For some reason Psalm chapter 16 caught my attention last night (Thursday). I found the verses really quite lovely and they reminded me of my dad who passed away nearly eight months ago. Though he loved life and wanted to get better instead of die I am quite certain that these were his thoughts on his deathbed. I wanted to create a graphic for these verses, the whole chapter did not really fit on the recent photo I took that seemed well suited for this. I decided that verse 6 was a good starting point as I was focusing on the word “content” and am fittingly titling this image and post Contentment. The entire chapter is quoted below as found in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
Book of Psalms —
16 Protect me, O God, for I have taken refuge in you.
2 I have said to Jehovah: “You are Jehovah, my Source of goodness.
3 And the holy ones in the earth,
The majestic ones, bring me great delight.”
4 Those who pursue other gods multiply their sorrows.
I will never pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will my lips mention their names.
5 Jehovah is my portion, my allotted share, and my cup.
You safeguard my inheritance.
6 Pleasant places have been measured out to me.
Yes, I am content with my inheritance.
7 I will praise Jehovah, who has given me advice.
Even during the night, my innermost thoughts correct me.
8 I keep Jehovah before me constantly.
Because he is at my right hand, I will never be shaken.
9 So my heart rejoices, my whole being is joyful.
And I reside in security.
10 For you will not leave me in the Grave.
You will not allow your loyal one to see the pit.
11 You make known to me the path of life.
In your presence is abundant joy;
There is happiness at your right hand forever.
You can listen to these verses being read to you here.
About the photo, I had just gotten home from grocery shopping, unlocked the door and went in the house to put down what was in my hands. As I stepped back out to get another load I heard a bird calling me. I turned to looked and saw a female cardinal sitting near the top of the tree behind the deck. I went back in the house to get my camera and was surprised that the friendly bird waited for me to capture a photo. Cardinals are among my top favorite species of birds and the one variety that I think both the males and females are equally lovely though very different.
As usual I only add text and/or borders to my photos and do not apply any filters, occasionally change them to black and white or sepia tone. It was an overcast day so the photo is a bit darker and gray. I kind of like the subtle bit of blue breaking through all the clouds and colored the text to match that. I choose a Serif font, the ticks are toned down but kind of old school and similar to the Roman type fonts found in my dad’s Bibles printed many years ago.