Book 2, Psalms 42-72
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?
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, 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 Sunday, July 26, 2020
Dear Psalms friends,
Our focus tomorrow is LIFE, the life God creates and is renewing and redeeming.
The Glory of the Davidic Kingdom
Give the King Your Justice
This is a royal psalm.
These are psalms in which the Davidic king is the central figure. The king’s authority comes from God, and his task is to rule as God’s representative in the kingdom on earth. Since he is God’s representative on earth, the enemies of God oppose him. These psalms find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ when “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” (The Apostles’ Creed, BCP, p. 96)
Examples: Psalms 2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 101, 110, 144
1 Tim. 2:1-4
Of Solomon.
Longing for Yahweh’s Righteous Acts
Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
This is an individual lament.
More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.
Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others
Eph. 3:14-12
The Joyful Experience and Expectation of Salvation
O LORD, Do Not Delay
Content is the same as Psalm 40:13-17. This is an individual lament.
More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.
Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others
Rev. 2:8-11
To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.
The Zeal for Your House and God’s Love for His Own
Save Me, O God
This is an individual lament.
More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.
Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others
Matt. 27:32-50
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
God Is a Father to the Oppressed
God Shall Scatter His Enemies
This is psalm is almost impossible to classify; Zion liturgy?
In their early history, before the time of David, the Israelites probably had a special time in the autumn of each year to renew their conditional covenant with God, the Mosaic covenant. “If you will obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession…” (Exodus 19:5) The saving deeds of God in Israel’s history were proclaimed and the people were asked to reaffirm their allegiance to God.
Examples: Psalms 50 and 81
Several psalms express the view that God chose Zion as the earthly center of the divine rule. Mount Zion was the site of the Jerusalem temple. It was the place where God chose to be present in the midst of the people. So it became a sanctuary to which the people made pilgrimages. To the psalmists, Zon was the center of historical meaning that God had disclosed to Israel and, through Israel, to the whole world. The psalmists glorify Zion at that location. Zion came to represent the meeting place of heaven and earth and a foreshadowing of eternal life.
Examples: Psalms 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 121, 122
Col. 3:1-14
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.