Book 4, Psalms 90-106
Welcoming Prayer (Spiritual Discipline)
Confession and Self-Examination Guide (Posted for Week 2)
Weekly Lenten Prayers (Collects) (Posted for Week 2)
Overview (Posted for Week 1)
Prepared for Psalms Group meeting on Monday, 8/16/21
Prepared for Psalms Group, 6/20/2021
Prepared for Psalms Group, 6/13/21
Note that there are two files for this lesson–the main one, and another for reference.
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, 2/14/21
Psalm 102 shows us how to pray and how important our praying is. It is a lament by a distressed individual as a part of the people of YHWH, his also-troubled Zion community. Through his own pain and the pain of his community, he continues his dialogue with and about YHWH.
Prepared for Psalms Group, February 7, 2021
Psalm 89 is a royal psalm based on the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16). Psalm 89:1-37 is a hymn of praise for YHWH’s covenant love and faithfulness; Psalm 89:38-52 is a community lament for YHWH’s apparent failure to keep these promises. Notice the word used in the plural in 89:1 and 89:49 to describe these promises:
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.)
Prepared for Psalms Group, August 9, 2020
Overfamiliarity may rob these two vibrant psalms of creation of their energy, their ability to describe and create experiences of the glory of God in God’s creation. May the Holy Spirit fill us and the words of these psalms with Life-giving grace as we read, reflect on, and receive these hymnic psalms as spiritual nourishment.
A New Song to God
Make a Joyful Noise to the LORD
This is a hymn – enthronement Psalm.
Hymns extol the glory and greatness of God as it is revealed in nature and history, and particularly in Israels’s history. Hymns praise God in general terms for his power and faithfulness as creator of the cosmos, ruler of history, and creator/redeemer of Israel to bring blessing to all the world. Israel’s hymns stress God’s active involvement in the life story of Israel. Hymns typically demonstrate motives for worshipping and praising God. A clear example is Psalm 117, the shortest psalm, just two verses:
1 O praise the Lord, all you nations; *
praise him, all you peoples.
2 For (= Hebrew ki) great is his loving-kindness towards us, *
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord.
Hymns were used for exuberant worship in the temple and the synagogue. The people of God before the Incarnation invite us to celebrate and praise with them in hope of the kingdom of God and his Messiah. Hymns, like all psalms, show Christians how to praise God who has acted in creation, in revelation, and in redemption, and who is acting decisively in establishing his kingdom on earth. They do not ask anything; they simply rejoice in God’s presence.
Examples: Psalms 8, 19:1-6, 33, 66:1-12, 100, 103, 104, 145-150, and others
Some of the hymns in the Psalter are called “enthronement psalms” because they focus on the theme of God’s kingship. His throne is established from an immeasurable past time, and his kingdom will be everlasting. In the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, God became present to his people in worship. God did not literally dwell/live in the Temple but his people experienced his “tabernacling presence” there as they worshipped. He was enthroned in the praises of his people. His kingship may also have been celebrated in a ritual enactment of enthronement, a drama of God ascending his throne amid shouts of acclamation. God is enthroned triumphantly over powers that threaten to plunge our lives into meaningless chaos and disorder. Christians read these psalms in the context of the good news that God in Christ has inaugurated the divine kingdom by striking a decisive blow against all powers of oppression, darkness, chaos, and death. We pray the enthronement psalms in the spirit of the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)
Examples: Psalms 29, 47, 93, 95-99
Rev. 22:12-17
A Psalm.
98
Cantate Domino
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song, *
for he has done marvelous things.
2 With his own right hand and with his holy arm, *
he has won for himself the victory.
3 The Lord declared his salvation; *
his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4 He has remembered his mercy and truth toward the house of Israel, *
and all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.
5 Show yourselves joyful in the Lord, all you lands; *
sing, rejoice, and give thanks.
6 Praise the Lord with the harp; *
sing with the harp a psalm of thanksgiving.
7 With trumpets also and horns, *
O show yourselves joyful before the Lord, the King.
8 Let the sea make a noise, and all that is in it, *
the round world, and those who dwell therein.
9 Let the rivers clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, *
for he has come to judge the earth.
10 With righteousness shall he judge the world, *
and the peoples with equity.