Bless my Kidneys

Jock Stein April 14, 2026 1 1

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Psalm 16 (NIV-UK)

1 Keep me safe, my God,
    for in you I take refuge.

2 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.’
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    ‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.

5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

This is one of six psalms called ‘a miktam of David’. While these psalms have a common context of distress, we don’t know what miktam means. But no shrug here! We can imagine David working through his feelings, clarifying what he believes and by the closing verses expressing confidence and joy.

Nighttime is when emotions can run riot – but notice verse 7, where a literal translation of the Hebrew is, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel, during the night my kidneys instruct me.” We talk about the heart, but in the Old Testament the kidneys (or, sometimes, the belly) are the seat of the emotions. That’s why I wrote the following poem on Psalm 16, using water-skiing as a metaphor for faith:

Bless my Kidneys

Bless my kidneys, one might say,

reading Hebrew body language

with a knowing smile: away

with careful, icy comprehension,

make for the warm choppy wake

of David, his sweet and salty passion

for a God who wants to ravish,

sandblast, sort and wrap the soul

secure within its deepest wish.

When the sea’s a trampoline,

bouncing plans, churning guts,

settle your skis, laugh, lean

back into the breeze behind,

hold God’s line, let God balance

body fluids, brace your mind.

PRAY:

Lord, help me and others for whom I pray to move from fear to faith, from wondering to worshipping. Teach me how to shorten the distance between mind and heart, to think without denying feelings, to feel without abandoning thought, to be emotionally intelligent, to have a heart full of wisdom. So shall I be glad in your risen presence, Jesus, Son of David, Lion of Judah, and my friend. Amen.