant time - out of a very busy life - to pray for many people. That need for prayer and time alone with God was crucial in his life.

It spurred me to make new effort to try to carve out a space at the beginning of each day, a time to listen to the Word, and note prayer concerns on an index card I carry with me through the day. The best thing is that when we retreat from the chaos and establish a little quiet time with prayer and the Bible, we can advance, renewed and rejoice with the psalmist:

'ach pa' lIj ghop DichDaq Dev jIH, je lIj nIH ghop DichDaq 'uch jIH.

Even there your hand will lead me, And your right hand will hold me. Psalms 139:10