Email to Psalms Group preparing for Sunday, 3/14/21
Though not one of the traditional penitential psalms, Psalm 25 shares in their candor about sin and suffering and their gratitude for forgiveness and hope.
Category: Psalms Group
These materials were shared with the Psalms Group, a fellowship group with a special interest in learning about, reading and praying the Psalms daily.
Prepared for Psalms Group for Sunday, March 14, 2021
Psalm 25 is an alphabetic acrostic psalm that is notable for its brokenness. It is missing one Hebrew letter, repeats another Hebrew letter twice, and includes a final verse that doesn’t fit the acrostic pattern at all. “This brokenness reflects the way troubles break the pattern of life itself,” one commentator observes about Psalm 25. (Motyer, New Bible Commentary, 501)
Prepared for Psalms Group, March 21, 2021
Psalm 38 is an individual lament included as one of the 7 penitential psalms (6, 32, 51,102, 130 and 143). Its superscription states in Hebrew: “A David of psalm, to bring to mind.” This Hebrew infinitive lehazkir , “to bring to mind,” also appears in the superscription to Psalm 70, a psalm that is replicated in Psalm 40:14-18. (Alter, Psalms, 134)
Prepared for Psalms Group on April 11, 2021
Psalm 94 is located in a group of psalms called “enthronement psalms” that express strong commitment to YHWH as king. Psalms 93-100 is a psalm group that emphasizes the theme of YHWH’s kingship, his reign and his rule as the king/judge of the earth. (See 93:1, 94:1, 95:3, 96:10, 97:1, 99:1)
Prepared for Psalms Group, 4/18/21
In Book 5 of the Psalms, there are two great sequences of psalms which were sung at the three Pilgrim Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, the Egyptian Hallel (113-118), sung especially at Passover, and the Songs of Ascents (120-134). What we can see quite clearly in both series is that the hearts of the people of God were full of joy as they celebrated the redeeming love and redemptive acts of their God. The combination of words and actions served to deepen the people’s sense of thanksgiving and renewed commitment, at least for those who were spiritually sensitive.
Prepared for Psalms Group, 4/25/21
In Book 5 of Psalms, the two great sequences of psalms sung at Israel’s three Pilgrim Feasts — Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles — reveal the authentic joy of relying on the LORD in all of life’s circumstances. The Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-135) echoed on the roads to Jerusalem, in the homes of the faithful, throughout the city of Jerusalem, and in the liturgy of worship in the Temple. “Hallel,” praise the highest God, reverberated for all to hear as Psalm 117, the shortest psalm and shortest chapter in the Bible, summarizes:
Praise Yahweh, all ye nations! Laud him, all ye tribes!
For his hesed is mighty over us, and the truth of Yahweh is eternal!
Praise Yahweh!
(Psalm 117, translated by Win Groseclose in his book The Egyptian Hallel Psalms, who defines “hesed” as God’s covenant faithfulness, his faithful care for his people.)
Prepared for Psalms Group, May 2, 2021
“No escape, no regrets, no compromise.” That’s a description of Psalm 139. Filled with good theology about God’s omniscience (139:1-6), omnipresence (139:7-12), creatorship (139:13-18), and holiness (139:19-24), these four stanzas of Psalm 139 arecomplex and intimate, and theological abstractions are “far from its heart.” In fact, you can label these stanzas, “God’s complete knowledge of me (1-6),” “God with me in every place (7-12),” “God’s sovereign ownership of every part of me (13-18),” and “God’s will that I be like him (19-24).” (Motyer, New Bible Commentary, 578)
Prepared for Psalms Group, May 16, 2021
Here’s a summary of the paper I mentioned in the last e-mail. It places Psalm 23 in the grouping of Psalms 15-24.
Email preparing for Psalms Group on February 28, 2021
As several of of us are still dealing with the aftermath of last week’s winter storm, others of us are receiving our second vaccinations. Life in this strange chronos time continues, but, thankfully, so does liturgical time— kairos time, with each of our lives “hidden in Christ with God.” (Col. 3:3) Last week many of us chose an 8 line stanza from Psalm 119 for daily reflection during Lent. How has your stanza impacted your life in Christ this week? Reflect and pray about what God might want you to share about that with the rest of us.
Continuing in Book 5, the last book of Psalms, we prayed through the Songs of Ascent this week, Psalms 120-134, those triads of psalms showing people in trouble (120, 123, 126, 129), turning to YHWH in faith/trust/dependence (121,124, 127, 130) and experiencing security in their covenant God (122, 125, 128 131). The last 3 Songs of Ascent are psalms of arrival, celebrating the Davidic Covenant and Zion/Jerusalem (132), rejoicing in the unity and community of YHWH’s covenant people (133), and beginning or ending their worship together in the “house of the LORD” (134). Which of these Songs of Ascent especially awakened your mind and heart as you read, meditated, and prayed them in the first full week of Lent 2021? Also, ask God to show you what He wants you to share with the rest of us about what He showed you.
Our focus psalm this Sunday will be Psalm 130, an individual lament that is one of the seven penitential psalms, as well as one of the Songs of Ascent. Psalm 130 confronts directly the depths of chaos our own sins create in our lives; also Psalm 130 displays the mercy and unfailing love of YHWH who forgives our confessed iniquities.
Following the lectionary, you will also read Psalm 143 on Saturday night, another penitential psalm showing our dependence on God’s merciful and loving character to face our own sin. But in addition, Psalm 143 shows how other people’s sins against us (think abuse, injustice) also create chaos in our lives. In Lent, we ask God to show us all of the brokenness, the sins and the wounds.
In his book The Great Lent, Alexander Schmemann describes Lent as “a school of repentance” to which we go to deepen our faith, re-evaluate, and change our lives. Lenten practices are effective when they lead us to increased awareness of “God with us” and increased trust in God’s power and love. They are effective when they help us recover the vision and the taste of new life in Christ, and when they show us how the old life challenges the new life and makes it seem impossible.
I look forward to being with each of you and sharing our Lenten Psalms journey!
In Christ,
Toni
Prepared for Psalms Group, February 28, 2021
Psalm 130 focuses specifically on the chaos churned up in our lives by our own sins. The 7 penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51,102,130, 143) offer an honest portrayal of the damage done to humans by their own sins and by the sins of others. These psalms combine that truth about sinful human people and systems with the amazing truth of YHWH’s character. I sometimes think of YHWH as the “ideal parent” we humans long for: all-powerful yet unfailingly loving and merciful, all-knowing and wise yet overflowing with grace and forgiveness, consistently just and fair in discipline, and 100% committed to what is best for each one of us.