In his novel The Stand, Stephen King paints a picture of an elderly Black woman living alone on a farm in Nebraska, deeply devout and chosen by God to help the survivors of a Pandemic that has wiped out 99% of the world’s population. The reader is introduced to her as she sits on her front porch eating chicken, with the grease slathering her lips and streaming down her chin, a look of utter rapture on her face, and a soul full of happiness at the bird she’s enjoying. Mother Abagail loves her some chicken.

One of the stranger memories I have of my mom is watching her eat fried chicken. After chewing the meat off the drumstick, she would break the bone and suck the marrow out of it. My brother and I never had enough guts to try it, although she told us over and over again and that was the best part of the bird. Almost nobody does that in America these days – except in some immigrant communities.

In fact, the marrow – the dark brown, spongy stuff inside the bones – is where red blood cells get manufactured. It is some of the most nutritious tissue in the animal. And though our society was on quite a low-fat kick for A few years there, we have begun to rediscover that there are many fats that are absolutely essential for the proper functioning of the human body. And it’s yummy, to boot. Everyone says I love me some bacon.

In most traditional societies, fat and marrow are counted among the richest foods available. World-class chefs also use them often in high-end recipes in the best restaurants of the world. They are rich in more than one sense. Next time you go to Popeye’s….

The fact that most of us in America have forgotten what marrow and fatness are tracks closely with the reality that we have forgotten a great deal of what matters. In particular, many of us have forgotten – or never learned – what real pleasure and satisfaction are, and where they can be found.

Listen to one ancient Hebrew poem that we have in our Bibles as the 63^rd psalm. Don’t stand yet for this. It’s not the main passage we’re feasting on today. It’s just an appetizer.

¹ O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; ² To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. ³ Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. ⁴ Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. ⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

Forgive me, if you must, that I read it from the King James Version. I had to. There’s just not enough marrow and fatness in the recent translations.

The passage we are looking at today says much about God’s offer of satisfaction and delight to his people – if we will but listen to him. And it talks about fatness, too.

This also is ancient Hebrew poetry. This was penned  by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before Jesus came.