Category: Psalms Group

Dear Psalms friends,

We have skipped right past Psalm 108 each time we have read and prayed our way through Book 5, the concluding book of Psalms.  Its superscription states that it is “of David,” and it appears that David composed this community lament using material from two previous psalms:  Psalm 57:7-11 (an individual lament) and Psalm 60:5-12 (a community lament).

So what is the flow of thought in this new arrangement?  What seems to be going on? What groups of people are involved? What is God’s place in this psalm?

Prepared for Psalms Group, December 13, 2020

From beginning to end the subject matter of the psalms is the Lord of Israel.  In various ways the many lament psalms or prayers for help that are so pervasive in the Psalter speak to and about God; in so doing they inform the one reading them of what this God is like and why one turns in that direction in times of trouble… What happens is what aways happens in prayer:  a theological understanding of the One to whom the prayer is lifted is both implicit and explicit in the prayer.  We learn about God as we pray.  We say what we know and believe about God as we cry out.  That is certainly the case with the psalmist.

Patrick Miller, The Lord of the Psalms, from the Introduction

How often do you experience doubts about God’s existence or God’s character?  What seems to trigger those doubts?  How do you express those doubts?  

Email to the Psalms Group preparing for Sunday, January 17, 2021

Dear Psalms friends,

The “way” we have been traveling the past 2 weeks—with Psalms 1 and 2 and then Psalms 15 and 24, plus hearing Fr. Paul’s sermon last Sunday calling us to repentance from contempt—makes a focus on Psalm 32 seem timely.  Of course, it’s a well-known psalm of thanksgiving and wisdom instruction that poetically contemplates the joy of forgiveness.  It teaches us about our sin’s destructiveness and how God awakens us to repentance and to confession of sin.

Email preparing for Sunday, January 24, 2021

Dear Psalms friends,

After focusing on Psalm 32 for the first time in our group last Sunday, it seems timely to focus on Psalm 51 this coming Sunday.  These are the most well-known of the penitential psalms. In our January lectionary readings, we have also recently read Psalms 6 and 38, two other penitential psalms.  How can we actually use these penitential psalms as penitence?  And what is penitence anyway?

When the Enemy is Me

Prepared for Psalms Group, January 24, 2021

They say confession is good for the soul, But that sure doesn’t make it easy!  In general, our culture is neither good at confessing or at hearing confessions.  Given our fierce independent natures, and our tendencies toward perfectionism, we are slow to admit our sin, and uncomfortable when we do. We would rather have superficial relationships than expose our deep seated fears and secrets…The psalms of penitence have much to teach us—about the results of sin, the attitude of God, and the hope for change.  It is when we come to God with empty hands that we understand his unfailing love. 

Wilson and Nygren, The Cries of the Faithful, Vol. 1, p. 63

Psalms Group, for January 17, 2020

In Psalm 32, the psalmist happily thanks God for forgiving his sin which had led to intense physical and emotional duress. This forgiveness came in response to his confession and repentance. Psalm 32 is a penitential psalm (along with Psalms 6, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143), but it is not sorrowful because it is a prayer of thanks for God’s grace of forgiveness. It also contains elements of wisdom teaching, using this psalmist’s experience of confession, repentance and forgiveness to teach others.