Email preparing for Psalms Group on November 15, 2020
Dear Psalms friends,
Both the Old and New Testaments call on people living by faith in God to make “sacrifices of praise” to him. Individual songs of thanksgiving in the Psalms provide us a template for how to do this. In our recent lectionary readings,, Psalms 18 and 21 are royal thanksgiving (given by or for the king), and Psalms 30, 32, 34 and 40:1-10 are individual songs of thanksgiving. Some theologians call these songs of thanksgiving “songs of declarative praise.” In our Psalm group, we have reflected recently in lessons on Psalm 30 (7-12-20) and Psalm 40 (9-20-20) on this temple practice of giving public thanks and the deep commitment it requires and evokes. Doug’s hard work makes it possible for you to access those previous lessons on our website!
Because we are reading Luke 1 and 2 right now in the Daily Office lectionary, let’s connect what we are learning about the songs of thanksgiving in the Psalter with the thanks and praise that Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon offer in Luke’s gospel. (The Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, the Benedictus in Luke 1:68-75 and Simeon’s Song in Luke 2:29-32)
I invite you to compare the individual songs of thanksgiving in Book I of the Psalms with those 3 famous canticles of Luke 1-2.
- How does your reading and praying the Psalms impact your understanding of Luke 1 and 2 and of the faithful people who surrounded Jesus’ birth?
- How does that understanding impact your faith, your service?
Tomorrow I’ll e-mail you on lesson on Psalm 34, a song of thanksgiving that follows an imperfect acrostic pattern and has a wisdom section (vv. 11-14) imbedded in the thanksgiving. What parts of Psalm 34 remind you of the canticles in Luke 1-2?
See you Sunday morning at 9 am!
Blessings,
Toni