Email sent 1/8/21 preparing for Psalms Group on Sunday, 1/10/21
Dear Psalms friends,
Last week we reflected on Psalms 1 and 2, the entrance psalms into the “literary sanctuary” of the Psalms, introducing the main themes of the Psalms: surrendering to God’s working in our lives, both through his teaching and instruction (Torah) and through Torah’s fulfillment in his Anointed One, the Messiah, our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate Davidic King.
On the Day of the Feast of Epiphany, January 6, Psalm 72 was among the Psalms we read in the Daily Office. Psalm 72 would also have been the psalm used in any communal worship on that feast day. That royal, Messianic psalm “provokes us to long for a better king than the best government has ever provided.” (Keller, Songs of Jesus, p, 163) Please review Psalm 72 in pp. 163-165 of the Kellers’ Songs of Jesus. So how does waiting and preparing for the ultimate rule of a king like that impact us now, in the season of Epiphany, the unveiling and manifestation of the Incarnate Christ to all people (the nations, not just the chosen nation of Israel)?
Back in 2015, I went on an Epiphany pilgrimage to England with a church history study group and we celebrated Epiphany in Norwich Cathedral, moving to 3 different locations in the cathedral to reflect on the coming of the wise men, the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, and Jesus’s “water to wine” miracle at a wedding in Cana.
God the Father was revealing the Son to the world in these events that inaugurated the early life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Some folks probably saw or heard eyewitness reports of these events and went on with life as usual, not stopping to attend to and reflect deeply on what happened. Like his mother Mary, we have the opportunity to treasure up these things and ponder them deeply in our hearts. We also have the opportunity and responsibility to wake up to our Triune God’s presence in our daily lives. Let’s ask God for grace to notice and attend to God’s presence, his “manifestations,” as we journey through these days of Epiphany. Here’s an updated handout on Epiphany 2021.
Our focus this Sunday will be the 2 liturgical psalms found in Book I of the Psalms, Psalms 15 and 24. As Anglican Christians, we can identify with Israel’s seriousness about worship. Perhaps like King David, his choral director Asaph, and Israel’s faithful remnant, we too long to worship God authentically and wholehearted, not in mindless, distracted, monotonous ritual and repetition. Jeremiah’s words in Jeremiah 7:3-4 jar us awake: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple the LORD.”
Tomorrow I’ll be sending you a lesson on being present to God based on Psalm 15 and Psalm 24:1-6, pp. 21 and 42 in The Songs of Jesus.
Awakening in Christ,
Toni