Archive for the ‘2 Samuel 1’ Category
Above: Icon of Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XXVII
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Jeremiah 47:1-7
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The Philistines were descendants of the Sea Peoples.
Interpretations of the Sea Peoples have changed in recent decades. The older version of them was that, starting in the fourteenth century B.C.E., the Sea Peoples moved from Greece to Asia Minor then to the eastern Mediterranean region. They destroyed the Hittite Empire (in Asia Minor). The Sea Peoples attacked Egypt during the twelfth century B.C.E., but the Egyptian forces defeated them. Afterward, the Sea Peoples settled on the coast of Canaan, assimilated with the local population, and became the Philistines.
The Sea Peoples’ defeat at Egyptian hands is a matter of the historical record.
However, the former historical consensus regarding the Sea Peoples may have been wrong. The Bronze Age Collapse (circa 1177 B.C.E.) affected the Mediterranean region. The powers were interdependent. Then a combination of climate change and natural disasters, followed by social and economic collapse, may have driven a diverse group of refugees from one land to another, then to another. Some of the ancient empires may have collapsed from within, not due to the Sea Peoples. Nevertheless, the Sea Peoples may still have proven disruptive. Certainly, they were not welcome.
The Philistines were one of the oldest enemies of the Hebrews. The Philistines oppressed the tribes of Israel for an undefined period of time (Judges 3:31) and again for about 40 years (Judges 13-16). Hostilities between the Philistines and the Israelites continued into the twilight of the age of the judges and into the time of the Israelite monarchy (1 Samuel 4-31; 2 Samuel 1-5, 8). In fact, the Philistine military threat was the main justification for creating the Israelite monarchy.
I have already read prophetic oracles against Philistia during this project of reading the Hebrew prophetic books, roughly in historical order. I have read the oracles in Amos 1:6-8 and Isaiah 14:28-32.
The oracle in Ezekiel 25:15-17 awaits my attention, in due time.
Jeremiah 47:1 establishes a temporal setting for the oracle against Philistia:
before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
Pharaoh Neco II (r. 610-595 B.C.E.) attacked Gaza in 609 B.C.E.
The Septuagint copy of the Book of Jeremiah lacks 47:1. The rest of the germane text of Chapter 47 refers to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian conquest of Philistia circa 604 B.C.E., followed by mass deportations. The juxtaposition of these facts indicates editing subsequent to the time of Jeremiah the prophet.
Jeremiah 47 depicts God as destroying Philistia. The prophet pleads:
Ah! Sword of the LORD!
When will you find rest?
Return to your scabbard;
stop, be still!
–Verse 6, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
The answer in verse 7 is that the sword of the LORD cannot rest until God commands it to do so.
Walter Brueggemann writes:
Yahweh is not dominated by any of our conventionalities, but acts in sheer freedom, owing no one anything. Listeners to this poem are invited to face this undomesticated God who may violate our sensitivities, this God who maybe the only hope for the Philistines as for Israel.
—A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming (1998), 441-442
God refuses to fit into human categories and metaphorical theological boxes. God does not issue trigger warnings. God remains undomesticated, despite human discomfort. So be it. If we object, we have the problem; God does not.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 14, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND THE “SWEET-VOICED NIGHTINGALE OF THE CHURCH”
THE FEAST OF DAVID LOW DODGE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BUSINESSMAN AND PACIFIST
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS J. UPLEGGER, GERMAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND MISSIONARY; “OLD MAN MISSIONARY”
THE FEAST OF FRANK LAUBACH, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF MARK HOPKINS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, EDUCATOR, AND PHYSICIAN
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Above: The Death of Judas Maccabeus
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1, 2 AND 4 MACCABEES
PART XXIV
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1 Maccabees 9:1-22
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Demetrius I Soter (Reigned 162-150 B.C.E.)
Alcimus, High Priest (In Office Before 162-159 B.C.E.)
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Back in 1 Maccabees 7 and 2 Maccabees 15, Nicanor (one of the Nicanors, anyway) died in combat against Hasmonean forces under the command of Judas Maccabeus. Nicanor’s severed head hung from the citadel of Jeusalem, and his severed tongue became food for birds.
Seleucid King Demetrius I Soter reacted to that news about as well as you, O reader, may have guessed. He sent governor Bacchides and High Priest Alcimus into action again in the Seleucid/Hellenistic year 152 (160 B.C.E.) The war between the Hasmoneans and the Seleucid Empire continued. The overwhelming numbers of the Seleucid army inspired fear in Hasmonean ranks. Judas Maccabeus’s relatively small army became smaller via desertion.
Judas Maccabeus remembered what you, O reader, may also recall: the effectiveness of guerrilla warfare earlier in the narrative. That was then. Judas Maccabeus died in combat.
The Hasmonean Rebellion continued, however.
1 Maccabees 9:21 reads:
How is our champion fallen,
the saviour of Israel.
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
This draws from two other verses. One is 2 Samuel 1:25a, part of David’s lament for the Jonathan and King Saul:
How are the warriors fallen on the field of battle!
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
The other verse is Judges 3:9:
Then the Israelites cried to the LORD for help, and to deliver them he raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz, and he set them free.
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
Robert Doran, writing in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IV (1996), asked a germane question:
What had Judas actually accomplished?
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Seleucid forces controlled Jerusalem. Furthermore, Judas Maccabeus had died as a guerrilla seeking to avoid capture. He died a failure. So did King Saul (1 Samuel 31:1-13; 1 Chronicles 10:1-10), who perished while fighting to liberate the Hebrews from Philistine oppression.
Doran proposed that Judas Maccabeus became a hero postmortem because his family eventually won the struggle and founded a dynasty:
Judas’s was a movement that could not fail, for it depended not on him alone but on the vision that his father had sparked in many minds.
–Robert Doran, in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IV (1996), 111
Jonathan, brother of Judas Maccabeus, took on the mantle of leadership and continued the struggle. In contrast, David, rival of King Saul, eventually won freedom for his people from Philistine oppression.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 14, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF CARRHAE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF CHRISTOPH CARL LUDWIG VON PFEIL, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS, APOSTLES TO THE SLAVS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN MICHAEL ALTENBURG, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR, COMPOSER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF VICTOR OLOF PETERSEN, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN HYMN TRANSLATOR
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Above: The Death of Saul
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XXVIII
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1 Samuel 31:1-13
1 Chronicles 10:1-14
2 Samuel 1:1-27
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For my enemies are talking against me,
and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together.
They say, “God has forsaken him;
go after him and seize him;
because there is none who will save.”
–Psalm 71:10-11, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Consistent chronology is not the organizing principle of 1 Samuel. Chronologically, the correct order at the end of the book is:
- 27:1-28:2
- 29:1-11
- 30:1-11
- 28:3-25
- 31:1-13
Saul had become the King of Israel with a charge to free the Israelites from the Philistine threat. He had failed. After his death, most of Israel came under Philistine domination. Saul, early in his reign, had rescued the people of Jabesh-Gilead (1 Samuel 11). Ironically, Saul was beyond rescue in Chapter 31. Residents of Jabesh-Gilead rescued his corpse, however. Saul had chosen honorable suicide over captivity. His story had a sad ending.
Saul’s dynasty continued, though. One son, Ishbosheth, survived. He became the King of Israel in 2 Samuel 2.
Notice, O reader, the consistency between 1 Samuel 31:1-13 and 1 Chronicles 10:1-14. Both of them state that Saul committed suicide. Then, O reader, contrast that version with with the tale the Amalekite told David in 2 Samuel 1. One lesson a person can learn from reading certain portions of the Hebrew Bible is never to trust an Amalekite. Also remember that not everybody in the Bible speaks honestly.
The unnamed Amalekite, I suppose, sought a reward from David for having allegedly killed Saul, even allegedly at Saul’s request. The Amalekite lied to the wrong man. Saul, as David acknowledged, was God’s anointed.
David also mourned for Jonathan, his friend and brother-in-law. Jonathan had good character. He was also loyal to his father to the end. Jonathan had been honest about Saul’s failings as a man, a ruler, and a military commander. Jonathan had spoken up on David’s behalf and incurred Saul’s verbal wrath. Jonathan had helped David while the latter was on the run from Saul. Yet Jonathan had never been disloyal to the kingdom and the monarchy.
The germane texts depict Jonathan as a decisive military commander and a man of good character. I wonder about a counterfactual scenario in which Jonathan succeeded his father. I wonder what the Biblical evaluation of King Jonathan would have been. That, of course, is not the story we have. The death of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 31 and 1 Chronicles 10 may be sadder than that of King Saul.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 23, 2020 COMMON ERA
PROPER 16: THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARTIN DE PORRES AND JUAN MACIAS, HUMANITARIANS AND DOMINICAN LAY BROTHERS; SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, HUMANITARIAN AND DOMINICAN SISTER; AND SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGROVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA
THE FEAST OF THEODORE O. WEDEL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; AND CYNTHIA CLARK WEDEL, U.S. PSYCHOLOGIST AND EPISCOPAL ECUMENIST
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Above: Saul and David in the Cave of En-Gedi, by Willem de Poorter
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XXII
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1 Samuel 23:15-24:22
1 Samuel 26:1-25
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If the LORD had not come to my help,
I should have dwelt in the land of silence.
–Psalm 94:17, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The editing of different sources into a composite narrative created a unified story with chronological inconsistencies. I have written of some of these contradictions in other posts in this series. That cutting and pasting (to use an anachronism) also gave us doublets–two versions of the same story. Careful reading of much of the Hebrew Bible has identified doublets, starting in Genesis.
The doublet on which I focus in this post pertains to David saving King Saul’s life, not taking it, while the monarch was trying to kill David. The doublets wrap around 1 Samuel 25 in the composite narrative.
In 1 Samuel 23:15-24:22, King Saul and his forces were pursuing David and his forces. Saul was eager to kill David. The inhabitants of Ziph were ready to facilitate David’s death, as those of Keilah had been earlier in Chapter 23. David spared Saul’s life and issued an order that nobody kill the monarch. In this familiar story, David cut off a piece of Saul’s cloak, made his presence known, and spoke to Saul. The king acknowledged that David would succeed him.
The editing of 1 Samuel 23, 24, and 26 is odd. It seems that 26:1-25, with its reference to the Ziphites, originally flowed from the end of Chapter 23.
In 1 Samuel 26:1-25, David spared Saul’s life and forbade violence against the monarch. However, David claimed Saul’s spear, the kingdom of his kingship. (See 1 Samuel 13:22; 18:10; 19:9; 20:33; and 22:6. Also see 2 Samuel 1:6.) David also took the water jar at Saul’s head. Saul and David also spoke, and the king admitted that David would win.
In both versions, Saul admitted to being in the wrong. Yet he persisted in the wrong. Saul did not repent.
I know what it is to be a wronged person. I know the names of those who have wronged me, actively or passively. I know their characters, objectively. I also affirm that they are responsible before God for their characters and deeds, just as I am responsible before God for my character and deeds. What kind of person am I? The answer to that question is more important than the issue of what kind of people others are. One cannot prevail against perfidy by falling into it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 21, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRUNO ZEMBOL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1942
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CAMERIUS, CISELLUS, AND LUXORIUS OF SARDINIA, MARTYRS, 303
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF EDESSA, CIRCA 304
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN OF ANTIOCH; MARTYR, CIRCA 353; AND SAINTS BONOSUS AND MAXIMIANUS THE SOLDIER, MARTYRS, 362
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Above: King Josiah Hearing the Book of the Law
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 2 KINGS 22-25, 1 ESDRAS, 2 CHRONICLES 34-36, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH
PART II
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2 Kings 23:1-20
2 Chronicles 34:19-33
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I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
–Psalm 119:8, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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If one pays attention to 2 Kings 22-23 and compares their contents to 2 Chronicles 34, one notices some irreconcilable differences, chiefly the rearrangement of material from 2 Kings 22-23. The chronologies differ. Some of the material from 2 Kings 22 shows up in 2 Chronicles 34:19-33. Furthermore, 2 Kings 23 tells the story of Josiah’s religious reforms starting after the rediscovery of the Book of the Law in the Temple. In contrast, the narrative in 2 Chronicles 34 is that Josiah had begun his reforms prior to the finding of the Book of the Law.
I generally consider the accounts in the Books of Samuel and Kings more reliable than those in 1 and 2 Chronicles. I do this regardless of the internal contradictions present in the Books of Samuel and Kings due to the editing of different, sometimes mutually exclusive sources into one narrative. Yet the Books of Samuel and Kings are brutally honest about the moral failings of characters who are supposed to be heroes. However, 1 and 2 Chronicles put the best possible faces on heroes. 1 Chronicles 11 omits the civil war between Kings David and Ishbaal (2 Samuel 2:8-4:12) after the death of King Saul (1 Samuel 31; 2 Samuel 1; 1 Chronicles 10). Also, 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tell of David and Bathsheba, a story absent from 1 and 2 Chronicles.
2 Kings 23:1-20 details how far folk religion had fallen during the reigns of Josiah’s grandfather (Manasseh) and father (Amon). The text even mentions prostitution at the Temple in Jerusalem. The text describes a folk religion that had assimilated with the cultures of neighboring peoples. If one pays close attention to the Hebrew Bible, one knows that syncretism was an old pattern. One may also recall that Elijah, after mocking Baal Peor in 1 Kings 17:20f, slaughtered the prophets of the Canaanite storm god. Josiah resembles Elijah in 2 Kings 23:20.
2 Kings 23:15f refers to 1 Kings 13, in which an unnamed prophet, a “man of God,” from the southern Kingdom of Judah traveled to the northern Kingdom of Israel to condemn the altar in Bethel during the reign (928-907 B.C.E.) of Jeroboam I. Shortly thereafter, we read, that prophet died because he disobeyed divine instructions. That is an important detail, one to which I will return in another post before I finish writing about Josiah’s reign. We also read that Josiah honored the memory of the unnamed “man of God.”
One theme present in both 2 Kings 23:1-20 and 2 Chronicles 34:19-33 yet more prominent in the latter is communal commitment to God. This is imperative.
Raymond Calkins wrote in The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume III (1954):
The people might perform acts of worship as prescribed, yet go their way as before, living lives of greed and selfishness. True reform, in a word, is the reformation of inward motives, impulses, desires. We must begin there. No outside scheme of salvation will avail so long as men themselves remain self-seeking, materially minded, unbrotherly, indulgent. The world for which we wait depends not on outward organizations but upon the revival of a true religion in the hearts of men. Precisely what we are, the world will become. The reformation of the world depends upon the reformation of the soul. Such are the lessons taught us by the reforms of Josiah.
–323-324
No theocracy can effect this reformation and make it last, keeping in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. However, the imperative of spiritually-healthy collective action, paired with individual action, remains.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 29, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARY, MARTHA, AND LAZARUS OF BETHANY, FRIENDS OF JESUS
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Above: Saul and David, by Rembrandt van Rijn
Image in the Public Domain
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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1 Samuel 17:57-18:16 or Jeremiah 32:36-41
Psalm 111
Romans 12:1-8
Luke 17:1-19
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The Books of Samuel, in the final form (probably edited by Ezra; this is an ancient theory with contemporary academic champions), consist of various sources. If one knows this, one can notice many of the seams. Inconsistencies become obvious. For example, one may notice that King Saul knew that David was a son of Jesse in 1 Samuel 16:20 and that David played the lyre for the monarch in 16:23. One may also notice that Saul did not recognize David in 17:33 or whose son he was in 17:56. One may notice, furthermore, that David had to identify himself to Saul in 17:58.
I know too much to affirm spiritual inerrancy or infallibility.
I also know that King Saul was similar to many potentates in many lands and at many times. I read in the composite text that Saul was a terrible public servant. (So were almost all of his successors in Israel and Judah.) Truth and justice should prosper under a good ruler. A good ruler should try, at least. A good ruler knows that he or she is a servant holding a temporary job. A good ruler seeks to make responsible decisions and does not mistake events as being about himself or herself. A good ruler thinks about the long-term common good. Consequences of short-sighted leaders are frequently disastrous, as in Jeremiah 32:36-41.
What passes for a psychiatric or psychological diagnosis of King Saul comes from 1 Samuel 16:23–an evil spirit. Cultural anthropology tells us that they, in modern times, can mean anything from severe stress to a mental illness. Either way, the description of Saul is that of a man unfit to rule. After all, those who govern are still servants. God is really the king.
Despite all the bad press about King Saul, I feel somewhat sympathetic for him. I read about him and remember that he never sought the job (1 Samuel 12). I recall that Saul seems not so bad, compared to Solomon. I think of Saul, doing his best yet failing. I know the feeling of working hard yet failing. I ask myself how Saul may have succeeded in life. He seems to have needed counseling, at least.
Tragedy, in the Greek sense, has a particular definition. A good person tries to make good decisions (most of the time, anyway) and fails spectacularly, dooming himself or herself. The accounts of King Saul do not fit that definition exactly, but Greek tragedy does help me understand the first Israelite monarch. I read stories while making a combination of good and bad decisions and often trying to decide wisely. I read of a man with defective judgment. I read of a man whose demise was not inevitable when he became the first King of Israel.
I, like David, mourn for Saul (2 Samuel 1).
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 29, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC AND RELIGIOUS
THE FEAST OF SAINTS BOSA OF YORK, JOHN OF BEVERLEY, WILFRID THE YOUNGER, AND ACCA OF HEXHAM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS
THE FEAST OF JAMES EDWARD WALSH, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY BISHOP AND POLITICAL PRISONER IN CHINA
THE FEAST OF SIMON B. PARKER, UNITED METHODIST BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF TIMOTHY REES, WELSH ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND BISHOP OF LLANDAFF
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/04/29/devotion-for-proper-25-year-c-humes/
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Above: The New Jerusalem and the River of Life
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Beautiful God, you gather your people into your realm,
and you promise us food from your tree of life.
Nourish us with your word, that empowered by your Spirit
we may love one another and the world you have made,
through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 34
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Chronicles 12:16-22 (Monday)
2 Chronicles 15:1-15 (Tuesday)
Psalm 93 (Both Days)
Revelation 21:5-14 (Monday)
Revelation 21:15-22 (Tuesday)
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The LORD is King;
he has put on splendid apparel;
the LORD has put on his apparel
and girded himself with strength.
He has made the whole world so sure
that it cannot be moved;
Ever since the world began, your throne has been established;
you are from everlasting.
The waters have lifted up, O LORD,
the waters have lifted up their voice;
the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the sound of many waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea,
mightier is the LORD who dwells on high.
Your testimonies are very sure,
and holiness adorns your house, O LORD,
for ever and for evermore.
–Psalm 93, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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King David, one Biblical tradition tells us, was a man after God’s heart. That sounds like dynastic propaganda, given the injustices of his reign, as certain Biblical authors recorded them. The author of 1 Chronicles 11 and 12 was so pro-David that he, unlike 2 Samuel 1-4, omitted the civil war between the House of David and the House of Saul:
The war between the house of Saul and the house of David was long drawn out, David growing steadily stronger while the house of Saul became weaker.
–2 Samuel 3:1, The Revised English Bible (1989)
1 Chronicles omits seven and a half years (2 Samuel 5:5) of history of the Kingdom of Israel.
David’s successors were of varying quality, from the excellent to the abysmal. King Asa (reigned 908-867 B.C.E.) found favor with the author of 2 Chronicles 15 yet lost that approval in the following chapter.
The age of monarchy became an object of nostalgia for centuries. The “good old days” were never as good as they seemed through the nostalgic lens, of course, but many Jews living in exile or in their homeland yet under occupation derived much comfort from that distorted understanding as they hoped for better times.
We humans still hope for better times, do we not? We also wax nostalgic for times gone by–times that were not as good as we think they were. By fixating on an imagined golden age we neglect to pay proper attention to what God is doing in our midst. Yes, the world is troubled, but God is still sovereign. The divine throne remains established.
The Kingdom of God, partially present among us, awaits its full realization. We read part of a vision of that realization in Revelation 21. We are wise to hope for that glorious day, but we ought never to be so foolish as to neglect our Christian duties to leave the world better than we found it. God will save the world, but we have obligations in the here and now. May we, by grace, perceive them and act accordingly, for the glory of God and for the common good. May we be people after God’s heart.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 5, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF CHARLES JUDSON CHILD, JR., EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ATLANTA
THE FEAST OF LESLIE WEATHERHEAD, BRITISH METHODIST THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF MARGARET MACKAY, SCOTTISH HYMN WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-the-sixth-sunday-of-easter-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: St. Barnabas
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O Lord God, you teach us that without love, our actions gain nothing.
Pour into our hearts your most excellent gift of love, that,
made alive by your Spirit, we may know goodness and peace,
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 34
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Samuel 20:1-23, 35-42 (Monday)
2 Samuel 1:4-27 (Tuesday)
Psalm 133 (Both Days)
Acts 11:19-26 (Monday)
Acts 11:27-30 (Tuesday)
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Oh, how good and pleasant it is
when brethren live together in unity!
It is like fine oil upon the head
that runs down upon the beard,
Upon the beard of Aaron,
and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
It is like the dew of Hermon
that falls upon the hills of Zion.
For there the LORD has ordained the blessing,
life for evermore.
–Psalm 133, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Friendship is a form of such unity.
Jonathan remained David’s friend, even to the detriment of his (Jonathan’s) relationship with his father, King Saul. In 1 Samuel 20:30 the monarch cursed out his son, although few versions in English have rendered the verse accordingly. Saul’s reminder that Jonathan was also endangering his own potential kingship were rational yet ultimately unnecessary, for father and son died at about the same time.
St. Barnabas was a major ally of St. Paul the Apostle. He assisted the former Saul of Tarsus, violent foe of nascent Christianity, who had become a convert to the faith recently. St. Barnabas escorted St. Paul to meet with the understandably frightened remaining Apostles (Acts 9:26-28). St. Barnabas, working among the Christians of Antioch, left to retrieve St. Paul from Tarsus and took him to Antioch (Acts 11:19-26). Sts. Barnabas and Paul carried alms to Jerusalem (11:27-30). The two men traveled together on evangelistic journeys (Acts 13:2). St. Barnabas addressed the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:12), and he and St. Paul delivered the decree thereof to churches (Acts 15:22-31). The two men parted company because they disagreed strongly over taking John Mark (St. Mark the Evangelist) with them, so Sts. Barnabas and Mark traveled together afterward (Acts 15:36-39). Although St. Paul respected St. Barnabas (1 Corinthians 9:6 and Galatians 2:1, 9), he criticized his former traveling companion for, like St. Simon Peter, refusing table fellowship with Gentiles (Galatians 2:13). Nevertheless, St. Barnabas had helped to make the former Saul of Tarsus the figure who became St. Paul the Apostle, vouching for him at a crucial juncture. What if St. Barnabas had been wrong about St. Paul? He took that risk.
Friends are people who stand by us at the most difficult times. Such people are natural agents of divine grace. May each of us have such friends and be such a friend to others, for the glory of God and for the common good.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 2, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN KONRAD WILHELM LOEHE, BAVARIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND COORDINATOR OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONS
THE FEAST OF SABINE BARING-GOULD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/01/02/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-the-fifth-sunday-of-easter-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Mountains of Gilboa
Image Source = Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/mpc2010000317/PP/)
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Samuel 31:1-13 (August 13)
2 Samuel 1:1-27 (August 14)
Psalm 42 (Morning–August 13)
Psalm 89:1-18 (Morning–August 14)
Psalms 102 and 133 (Evening–August 13)
Psalms 1 and 33 (Evening–August 14)
1 Corinthians 7:1-24 (August 13)
1 Corinthians 7:25-40 (August 14)
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Some Related Posts:
2 Samuel 1:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/week-of-2-epiphany-saturday-year-2/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/proper-8-year-b/
1 Corinthians 7:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/third-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-b/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/week-of-proper-4-friday-year-2/
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Paul expected Jesus to return quite soon. So, regarding marriage and sexuality, he advised people to remain as they were–single or married–and to place matters of God above those of the desires of one’s spouse or body. He advised self-control while acknowledging the goodness of sexuality. But even a good thing, not controlled, can become a distraction.
Along the way Paul wrote a number of statements one will not hear at a wedding ceremony.
To the unmarried and to widows I say this: it is a good thing if like me they stay as they are; but if they lack self-control, they should marry. It is better to be married than to burn with desire.
–Verses 8-9, Revised English Bible
In other words,
Marriage: At least it is not fornication.
And we read at the end of the chapter:
Thus he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who does not marry does better.
–Verse 38, Revised English Bible
The main idea, that one must not become and/or remain distracted from God’s call on one’s life, unites the chapter. And sexuality is a powerful human drive; it does ensure the continuation of the species and provide much pleasure. But it, like so much else, can become a distraction from one’s divine vocation(s).
The theme of self-control continues in 1 and 2 Samuel. Saul had tried more than once to kill David. And the monarch had ordered the killing of people who had helped the former shepherd. Yet David had refused to kill Saul when he had opportunities to do so. He even lamented not only his friend, Jonathan, but Saul, after they died. David’s self-c0ntrol relative to Saul was remarkable. It is a model to emulate.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 22, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK PRATT GREEN, BRITISH METHODIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMEW ZOUBERBUHLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST
THE FEAST OF PAUL TILLICH, LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/devotion-for-august-13-and-14-lcms-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Statue of Reconciliation, St. Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry, England, United Kingdom
Image Source = Rebecca Kennison
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UK_Coventry_Statue-of-Reconcilliation.jpg)
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FIRST READING AND PSALM: OPTION #1
2 Samuel 1:1, 7-27 (New Revised Standard Version):
After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.
…
David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. (He ordered that The Song of the Bow he taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.
You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor bounteous fields!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.
From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return empty.
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you with crimson, in luxury,
who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
greatly beloved were you to me;
your love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.
How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!
Psalm 130 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Out of the depths have I called to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice;
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
2 If you , LORD, were to note what is done amiss,
O Lord, who could stand?
3 For there is forgiveness with you;
therefore you shall be feared.
4 I wait for the LORD; my soul waits for him;
in his word is my hope.
5 My soul waits for the LORD,
more than watchmen in the morning,
more than watchmen in the morning.
6 O Israel, wait for the LORD,
for with the LORD there is mercy;
7 With him there is plenteous redemption,
and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.
FIRST READING AND PSALM: OPTION #2
Wisdom of Solomon 1:12-15; 2:23-24 (New Revised Standard Version):
Do not invite death by the error of your life,
or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;
because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
For he created all things that they might exist;
the generative forces of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
For forgiveness is immortal.
…for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity.
but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.
Response, Option #2A: Lamentations 3:21-33 (New Revised Standard Version):
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,
to sit alone in silence
when the Lord has imposed it,
to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
to give one’s cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not
reject forever.
Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.
Response: Option #2B: Psalm 30 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 I will exalt you, O LORD,
because you have lifted me up
and have not let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried out to you,
and you restored me to health.
3 You brought me up, O LORD, from the dead;
you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.
4 Sing to the LORD, you servants of his;
give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,
his favor for a lifetime.
6 Weeping may spend the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
7 While I felt secure, I said,
“I shall never be disturbed.
You, LORD, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.”
8 Then you hid my face,
and I was filled with terror.
9 I cried to you, O LORD;
I pleaded with the LORD, saying,
10 “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit?
will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me;
O LORD, be my helper.”
12 You have turned my wailing into dancing;
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
13 Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.
SECOND READING
2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (New Revised Standard Version):
As you excel in everything– in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you– so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something– now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has– not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,
The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little had too little.
GOSPEL READING
Mark 5:21-43 (New Revised Standard Version):
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly,
My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.
He went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said,
If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.
Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said,
Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said to him,
You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?”
He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her,
Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.
While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say,
Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,
Do not fear, only believe.
He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them,
Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.
And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her,
Talitha cum,
which means,
Little girl, get up!
And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
The Collect:
Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.
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Some Related Posts:
Proper 8, Year A:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/proper-8-year-a/
2 Samuel 1:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/week-of-2-epiphany-saturday-year-2/
Wisdom of Solomon 1-2:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/twenty-seventh-day-of-lent/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/week-of-proper-27-tuesday-year-1/
Mark 5:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/week-of-4-epiphany-tuesday-year-1/
Jerusalem:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/jerusalem-by-william-blake/
O Lord, You Gave Your Servant John:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/o-lord-you-gave-your-servant-john/
New Every Morning is the Love:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/new-every-morning-is-the-love-by-john-keble/
A Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/a-prayer-by-st-francis-of-assisi/
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/911-a-prayer-of-st-francis-of-assisi/
A Franciscan Blessing:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/a-franciscan-blessing/
Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/where-cross-the-crowded-ways-of-life/
A Prayer for Shalom:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/a-prayer-for-shalom/
On a ______:
http://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/on-a/
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We are social creatures–some more so than others. But we are all social creatures. This fact helps explain why solitary confinement is such a strong punishment. Furthermore, empathy helps bind us to each other. It is to empathy that Paul appeals in 2 Corinthians 8:7-15. Nobody should have too much or too little, he wrote; there should be a “fair balance” between the abundance of one and the needs of another.
In other words, we ought to take care of each other. Corporations with enough cash on hand to spend millions or billions or dollars to purchase patents for things they did not invent for the purpose of either suing other corporations for patent infringement or intimidating other corporations from suing them for patent infringement have enough cash on hand to hire actual human beings. There is an imbalance between abundance and needs. As Martin Luther King, Jr., said on April 4, 1967, people should matter more than things and other forms of wealth. To value property more highly than people is to have an inverse moral order.
We read of Jesus healing a woman with a persistent hemorrhage. This condition had afflicted her for twelve years, during which she could not earn money and she was ritually unclean. Therefore she was marginal in her community. But now she was once again whole.
The woman had to deal with stigma over a physical problem. David had another difficulty: an estranged father-in-law who wanted him dead and against whom he was leading a rebellion. Despite these facts, David had spared Saul’s life when he had the chance to take it. And David mourned both Saul and Jonathan, his brother-in-law and best friend, who had died recently. He referred to both of them as “beloved and cherished.”
We should grieve when relationships break, and we ought to mourn the fact that there is no way to repair some interpersonal ruptures due to realities such as death. We should also be discontented when unjust economic disparities persist. What can we do about it, whether in a family, community, county, state, national, or international level. Alone we might not be able to do anything, but what can we accomplish collectively? That is a question with an answer worth finding. For, as the author of the Wisdom of Solomon reminds us,
God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 20, 2011 COMMON ERA
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Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/proper-8-year-b/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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