Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Just Another Ordinary Day: Eat Your Spinach

Psalm 138:3   On the day I called, you answered me;

                        my strength of soul you increased.

            Ok. I’m going to date myself again. When I was a kid, I always loved to watch Popeye, the Sailer Man. Whenever scrawny little Popeye got into a fix with Bluto the bully, or another scoundrel, he’d pull out a can of spinach, pour the whole thing down his throat, and then get some super-charged power to take out Bluto with one wallop.

             God was always there for David, and God is always there for you. Some days we need a little more spinach than other days; my strength of soul you increased. Scholars debate the Hebrew word used here for “increased,” and that’s ok. Things like this keeps them in academia.

            There’s one translation however, I like:

            You made me great;

            Into my soul came strength[1]

            When you’re having just another ordinary day—uhg!, remember that God is always with you and hears your prayers. Remember that Jesus had the worst, yet most important, “uhg!” day on the cross for you. There on the cross Jesus exchanged our “uhgs” for “wows!” When you were Baptized, God didn’t fill your hearts with spinach. He filled you with His Holy Spirit. When you receive the Lord’s Body and Blood in bread and wine, God reminds you that He is the One Who is in charge of your day, because He is the One Who gives you His might and strength to face the Blutos in life.

---

[1] Advocated by two scholars named Staerk and Kittle; Rüterswörden. Botterweck, G. Johannes, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, eds. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Revised; Accordance electronic edition, version 1.4. 15 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006^. Vol. 13.352.