Archive for the ‘Psalm 110’ Category
I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.
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Posted February 25, 2023 by neatnik2009 in Psalm 1, Psalm 10, Psalm 100, Psalm 101, Psalm 102, Psalm 103, Psalm 104, Psalm 105, Psalm 106, Psalm 107, Psalm 108, Psalm 109, Psalm 11, Psalm 110, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, Psalm 113, Psalm 114, Psalm 115, Psalm 116, Psalm 117, Psalm 118, Psalm 119, Psalm 12, Psalm 120, Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalm 123, Psalm 124, Psalm 125, Psalm 126, Psalm 127, Psalm 128, Psalm 129, Psalm 13, Psalm 130, Psalm 131, Psalm 132, Psalm 133, Psalm 134, Psalm 135, Psalm 136, Psalm 137, Psalm 138, Psalm 139, Psalm 14, Psalm 140, Psalm 141, Psalm 142, Psalm 143, Psalm 144, Psalm 145, Psalm 146, Psalm 147, Psalm 148, Psalm 149, Psalm 15, Psalm 150, Psalm 16, Psalm 17, Psalm 18, Psalm 19, Psalm 2, Psalm 20, Psalm 21, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24, Psalm 25, Psalm 26, Psalm 27, Psalm 28, Psalm 29, Psalm 3, Psalm 30, Psalm 31, Psalm 32, Psalm 33, Psalm 34, Psalm 35, Psalm 36, Psalm 37, Psalm 38, Psalm 39, Psalm 4, Psalm 40, Psalm 41, Psalm 42, Psalm 43, Psalm 44, Psalm 45, Psalm 46, Psalm 47, Psalm 48, Psalm 49, Psalm 5, Psalm 50, Psalm 51, Psalm 52, Psalm 53, Psalm 54, Psalm 55, Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 58, Psalm 59, Psalm 6, Psalm 60, Psalm 61, Psalm 62, Psalm 63, Psalm 64, Psalm 65, Psalm 66, Psalm 67, Psalm 68, Psalm 69, Psalm 7, Psalm 70, Psalm 71, Psalm 72, Psalm 73, Psalm 74, Psalm 75, Psalm 76, Psalm 77, Psalm 78, Psalm 79, Psalm 8, Psalm 80, Psalm 81, Psalm 82, Psalm 83, Psalm 84, Psalm 85, Psalm 86, Psalm 87, Psalm 88, Psalm 89, Psalm 9, Psalm 90, Psalm 91, Psalm 92, Psalm 93, Psalm 94, Psalm 95, Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, Psalm 99
READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART LXVI
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Psalm 110
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Psalm 110 is a royal psalm. This text depicts the monarch as a member of the divine council, and as sitting at God’s right hand. This seating position places the king second to God. So, YHWH says to the king:
Sit at My right hand
while I make your enemies your footstool.
–Verse 1b, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
In Psalm 110, God is a triumphant warrior, royal power flows from God, and the kingdom’s enemies are God’s foes.
I resist the interpretation that Psalm 110 refers to Jesus. Seeking Jesus in the Hebrew Bible can go to ridiculous extremes and falsely reduce the Jewish canon to a mere prologue to the New Testament. No, the Hebrew Bible stands on its own. If we understand “messiah” to refer to the regnant king of the Davidic Dynasty, then a messianic interpretation fits with ancient Jewish readings of this text.
Those of us for whom the divine right of kings is a relic of the past best left there may experience difficulty identifying with Psalm 110. Perhaps we read it through a dispassionate, historical lens and recognize a testimony of the national religion of united Kingdom of Israel then of the southern Kingdom of Judah.
Amos 5:18f, cognizant of the perils to religion from reducing it to an arm of politics, destroys the national religion and the incorporated delusion that God is a “partisan of national arrogance,” to quote Artur Weiser. That is a point worth remembering in the contemporary age, too. We must never mistake God for a national deity. Our national enemies may not be God’s foes. Our country may not be on God’s side. And to wed religion and the state is to subordinate religion to the state.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 9, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF BROTHER LAWRENCE OF THE RESURRECTION, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALTO OF ALTOMUNSTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT
THE FEAST OF BRUCE M. METZGER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND BIBLICAL TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIMITRI KLEPININ, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1944
THE FEAST OF EDWARD JOHN HOPKINS, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT PORFIRIO, MARTYR, 203
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Above: Icon of the Ascension of Christ
Image in the Public Domain
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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)
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Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 110
Ephesians 1:16-23
Luke 24:44-53
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Almighty God, your only Son was taken up into heaven
and in power intercedes for us.
May we also come into your presence
and live forever in your glory;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 22
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Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that even as we believe your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
to have ascended into heaven,
so may also in heart and mind ascend and continually
dwell there with him;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 55-56
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Luke-Acts is a composite work. Given this fact, the discrepancy in the timing of the Ascension confuses me. Luke 24 places the Ascension on the same day as the Resurrection. Yet Acts 1 times it forty days after the Resurrection and ten days before Pentecost. O, well.
By the 300s, the Feast of the Ascension our Lord, set forty days after Easter Day, was commonplace. St. Augustine of Hippo wrote that churches
all over the world
celebrated the feast.
I understand the Ascension as theological poetry, not theological prose, because of science. I accept that, one day, Jesus was present with his Apostles until he left. Given cultural and theological assumptions of the time, we have the metaphor of ascension. May we–you, O reader, and I–not become lost in technical details.
The Feast of the Ascension is about enthronement–of Jesus, mainly. It is about the enthronement of humanity itself. To quote St. John Chrysostom:
Our very nature…is enthroned today high above all cherubim.
Happy Ascension Day!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 23, 2022 COMMON ERA
SATURDAY IN EASTER WEEK
THE FEAST OF TOYOHIKO KAGAWA, RENEWER OF SOCIETY AND PROPHETIC WITNESS IN JAPAN
THE FEAST OF MARTIN RINCKART, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA MARIA OF THE CROSS, FOUNDER OF THE CARMELITE SISTERS OF SAINT TERESA OF FLORENCE
THE FEAST OF WALTER RUSSELL BOWIE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, SEMINARY PROFESSOR, AND HYMN WRITER
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Adapted from this post
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Above: Icon of the Ascension, by Andrei Rublev
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Ascension, Year 2
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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
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Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe
thy only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the heavens;
so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell,
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 175
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Daniel 7:9-14
Psalm 110
Hebrews 4:1-16
Luke 24:44-53
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My text is Luke 24:44-53.
The written Gospels are theological documents. The organization of material is not accidental.
At the beginning of Luke, Zechariah the priest could not pronounce a blessing (1:22). At the Ascension, Jesus, using priestly notions (see Leviticus 9:22 and Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 50:20-21), as well as words, provided a concluding blessing. Thus ended the first volume of Luke-Acts. The second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, carried the narrative forward. People, empowered by God, carried on the Church’s work. That work has never ended.
That work is community-based, not individual-based. “Jesus-and-me” is a narcissistic style of religion and a heresy. The individual aspect of religion belongs in the context of faith community, of “God and us”–in Christian terms, “Jesus and us.”
The Gospel of Luke opens and concludes in the Temple.
They worshipped him and they went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.
–Luke 24:52-53, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
What might Jesus do through churches–congregations and denominations–in these days if they were more receptive to the voice of God calling them? Congregations and denominations are doing much already, fortunately. But what else has God empowered them to do that they are not doing yet?
Why don’t we find out?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT BISCOP, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT OF WEARMOUTH
THE FEAST OF SAINT AELRED OF HEXHAM, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT OF RIEVAULX
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY PUCCI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF HENRY ALFORD, ANGLICAN PRIEST, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, LITERARY TRANSLATOR, HYMN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME
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Above: David and Goliath
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 17:1-49 or Jeremiah 32:1-15
Psalm 110
Romans 11:22-36
Luke 16:19-31
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[Yahweh] smote kings in the day of his wrath,
he routed nations;
he heaped corpses high,
He smote heads across a vast terrain.
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The key term for this post comes from Romans 11:22–
the kindness and severity of God,
as The Revised English Bible (1989) renders that verse. That is another way of saying “judgment and mercy.” That which we call judgment or wrath of God is frequently the proverbial chickens coming home to roost. As logicians remind us,
If x, then y.
That formula can also work so that y is positive.
One can draw a variety of lessons from these readings. The lessons include:
- Never be insensitive to human suffering. (Luke 16)
- Never think that other people exist to do one’s bidding. (Luke 16)
- Never forget that one is vulnerable, regardless of how imposing one may be or seem. (1 Samuel 17)
- Never oppress. (1 Samuel 17)
- Never think oneself wiser than one is. (Romans 11)
- Never lose hope, regardless of how dark the times are or seem to be. (Jeremiah 32)
After all, God is just/righteous. Divine judgment and mercy, balanced, are expressions of God’s justice/righteousness.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 28, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JAROSLAV VAJDA, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOZEF CEBULA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1941
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILIUS OF SULMONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND ALMSGIVER
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CHANEL, PROTOMARTYR OF OCEANIA, 1841
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM STRINGFELLOW, EPISCOPAL ATTORNEY, THEOLOGIAN, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/devotion-for-proper-24-year-c-humes/
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Above: Icon of Christ Pantocrator
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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Lord Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine,
thank you for the glorious mystery of your Incarnation,
essential to the Atonement, and therefore, our salvation.
May we, affirming your full humanity and full divinity without necessarily understanding them,
grow, by grace, into our full stature as human beings and achieve our full potential in God.
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Genesis 1:26-31
Psalm 110
Hebrews 1:1-14
John 1:1-18
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 25, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK THE EVANGELIST, MARTYR, 68
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Adapted from this post:
https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2020/04/25/proper-for-the-incarnation/
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https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2020/04/25/proper-for-the-incarnation/
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Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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The psalter of the Septuagint contains 151 psalms.
I have written based on all of them, in numerical order. I have retained the Hebrew numbering system, not that of the Septuagint.
Although I have no theological reticence to venture into textual territory that, according the United Methodism of my youth, is apocryphal, I do have limits. They reside in the realm of Orthodoxy, with its range of scriptural canons. Beyond that one finds the Pseudipigrapha. Psalm 151 concludes the Book of Psalms in The Orthodox Study Bible (2008); so be it.
The Hebrew psalter concludes with Psalm 150. In other psalters, however, the count is higher. In certain editions of the Septuagint, for example, Psalm 151 is an appendix to the Book of Psalms. In other editions of the Septuagint, however, Psalm 151 is an integrated part of the psalter. There is also the matter of the Syraic psalter, which goes as high as Psalm 155. I have no immediate plans to ponder Psalms 152-155, however. Neither do I plan to read and write about Psalms 156-160 any time soon, if ever.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 23, 2017 COMMON ERA
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 WILLIAM JOHN COPELAND, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
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Book One: Psalms 1-41
Book Two: Psalms 42-72
Book Three: Psalms 73-89
Book Four: Psalms 90-106
Book Five: Psalms 107-150
Also in the Greek: Psalm 151
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Posted August 23, 2017 by neatnik2009 in Psalm 1, Psalm 10, Psalm 100, Psalm 101, Psalm 102, Psalm 103, Psalm 104, Psalm 105, Psalm 106, Psalm 107, Psalm 108, Psalm 109, Psalm 11, Psalm 110, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, Psalm 113, Psalm 114, Psalm 115, Psalm 116, Psalm 117, Psalm 118, Psalm 119, Psalm 12, Psalm 120, Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalm 123, Psalm 124, Psalm 125, Psalm 126, Psalm 127, Psalm 128, Psalm 129, Psalm 13, Psalm 130, Psalm 131, Psalm 132, Psalm 133, Psalm 134, Psalm 135, Psalm 136, Psalm 137, Psalm 138, Psalm 139, Psalm 14, Psalm 140, Psalm 141, Psalm 142, Psalm 143, Psalm 144, Psalm 145, Psalm 146, Psalm 147, Psalm 148, Psalm 149, Psalm 15, Psalm 150, Psalm 151, Psalm 16, Psalm 17, Psalm 18, Psalm 19, Psalm 2, Psalm 20, Psalm 21, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24, Psalm 25, Psalm 26, Psalm 27, Psalm 28, Psalm 29, Psalm 3, Psalm 30, Psalm 31, Psalm 32, Psalm 33, Psalm 34, Psalm 35, Psalm 36, Psalm 37, Psalm 38, Psalm 39, Psalm 4, Psalm 40, Psalm 41, Psalm 42, Psalm 43, Psalm 44, Psalm 45, Psalm 46, Psalm 47, Psalm 48, Psalm 49, Psalm 5, Psalm 50, Psalm 51, Psalm 52, Psalm 53, Psalm 54, Psalm 55, Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 58, Psalm 59, Psalm 6, Psalm 60, Psalm 61, Psalm 62, Psalm 63, Psalm 64, Psalm 65, Psalm 66, Psalm 67, Psalm 68, Psalm 69, Psalm 7, Psalm 70, Psalm 71, Psalm 72, Psalm 73, Psalm 74, Psalm 75, Psalm 76, Psalm 77, Psalm 78, Psalm 79, Psalm 8, Psalm 80, Psalm 81, Psalm 82, Psalm 83, Psalm 84, Psalm 85, Psalm 86, Psalm 87, Psalm 88, Psalm 89, Psalm 9, Psalm 90, Psalm 91, Psalm 92, Psalm 93, Psalm 94, Psalm 95, Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, Psalm 99
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POST XLV OF LX
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The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days. I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.
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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 226
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Psalm 110, a royal psalm, is a difficult text. It changes voices, forcing one to study the psalm closely just to determine when “he ” is God and when “he” is the human king. In Psalm 110 the monarch (presumably David or a member of his dynasty) is close to God. This is the same God who, in Psalms 111-113, cares for the poor and expects us to do the same. God, almighty and metaphorically “enthroned on high,” also cares effectively for the needy, we read.
Then why is the rate of homelessness so high? Then why, when I drive in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, do I see people begging at major intersections. Some of them are professional panhandlers who choose begging over a job and find it more lucrative than much work, I realize, but not all of them are.
We–you, O reader, and I–have arrived at the difficult intersection of human and divine responsibilities. To reduce the matter to human ineffectiveness seems too simplistic to me. True, human ineffectiveness explains much of the problem, but can God not act directly? Is not God omnipotent?
Wrestling with difficult questions of divine and human responsibilities is a matter to take seriously and to take to God faithfully.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 20, 2017 COMMON ERA
PROPER 15: THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF JOHN BAJUS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
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Above: Abraham and Melchizedek
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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Genesis 14:18-20
Psalm 110:1-4
Hebrews 7:1-3, 11-19
John 5:30-47
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The LORD has sworn and he will not recant:
“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
–Psalm 110:4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Melchizedek, a Canaanite priest-king whose name means “Zedek is my king,” appears briefly and mysteriously in Genesis 14. (Zedek was a Canaanite deity.) The name “Melchizedek” recurs in Psalm 110, which identifies the monarch as a priest. The Letter to the Hebrews associates Melchizedek with Jesus.
Jesus is a powerful figure in all of the canonical Gospels. That power is more evident in deeds than in words in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Gospel of John Jesus is considerably more verbose. His plethora of words accompanies mighty signs. Jesus accepts no glory from people (John 5:41), seeking to glorify God the Father instead, just as Abraham gives all glory to YHWH in Genesis 14.
This Sunday is traditionally the Sunday of the Transfiguration. In the chronology of the Synoptic Gospels the Transfiguration occurs en route to Jerusalem the last time; Jesus is going to the city not to seek his own glory, but to obey and glorify God. And, in the Gospel of John, the glorification of Jesus by God is his crucifixion.
Regardless of the ambiguous details of Melchizedek, most of which I have not written about because they are irrelevant to my main point in this post, the principle that we mere mortals should seek to glorify God, not ourselves, remains. It is a counter-cultural message, for quite often we tend to praise those who seek their own glory. That glory is fleeting, but God’s glory is everlasting.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 3, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE-LEONIE PARADIS, FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WHITING, HYMN WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2017/05/03/devotion-for-the-last-sunday-after-the-epiphany-ackerman/
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Above: Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, by Ludolf Bakhuizen
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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Genesis 14:1-24
Psalm 110
Matthew 8:14-34 or Mark 5:1-20
Hebrews 7:1-28
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The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
–Psalm 110:4, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
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Psalm 110 is a text that speaks of divine assurance of victory for a priest-king. “Priest-king” is a description that applies to the mysterious Melchizedek, King of (Jeru)Salem, perhaps a Gentile follower of YHWH. The meaning of Psalm 110 is vague and the text of Genesis 14 concerning Melchizedek is ambiguous, but the political use of the Melchizedek story, centuries later was clear. David and his descendants are worthy to perform certain priestly roles, subsequent royal publicity experts claimed.
The use of certain passages of scripture to convince people to obey their leaders is an old strategy. My bias in this question is to resist the use of scripture to control people. No, I argue, following God is about liberation–to follow God and to build up communities and other groups of people. The truth of God is frequently contrary to the message of many human authority figures. I think also of Samuel’s warning about the dangers of monarchy in 1 Samuel 8:10-18.
Jesus liberates us to love others as we love ourselves. He frees to build up the whole, not seek selfish gains and hurt others in the short, medium, and long terms, as well as ourselves in the long run. Jesus liberates us to take up a cross and follow him. He frees us to glorify and enjoy God forever. Jesus invites us to die–to self, at least–and perhaps, literally, for him. Jesus liberates us to become our best selves in God.
How do we respond to Jesus? Do we seek to honor him one way or another? Or do we make excuses for why we refuse to follow him? Perhaps we find Jesus threatening, maybe to our livelihood, and/or our identity (regarding who and what we are not, rather than who and what we are) and demand that he leave us alone.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 31, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF KARL OTTO EBERHARDT, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/devotion-for-the-first-sunday-of-christmas-year-d/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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