READING THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

PART VII

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Proverbs 10:1-12:15

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The second collection within the Book of Proverbs spans 10:1-22:16.  These sayings mostly follow an antithetical couplet format; the second line repeats the theme of the first line, but in reversed terms.  10:1 is a fine example:

A wise son makes a happy father,

But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

A germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) summarizes the essence of Proverbs 10:1-22:16 thusly:

…the wise are versed in applying secular wisdom as well as religious virtues, while righteousness is solely a religious value.

–1453

Of course!  Biblically, righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all of creation.  By definition, righteousness is a religious value, not a secular one.

Many of the proverbs in 10:1-12:15 are simplistic and overly optimistic.  O reader, consider 11:21, for example:

Be assured of this–the evil man shall not go free,

It is the company of good men that will be victorious.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Given that this verse predates the concept of reward and punishment in the afterlife in Jewish theology (see 11:7), these words apply to this life.  Yet good people have often gone to defeat.  Proverbs 12:1 could fit neatly inside the mouths of Job’s alleged friends.

On the other hand, I cannot argue with many other sayings.  10:11 comes to my mind immediately:

The speech of a good man is a well of life,

But the mouth of the wicked uncovers [his] violence.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Historical accounts and current events confirm the truth of that saying.  Likewise, I refer you, O reader to another verse:

The virtue of good men keeps them on the right road,

But a wicked man falls by his own wickedness.

–Proverbs 11:5, R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

The Book of Proverbs indicates a grasp of mutuality, a Biblical virtue:

A generous man grows fat,

And he who waters [another’s garden] will have his own garden watered.

–Proverbs 11:25, R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Context is crucial, as always.  So is bringing irrelevant and contrary assumptions to the text.  Recall, O reader, that, in the Bible, well-being comes from God.  Therefore, one may suffer for obeying divine commandments, but one retains one’s well-being from God.  Persecutors are powerless to deprive anyone of such well-being.

We, with that truth in mind, turn to yet another verse:

A man cannot make himself secure by wickedness,

Nor can the good man’s roots be disturbed,

–Proverbs 12:3, R. B. Y. Scott’s translation

Proverbs 12:3 sounds much like Psalm 1, in which the scoffers find stability in the wrong place and the righteous find stability in God.  The first variety of stability will falter; the second will not.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 19, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN HINES, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN PLESSINGTON, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1679

THE FEAST OF SAINT JÓZEF PUCHALA, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRANCISCAN FRIAR, PRIEST, AND MARTYR, 1943

THE FEAST OF LEMUEL HAINES, FIRST ORDAINED AFRICAN-AMERICAN MINISTER

THE FEAST OF SAINT POEMEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINTS JOHN THE DWARF AND ARSENIUS THE GREAT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Capernaum, Israel

Image in the Public Domain

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Deuteronomy 18:15-29

Psalm 1

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Mark 1:21-28

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O God, you know that we cannot withstand

the dangers which surround us. 

Strengthen us in body and spirit so that, with your help,

we may be able to overcome the weakness

that our sin has brought upon us;

through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 16

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Almighty God,

you know that we are set among so many and great dangers

that by reason of the weakness of our fallen nature

we cannot always stand upright;

grant us your strength and protection to support us in all dangers

and carry us through all temptations;

through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 25

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I, writing as an observant Christian steeped in the ancient traditions of my faith, find a mixed record regarding those traditions.  Much of the oeuvre of tradition is essential.  Some traditions have outlived their usefulness, though.  And other traditions are ridiculous.

The tradition of interpreting certain passages of the Hebrew Bible as prophecies of Jesus falls into the “ridiculous” column.  This Sunday, we have two such texts.  Deuteronomy 18:15-20 no more contains a messianic prophecy than Jesus is the blessed man of Psalm 1.

1. The authorship of the Book of Deuteronomy is a complicated matter.  If any portion of that book goes back to Moses, I will find that situation surprising.  The Deuteronomistic tradition from which Deuteronomy 18:15-20 springs reflects on the past with the benefit of centuries of hindsight; it does not look forward, except morally.
2. And the blessed man of Psalm 1 is a Jewish male student of the Torah from the time when a woman could not be a student of the Torah.  The blessed man of Psalm 1 finds his stability in YHWH.  In contrast, those who walk in the council of the wicked are unstable and in motion.  When they do sit down, they do so in the wrong seats.

The cultural setting of Corinth in the Second Reading is foreign to me.  I do not live in a milieu in which food offered to false gods–imaginary deities–is commonplace.  Yet I understand that I, as a human being and a member of society, have an obligation to live according to mutuality.  I have a responsibility to think about how my actions will affect others before I act.  And my freedom as a Christian is not a licence to do whatever I want to do.  On the other hand, avoiding the error of doing little or nothing for rear of creating the wrong impression is crucial.

My father was the pastor of the Vidette United Methodist Church, Vidette, Georgia, from June 1980 to June 1982.  I was a boy.  Dad forbade me to play in the parsonage yard on Sunday afternoons lest someone get the wrong idea.  That was a ridiculous rule.

In the Gospel of Mark, 1:21-28 establishes Jesus as an exorcist/healer and as an authoritative teacher.

1. When I put on my Rudolf Bultmann hat, I wonder what the “unclean spirit” was.  I admit that it may have been a demon.  I also consider that it may have been a mental illness or a severe emotional disturbance, in today’s diagnostic terms.  The Roman Catholic Church wisely considers other diagnoses before defining any case as a demonic possession.
2. Anyway, the “unclean spirit” immediately recognized Jesus, who ordered it to be quiet then expelled it.  The Messianic Secret remained intact.
3. Scribes, steeped in tradition, cited teachers who had preceded them.  Yet Jesus did no such thing; he taught with authority.  And he did not commit the error of doing little or nothing lest he give someone the wrong idea.

I am a Christian for a combination of reasons.  One reason is that my family raised me in the faith.  yet my faith is mine, not theirs.  Ultimately, I am a Christian because of Jesus.  His lived and spoken teachings are my desire as I seek to honor God with my intellect.  A functional frontal lobotomy is antithetical to my faith, which values scripture, tradition, and reason.  In line with Bishop Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), I assert that Jesus is the only proper basis of Christian confidence.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 10, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF MARIE-JOSEPH LAGRANGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT AGRIPINNUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT GERMANUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT DROCTOVEUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER CLARK, U.S. METHODIST PROTESTANT MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR

THE FEAST OF FOLLIOT SANDFORD PIERPOINT, ANGLICAN EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN OGLIVIE, SCOTTISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1615

THE FEAST OF SAINT MACARIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XX

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Psalm 26

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Psalm 26 bears striking similarities to Psalms 1 and 25.  The placement of this tex as Psalm 26 makes sense as a follow-up to Psalm 25.  However, Psalm 26 is a purely individual lament.

The psalmist is perplexed.  He had assumed, as Job’s alleged friends did, that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.  Yet the psalmist’s situation belies or seems to belie that theological position.  Whether he requests a divine judgment or divine vindication depends on the interpreter/translator.  Mitchell J. Dahood asserts that no vindication was necessary, for the psalmist, assured of his integrity, sought divine recognition of it.  Robert Alter follows Dahood’s position.  Yet TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures renders the germane verb as “vindicate,” as in, to grant the reward for righteousness.

Despite the Reformed insistence that human beings are damnable creatures by our corrupted nature, the Book of Psalms holds a higher opinion of people.  We are a little less than divine–or as a familiar translation of Psalm 8 says,

a little lower than the angels.

This position is consistent with the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  So, the Jewish and Roman Catholic assertions of human merit hold theological water.

We mere mortals still know far less than God does.  Our “received wisdom” and inherited theological orthodoxy do not always match our circumstances.  Will reality override a theory, or will we double-down in ideology?  That is a matter we have the power decide for ourselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART II

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Psalm 2

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Psalm 2 concludes the introduction to the Book of Psalms.  The placement of this text as Psalm 2 is both intentional and logical.  Psalm 1 teaches that those who know that their lives depend on God are blessed, even in a difficult environment.  Psalm 2 emphasizes the sovereignty of God.

The text is vague regarding its historical context.  Jerusalem and Judah are under a military threat.  The King of Judah is the anointed one of God.  The King of Judah and all the other monarchs answer to God, the ultimate king.  Most of them seem unaware of this, but their obliviousness does not change their reality.  Those who scorn God will suffer divine scorn.  Likewise, people who trust in God will be blessed.  They know that their lives depend upon God.

Comparing translations yields interesting results.

1. Most versions have the peoples plotting vain things or plotting in vain.
2. Robert Alter’s translation has people murmuring vain things.  In Psalm 1, Alter translates hagah not as “meditate” but as “murmur.”  Therefore, the righteous man murmurs divine instruction (torah) day and night.  The rebellious peoples in Psalm 2 contrast with the blessed people of God in Psalm 1.
3. The translation by Father Mitchell J. Dahood, S.J., for The Anchor Bible series goes in its own direction.  The rebellious peoples “number their troops.”  Hagah can also mean to number or to count out loud.  The picture here is of rebellious peoples relying on their military might, not on God.

Robert Alter points out the “geo-theological paradox” of the divine choice of Mount Zion:

Zion is a modest mountain on the crest of which sits a modest fortified town, the capital of a rather small kingdom, surrounded by vast empires.  Yet, the poet boldly imagines it as God’s chosen city, divinely endorsed to be queen of nations and the splendor of humankind.

—The Hebrew Bible:  A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3, The Writings (2019), 29

God’s choice may seem to make no sense.  Nevertheless, it is what it is.

Verse 11 commands the rebellious monarchs–foes of Judah–to serve God with reverence, in awe.  “Fear of God” is an unfortunate translation, at least most of the time.  This is a matter of humility, not terror, at least most of the time.  “Fear of God” is usually an attitude of recognizing human inadequacy in the context of God.  Such inadequacy may lead many people to tremble and perhaps even to feel terrified.  Alternatively, it can prove to be liberating and can prompt rejoicing.

Translations of verse 11 can yield fascinating word choices.  For example, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999) reads in part:

…tremble with fright….

Dahood’s translation indicates reverent trembling:

…and live in trembling, O mortal men.

Alter’s translation tells the rebellious monarchs to

exult in trembling.

For the sake of honesty, I point out that, in textual context, verse 9 has threatened the rebellious monarchs with the prospect of God smashing them with a rod of iron.  Fright makes sense in that context.

I am reluctant to seek Jesus in the Hebrew Bible.  I do not mistake the Old Testament for a Where’s Waldo? book and Jesus for Waldo.  However, I do think that I must address the proverbial elephant in the room in verse 7:

You are My son.

I Myself today did beget you.

–Robert Alter’s translation

This is a reference to the regnant King of Judah, a monarch of the House of David.  It is not a reference to Jesus.

The concept of Messiah evolved.  Scholars have written thick books about this concept and its development over time.  Originally, as in Psalm 2, the Messiah was the regnant Davidic monarch.  The concept changed after the Fall of Jerusalem (587/586 B.C.E.).  By the time Jesus of Nazareth walked and taught, competing concepts of Messiahship existed within Judaism.  The translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed this diversity of ancient theological opinion and contradicted the long-standing consensus that the expectation of a military deliverer was universal.

God may not seem to be in charge.  Appearances often deceive.

J. Clinton McCann, Jr., writes:

The power of God is not the absolute power of a dictator but the power of committed love.  In worldly terms, might makes right.  But on God’s terms, right makes might.

—The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 4 (1996), 691

The Reverend Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901) was a prominent Presbyterian minister in the United States.  He was a polymath and a lover of nature, too.  And he was not naive, humanitarian work with refugees was one of his passions.  After Babcock’s death at the age of 42 years, his widow arranged for the publication of his poetry.  One text became a justly famous hymn.

You, O reader, may have sung the following lines or a hymnal committee-rewritten version of them many times.  Babcock wrote:

This is my Father’s world,

O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the Ruler yet.

This is my Father’s world:

The battle is not done;

Jesus who died shall be satisfied,

And earth and heaven be one.

Psalm 2 affirms that “God is the Ruler yet.”  The divine smashing in Psalm 2 may alarm some.  It does not, however, disturb me.  As in Revelation, the old, corrupt order must terminate before the fully-realized Kingdom of God can hold sway on Earth.  Also, the deliverance of the oppressed may be the doom of the oppressors, who have judged themselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 8, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE TWELFTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATUS OF LUXEUIL AND ROMARIC OF LUXEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS AND ABBOTS

THE FEAST OF AMBROSE REEVES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF JOHANNESBURG, AND OPPONENT OF APARTHEID

THE FEAST OF ERIK CHRISTIAN HOFF, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND ORGANIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIN SHKURTI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1969

THE FEAST OF SAINT NARCISA DE JESÚS MARTILLO-MORÁN, ECUADORIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC AND ASCETIC

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART I

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Psalm 1

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I have studied the Book of Psalms for decades.  I started by keeping notebooks nobody else saw.  I have been blogging through lectionaries since 2010.  I have also taught some iteration of a class on the Revised Common Lectionary since August 2015.

“Reading the Book of Psalms” is a companion project to the Septuagint Psalter Project (2017), all posts of which exist here at BLOGA THEOLOGICA.  The main organizing principle at the Septuagint Psalter Project is the pattern for reading through the Book of Psalms in thirty-one days (morning and evening) in The Book of Common Prayer (1979).  The plan for this new project follows a combination of factors, though.  Two texts may have originally been one text, may have a similar theme, may be nearly identical, et cetera.  A spreadsheet I have created guides this project.

I invite you, O reader, to join me on this guided tour of the Book of Psalms.

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The placement of the text labeled Psalm 1 is logical and intentional.  Psalm 1 is the summary of the Book of Psalms.

The first verse opens with a beatitude.  The man who studies the torah and keeps its ethical obligations is, depending on the translation, blessed, happy, or fortunate.  He is a man in the narrow definition of “man,” in the original context.  Psalm 1 comes from a time before women studied the torah.  The blessed man is stable while the wicked are unstable and in motion.  When they do find a stable posture and a place to dwell, they are in the wrong place.

The definition of torah matters.  Narrowly, it refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.  But, in the Book of Psalms, the definition is broad.  The definition of torah is divine instruction, with law built in.  So, to return to content from the previous paragraph, the blessed man stands in contrast to the wicked, who pursue dubious moral choices in life.  Their dubious moral choices exist outside divine instruction.

One may do well to ponder the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes and Woes in Luke 6.  Those beatitudes (and woes) are countercultural.  They are not upside-down.  No, they reveal that the world’s conventional wisdom is upside-down.  Likewise, the beatitude in Psalm 1:1 performs the same function.  The pious may not seem to be blessed, but they are blessed.  And the wicked may appear to be fortunate or happy, but they are, in words of Luke 6, receiving their consolation.

Psalm 1 also likens the blessed man to a tree planted by streams of water in a desert.  Water is precious.  It is especially precious in a desert.  In that setting, a tree planted by streams of water has the source of sustenance it needs to thrive.

For the sake of context, I tell you, O reader, that I have just completed a study of the Book of Job.  So, that work of wisdom literature is fresh in my mind.  The wind bags who posed as friend of Job sound like many verses in Psalms and Proverbs.  All four of them sound like Psalm 1, with its message that the righteous flourish and the wicked perish.

Given that scripture is one context in which to interpret scripture, how ought we to interpret Psalm 1, then?  I propose that we start with the particulars of Biblical blessedness.  Such blessedness has outward manifestations.  Such blessedness does not preclude unjust suffering, as many psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Tobit, the example of Jesus, the example of St. Paul the Apostle, the examples of a great cloud of martyrs, and the examples of other witnesses attest.  The water of divine instruction enables the blessed man, woman, or child to bear much spiritual fruit.  The prosperity in Psalm 1 is not evidence of selfish ambition.  No, this prosperity affirms that the righteous and the blessed have tapped into God, on whom they rely.  Their life is in God.  That is their prosperity.

“Righteousness” is another word that requires definition.  Biblically, a righteous person has right relationships with God, others, and self.  Righteousness is synonymous with justice.  Righteousness is tangible.  To return to my immediately prior Bible study project, the four pneumatic pains in every part of the human anatomy are not righteous.  They lack right relationship with God and Job, at least.

Psalm 1 is theocentric; God is the core.  God is the source of a blessed person’s identity and strength.  The blessed man, woman, or child is like a flourishing, well-watered tree in a desert.  God does not promise an easy life and material riches.  Yet God does promise never to abandon anyone.  Whether one wants to heed God is an individual matter.  Nevertheless, even those who reject God are not outside the scope of divine love.  Yet, as Psalm 1 attests, the wicked–those who go their own way–choose their path.  To cite a cliché, they lie down in the bed they have made.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 6, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE TENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF MYRA, BISHOP OF MYRA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF KRATIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, BISHOP OF KRATIA, AND HERMIT

THE FEAST OF ALICE FREEMAN PALMER, U.S. EDUCATOR AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF HENRY USTICK ONDERDONK, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF NEW YORK, LITURGIST, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF PHILIP BERRIGAN AND HIS BROTHER, DANIEL BERRIGAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Woodland Stream, by Alexander Demetrius Goltz

Image in the Public Domain

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Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

Psalm 1

1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10

Matthew 22:34-40 (41-46)

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Almighty and everlasting God,

increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity;

and, that we may obtain what your promise,

make us love what you command;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 29

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Almighty God, we pray,

show your humble servants your mercy,

that we, who put no trust in our own merits,

may be dealt with not according to the severity of your judgment

but according to your mercy;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 87

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Holiness, in the Bible, pertains to separation from the profane/common (Leviticus 10:10; 1 Samuel 21:5-6; Ezekiel 22:26; 44:23; etc.).  Holiness is about complete devotion to God.  Holiness, however, is not about legalism, self-righteousness, and serial contrariness.  No, holiness is more about what it favors than what it opposes.

Holiness–in its proper sense–manifests itself in life:

1. The Holiness code, as in Leviticus 19:1-37, includes honoring parents; keeping the sabbath; refraining from idolatry; offering a sacrifice of well-being properly; feeding the poor; dealing honestly with people; defrauding no one and stealing from nobody; not insulting the deaf; not placing a stumbling block before the blind; rendering impartial justice; loving one’s kinsman as oneself; not mixing different types of cattle, seeds, and cloth; refraining from sexual relations with a slave woman meant for another man; reserving the fruit of the food tree for God for the first three years; eating nothing with blood; avoiding divination and soothsaying; avoiding extreme expressions of grief and mourning; not forcing one’s daughter into harlotry; and eschewing necromancy.  Most of the items on this list are absent from the assigned portion of Leviticus 19.  Cultural contexts define them.
2. “The man” (literal from the Hebrew text) is a student of the Torah.  He finds his stability in God, in contrast to the unstable scoffers.  When the scoffers find stability, they do not find it in God.
3. Holiness is contagious in 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10.
4. Jesus knew the influence of Rabbi Hillel (Matthew 22:34-40).  Holiness manifests in how we treat each other.

In a dog-eat-dog world, more spiritually toxic since the advent of social media and internet comments sections one does well not to read, loving God fully and loving one’s neighbor as one loves oneself (assuming that one loves oneself, of course) does separate one from the profane/common.  Holiness is love, not legalism.  Many particulars of holiness vary according to context, but the timeless principles remain constant.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 22, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

THE FEAST OF JOHN DAVID CHAMBERS, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINTS HRYBORII KHOMYSHYN, SYMEON LUKACH, AND IVAN SLEZYUK, UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC BISHOPS AND MARTYRS, 1947, 1964, AND 1973

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN KEMBLE AND JOHN WALL, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYRS, 1679

THE FEAST OF SAINTS THOMAS PERCY, RICHARD KIRKMAN, AND WILLIAM LACEY, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1572 AND 1582

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Icon of the Beatitudes

Image in the Public Domain

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Micah 6:1-8

Psalm 1

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Matthew 5:1-12

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O God, you know that we cannot withstand

the dangers which surround us. 

Strengthen us in body and spirit so that, with your help,

we may be able to overcome the weakness

that our sin has brought upon us;

through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 16

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Almighty God,

you know that we are set among so many and great dangers

that by reason of the weakness of our fallen nature

we cannot always stand upright;

grant us your strength and protection to support us in all dangers

and carry us through all temptations;

through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 25

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Sacred ritual is part of the Law of Moses.  So are moral mandates regarding how people ought to treat each other.  A sacred ritual is not a talisman.  To treat it as such is to make a mockery of it.

“The man” of Psalm 1:1 is a student of the Torah.  He, in the original cultural setting and in the Hebrew text, is a man.  In my cultural setting, that role is no longer gender-specific, for the better.  Certain details change, according to physical and temporal setting.  Others remain constant, though, for better or worse.  For example, “the man” of Psalm 1:1 is stable.  The language of positions in Psalm 1:1 is interesting.  “The man” contrasts with the impious, who are in motion–walking, following, and standing–before finally sitting down in the seat of scoffers.  True stability exists in God alone.

The readings from the New Testament tell us that divine values differ from dominant human values.  Conventional wisdom may get some details right.  After all, a broken clock is right twice a day.  Yet conventional wisdom tends to be foolishness.  The ethics of the Beatitudes, for example, look like folly to “the world.”

Micah 6 contrasts with what God has done with what people have done, collectively.  The Bible frequently concerns itself with collective actions and inactions.  My Western culture, with its individualistic emphasis, does not know how to comprehend collective guilt, sin, and repentance.  Yet the Bible does.  Mutuality, not individualism, is a Biblical virtue.  Remember, O reader, that in three of the four readings for this Sunday, the emphasis is on “we,” not “me.”  Furthermore, “we” and “me” coexist in Psalm 1.

The emphasis on “we” terrifies me.  I may try to follow God daily, to practice the Golden Rule, et cetera.  Yet I also belong to a community, a culture, a society, a nation-state, and a species.  The sins of others may cause me to suffer because of my group memberships–community, culture, society, nation-state, and species.  Recall, O reader, that the population in Micah 6 addressed included pious people.  Remember, O reader, that not all Christians in Corinth were querulous jerks.

Ponder, O reader, how we–the “we” of wherever you live–can improve relative to Micah 6:8.  How can “we” do justice, love goodness, and walk modestly with God?

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MIROCLES OF MILAN AND EPIPHANIUS OF PAVIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ALBAN ROE AND THOMAS REYNOLDS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS, 1642

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN YI YON-ON, ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN KOREA, 1867

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Adapted from this post

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READING JEREMIAH, PART VIII

Above:  Jeremiah

Image in the Public Domain

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Jeremiah 12:1-17

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Jeremiah 12:1-6 flows directly from 11:18-23.  Jeremiah, reversing the metaphors of Psalm 1, argued that the wicked prosper, and that God planted and watered them.  (This impatience is always understandable.)  God told the prophet to distrust not only the people of his hometown, but the prophet’s relatives, too.  Jeremiah’s situation will get worse, we read.

Jeremiah was not alone in lamenting, though.  God had a complaint, too.  God’s own people–metaphorically, family–were not trustworthy, either.

Jeremiah 12 depicts YHWH and Jeremiah as having similar predicaments.  The prophet, representing the best of Jewish tradition, argued faithfully with God.  Jeremiah could have abandoned his commitment to YHWH, but did not.  The prophet sometimes bitterly regretted his spiritual vocation.  Yet he remained faithful.  YHWH, who had done much for His covenant people, met with ample rejection, as Jeremiah did.

Jeremiah 12:14-17 dates to a later period than 12:1-13.  12:14-17 balances divine judgment and mercy, and returns to the themes of the remnant and the return from the Babylonian Exile.  However, the text also holds open the option of renewed judgment and punishment.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 8, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CLARA LUPER, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND ALLEGED HERETIC; AND HIS DAUGHTER, EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND “HERETIC’S DAUGHTER”

THE FEAST OF GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC POET AND JESUIT PRIEST

THE FEAST OF HENRY DOWNTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF ROLAND ALLEN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MISSION STRATEGIST

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READING FIRST ISAIAH, PART X

Above:  King Hezekiah of Judah

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 11:1-12:6

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For context, let us back up into Isaiah 10:

Now the Lord, the LORD of hosts,

is about to lop off the boughs with terrible violence;

The tall of stature shall be felled,

and the lofty ones shall be brought low;

He shall hack down the forest thickets with an ax,

and Lebanon in its splendor shall fall.

–Isaiah 10:33-34, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

This, in literal, historical context, is a reference to the deliverance of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah from the Assyrian invasion force in 701 B.C.E., during the reign of King Hezekiah or Judah.  The Assyrians are, poetically, majestic and tall cedars of Lebanon.  The Assyrians are no match for God, we read:

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,

and from his roots a bud shall blossom….

–Isaiah 11:1, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

This shoot growing out of the stump of Jesse is the ideal Davidic monarch.  To whom does this text refer?  The text, in context, seems to indicate Hezekiah, probably the prophesied baby in Isaiah 7:1-16.  If so, the messianic age of Hezekiah was imperfect, given the continued existence of poverty (11:4), for example.

Yet the text moves on and incorporates material from a later period.  We read of the return from the Babylonian Exile long after Hezekiah died.  One may wonder legitimately how to interpret 11:1-9.

I am a Christian and a Gentile.  I am also a student of history.  I chafe against efforts to shoe-horn Jesus into nooks and crannies of the Hebrew Bible in which Jesus does not fit, as far as I could tell.  Not everything or every other thing in the Hebrew Bible is about Jesus.  When I read in some commentaries that the pious man of Psalm 1 is Jesus, I roll my eyes.  I know that this man is a Jewish student of the Torah, actually.  At the risk of seeming to be a heretic, I assert that the ideal Davidic king in Isaiah 9:1-6/9:2-7 (depending on versification) and 11:1-9 is, in context of the Babylonian Exile and the final editing of First Isaiah, difficult to identify.  So be it.

The text does speak beautifully of a reverse exodus from the former Chaldean/Babylonian Empire after the Babylonian Exile.  The emphasis here is on how God acts or will act through human beings.  This is ground I already covered, so I choose to minimize the degree of my repetition in this post.

A future much better than the one predicted in Isaiah 11:1-9 awaits fulfillment.  The inauguration of the fully-realized Kingdom of God remains in the future.  As N. T. Wright tells us in Jesus and the Victory of God (1996), YHWH is the king in the fully-realized Kingdom of God.  The world, as it is, has gone off the rails, and more people than usual seem to have lost their minds.  These are extremely perilous times.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 1, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST AND MARTYR, 166/167

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, 309

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ROBINSON, MARMADUKE STEPHENSON, AND MARY DYER, BRITISH QUAKER MARTYRS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1659 AND 1660

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This is post #2600 of BLOGA THEOLOGICA.

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