Category: Psalms Group

Prepared for Psalms Group, January 10, 2021

Psalms 15 and 24 are liturgical psalms “of David” from Book 1 of the Psalms that were probably used as “entrance liturgies” to Israel’s worship of YHWH.   Perhaps they were used by priests to teach ancient Israelites about preparation for authentic worship of YHWH, probably first in the earlier “tent” setting after David moved the Ark of the Covenant onto Mount Zion, the hill in Jerusalem, and then later in the Temple built in that same place after David’s death. (Ross, Psalms, Volume I, pp. 385-395 and pp. 573-589) 

Prepared for Psalms Group meeting on January 3, 2021

Unlike the culture’s predominant view of the calendar year of 2020, our just-concluded journey through the Psalter ended this week with rounds of increasing praise—singing, instruments, dancing and lots of bragging and boasting about YHWH’s ultimate power over creation and nations, and His love for His people…His pleasure in us (147:11, 149:4).   (See Psalms 146-150.) 

Prepared for Psalms Group, December 20, 2020

The psalmist asks God to “remember David and all his troubles.”  That’s what pilgrim people needed to be reflecting on as they neared Jerusalem, some for the first time in their lives, and glimpsed the temple, according to Psalm 132.  Included In the Psalter as one of the Songs of Ascent, Psalm 132 reminds those journeying people (and us as journeying people) about David’s promises to God and God’s biggest promise to David.  (See Mark 13:1b for a first century person’s descriptors of the temple.)  

Prepared for Psalms Group, December 6, 2020

Prepared for Psalms Group, November 22, 2020

A new favorite, fun fact!  It’s obvious that “clapping the hands” in Psalm 47:1 is an act of joyous response, but the circumstance is more complex because the idiom employed normally means to “strike the hands” with another person as confirmation of a contract or agreement—like shaking hands or, better yet, like a “High Five.” (Gerald Wilson, the NIV Application Commentary: Psalms, Vol. 1, p. 726, but the “high five” is my idea.)

Prepared for Psalms Group, November 15, 2020

Psalm 34 is an individual song of thanksgiving written as an imperfect alphabetic acrostic (easier to memorize and learn) to encourage and teach wise living. The New Bible Commentary entitles Psalm 34, “An ABC for a Crisis.” The psalmist uses his personal experience of God’s rescue as an opportunity not only to give thanks (todah=a thank offering) to God, but also to offer wisdom for living to his hearers.

Psalms Group, November 8, 2020

In his short chapter, “The End,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer observes that our hope as Christians is directed to Jesus’ return and the resurrection of the dead. Bonhoeffer also observes that “life in fellowship with the God of revelation, the final victory of God in the world, and the setting up of the messianic kingdom are objects of prayer in the psalms.”  The Psalter reminds us to pray for, find comfort in, and praise God for his rescue plan for all his creation and our part in it.  Here’s how Bonhoeffer describes psalms like Psalms 2 and 149 in “The End”:

“Hanging Out with the Humbled” describes living in community with others who are seeking transformation into the humility of Christ. (Philippians 2: 1-11; St. Benedict’s Ladder of Humility, PDF below)

“Hanging out with the Humbled” describes both the means and the evidence of contentment in our journey with God in Christ.  Experiencing humility with God and in community creates and evidences contentment. Think about where you are in your own experiences with humility, community and contentment  as you read and reflect on Psalm 119:57-64, Psalm 131 and Psalm 33.