PSALMS OF MYRRH - Spiritual Practice for Psalm #1

The Bible has sections that are different genres such as stories, songs, poems, dreams, and descriptions of conversations.  One way to gain insight into the stories is to imagine your self in the scenario.  The following guided suggestions will walk you through the anointing of Jesus in Bethany.  There are three versions of this story, which can be found in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12.

You are sitting in a dining room filled with people.  What is the appearance of the room?  What does it sound like?

A dinner has been prepared in Jesus’ honor.  What are the smells of the food preparation?

Imagine the stir as Jesus enters the room.  Where does He sit?  How do the other guests respond to Him?

Lazarus is at the table — the man raised from the dead.  What does it feel like to look at a living man whose funeral you attended? 

Martha, Lazarus’ sister, is serving the meal.  Notice the way she brings the food to the guests.  How does she carry herself?

Mary, Lazarus’ other sister, comes into the room.  She is carrying a jar of expensive perfume, worth a year’s wages.  She breaks open the jar and begins to anoint Jesus’ feet, as though she is His servant.  Spend time noticing the way she pours the fragrance on Him and the way she wipes His feet dry.  Is she crying?  What is the look on Jesus’ face at her gesture?

The house is filled with the fragrance.  Imagine the scent entering the room and how it grows as she anoints Him.  How long does the scent linger?

Some of the disciples are complaining.  Listen to their grumbling.  Imagine murmured agreement sweeping through the guests.  How does Mary feel at this moment?  How does Jesus respond to the complaints?

PSALMS OF MYRRH #1 - Anointing at Bethany

 Mary of Bethany came into

The room with the fragrance

Worth a year of wages.

She broke the box,

She poured out the oil,

She anointed Your head,

She anointed Your feet, and

She wiped them with her hair.

You said to the others,

“She has done a good work for me…

She has done what she could.”

Oh, that You would say the

Same of me.

I want to give You what only I can give.

May I be broken open and

My precious oil extravagantly

Poured out upon You.

May the fragrance rise and fill this house.

Copyright © 3/13/02 by Kendra Lane Barrow.  All rights reserved. Revised 9/13/10.

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Mark 14:6, 8 (New International Version)

 ⁶"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me… ⁸She did what she could…”

John 12:1-3, 7-8 (New Living Translation)

 ¹ Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. ² A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. ³ Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

[One of the disciples complained, saying the perfume should have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor.]  ⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 

INTRODUCTION to the PSALMS OF MYRRH

Sometimes God speaks to me through dreams.

In 2004, I had a dream that felt spiritual and significant; it seemed to symbolize events that would happen in my near future.  In the dream, I saw God put three seeds into my hand —

new seeds that He wanted to plant into the garden of my heart.  One of those seeds was suffering.

At the time, I was a bit confused.  What did the dream mean?  What kind of suffering would I face? 

Within a few months, I heard a teaching that gave me a new perspective on suffering and prepared me for the road ahead.  This pivotal teaching referred to the line in Song of Solomon 4:6 (New King James Version), “I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh.”  In this sermon’s interpretation, traveling to the mountain of myrrh is a metaphor for each person’s individual journey of life.  The mountain and the myrrh symbolize obstacles unique to each person’s path.  Overcoming these difficulties, and the process of learning and maturing from them, will be our own individual way to “share in his sufferings”, as described in Philippians 3:10 (New International Version).

God used this sermon to prepare me for an extremely difficult year that included miscarrying my first child.  I was desperate to be pregnant.   I cannot express the depth of my grief at the loss of this child.  Tears still well up at the thought of this little boy I have never held.  In all the scenarios I had envisioned in my mind regarding my dream, this was a suffering I did not expect.

Myrrh is a scent symbolic of suffering.  It was a spice commonly used for burial in New Testament times.  John 19:38-41 records it was used in Jesus’ own burial.  Myrrh’s fragrance is most released when the spice is crushed — an imagery which I used throughout this chapter in my attempts to grapple with the topics of sacrifice, suffering, loss, grief, death, burial, resurrection and redemption.

Song of Solomon 4:6 (New King James Version)

⁶ Until the day breaks
      And the shadows flee away,
      I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
      And to the hill of frankincense.