These materials were shared with the Psalms Group, a fellowship group with a special interest in learning about, reading and praying the Psalms daily.
As we noted last week, Book 3 contained “problem psalms” that would fit with scholars dating its compilation during the Exile. Book 4 follows with the great encouragement needed to move forward and rebuild after the Exile, whether dated shortly before or after their return. (Remember that the date of compilation does not indicate when each psalm was written.)
We have been learning about the structure of the book of Psalms from Toni little by little over the past year. These two psalms are the “bookends” of Book 3. Many scholars believe that this portion of the psalter was compiled during the Exile. This would explain the following:
It contains many problem psalms, in which, both at individual and at national levels, the psalmists are wrestling with difficulties of theodicy.
Geoffrey Grogan, Prayer, Praise and Prophecy: A Theology of the Psalms, p. 209
theodicy : defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil
merriam-webster.com
In other words, the main question seems to be, “What is going on here?!?”
Prepared for Psalms Group, September 27, 2020
As I was working through Psalm 40 last week, these words on p. 84 of The Songs of Jesus leaped off the page into my mind and heart:
Lord, praying for your glory is indeed the way of liberation. If I pray, “Glorify yourself in my needs,” that frees me to receive whatever you send as your wise will. For I know that your glory includes your love. In my life, Lord, be glorified. Amen.
Tim and Kathy Keller, The Songs of Jesus, p. 84, italics mine
Dear Psalms friends,
Our focus psalm this Sunday, September 27, will be Psalm 57, an individual Davidic lament in a troubled time Let’s be asking ourselves, “How much weight, how much importance, does God actually have in my life, especially when I feel the earth shaking under my feet and my pulse quickening?”
Prepared for Psalms Group, 9/20/20
Our current lectionary readings in I Kings, the minor prophets, and Hebrews, coupled with Judaism’s high holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur triggered my curiosity about actual worship in the tabernacle and temple (original and second). How do the Psalms, eventually the hymnbook of the Second Temple, inform us about and lead us in God-focused worship?
Dear Psalms Friends,
I’m looking forward to being with each of you this Sunday morning at 9 am. Our lectionary psalms this week have taken us out of Book 1 and into Book 2, Psalms 36-55. Tim and Kathy Keller explore these psalms on pp. 70-118 in The Songs of Jesus. Please be ready to share about specific reflections or prayers from the Kellers’ book that are currently impacting you.
Prepared for Psalms Group, August 30, 2020
Psalm 136 is the only psalm in the whole Psalter which has a repeated refrain in every verse. It is a far-reaching celebration of the love and covenant faithfulness of YHWH to his people, for steadfast love is the love which honors and works within the covenant. (Grogan, Prayer, Praise and Prophecy, p. 236)
Psalm 136 and The Songs of Jesus, pp. 344-346
Dear Psalms friends,
This Sunday’s focus psalm is Psalm 136, the last of the Psalter’s storytelling/narrative psalms. The faithful people in Israel kept retelling the unfolding drama of YHWH’s dealings with Israel. Here’s a helpful outline for reading these storytelling psalms:
Psalms Group, August 23, 2020
Okay, guys…when I chose these two eight verse sections of Psalm 119 as our focus, I didn’t notice the rhyming Hebrew letters. But it makes this lesson more fun…and hopefully more memorable.
Dear Psalms friends,
So…here we are together, back again in Book V of the Psalter with the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113-118), the Torah “love letter” of Psalm 119, and the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). If you have not yet ordered Tim and Kathy Keller’s The Songs of JESUS, it’s time! Doug and I will be here one more Sunday after tomorrow, before heading to retreat in Colorado 9/5-9/13. Our group will not meet on 9/6 and 9/13. We’ll start meeting again on 9/20.