Archive for the ‘Psalm 121’ Category
Above: The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter, by Paolo Veronese
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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Lamentations 3:22-33
Psalm 30 (LBW) or Psalm 121 (LW)
2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-14
Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43 or Mark 5:24b-34
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O God, you have prepared for those who love you
joys beyond understanding.
Pour into our hearts such love for you that,
loving you above all things,
we may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 25
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O God, because you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as surpass our understanding,
pour into our hearts such love towards you that we,
loving you above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 67
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Lamentations is hardly the most exuberant book in the canon of Jewish and Christian scripture. Its name is accurate; the book contains lamentations from the Babylonian Exile. Lamentations likens God to a predator–a lurking bear and a lion (verse 10). The male persona in chapter 3 writes that God has mangled him, shot him full of arrows, broken his teeth on gravel, and ground him into the dust. This persona–representing the exiles–then states that he still has hope in God, who does not reject forever, but afflicts then pardons. Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.
That remarkable statement of collective faith is consistent with Psalms 30 and 121, in which God protects people. That remarkable statement of collective faith is consistent with the ethos of 2 Corinthians 8:1-14, in which God provides for people via other people. That statement of collective faith is consistent with the double healing in Mark 5, in which the body of Christ destroyed the cause of the desperate woman’s ritual impurity and Jesus restored a daughter to her bereft father.
We do not always receive what we seek, at least when we think we should receive it. We may, for example, pray for the healing of one who is seriously ill. Yet that person may die. Or we may receive what we prayed for, but later than we anticipated. But God still cares. And we have human agents of grace all around us. We may recognize this fact if we pay attention. Furthermore, God can still act directly. Our perspective is limited. We do not always distinguish between needs and wants, between what is best and what is not. Yet we are never alone.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 6, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTY-EIGHTH DAY OF LENT
MAUNDY/HOLY THURSDAY
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF CARTHAGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 413
THE FEAST OF BENJAMIN HALL KENNEDY, GREEK AND LATIN SCHOLAR, BIBLE TRANSLATOR, AND ANGLICAN PRIEST
THE FEAST OF DANGIEL G. C. WU, CHINESE-AMERICAN EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF EMIL BRUNNER, SWISS REFORMED THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF MILNER BALL, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, LAW PROFESSOR, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, AND HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT NOKTER BALBULUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
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Adapted from this post
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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 LXXII
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Psalm 121
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Psalm 121 envisions a caravan of devout Jewish pilgrims approaching, camping out near, and departing from Jerusalem. The text includes a host of details a reader may easily miss in 2023. There is, for example, the traditional notion that the Moon caused insanity (verse 6). Verses 3 and 4 reject the idea that God sleeps or stands by idly. The reference to going and coming seems to mean going to and departing from Jerusalem. Yet, in Deuteronomy 31:2 and 2 Kings 11:8, “going and coming” is an idiom for one’s daily work. English, my native tongue, has inconsistent meanings, too. Languages are like that.
The soundtrack for Psalm 121 inside my cranium comes courtesy of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s great oratorio, Elijah: “Lift Thine Eyes,” followed by “He, Watching Over Israel.”
Psalm 121 is a traditional psalm of travelers. Reading the text as applying to the journey of life explains one part of traditional Lutheran baptismal liturgies and funerary rites. For example, in the Lutheran Service Book (2006), before the pastor baptizes the candidate, he says:
The Lord preserve your coming in and your going out from this time forth and even evermore.
–270
The proposition that God watches over the faithful during their journeys of life does not indicate protection from all perils. The historical record lists many persecutions, murders, genocides, martyrdoms, and other unpleasant ways to die, for example. I, as a Christian, also cite the execution of Jesus. And I have a mandate to take up my cross and follow him. Psalm 121 says that God keeps the lives of the faithful.
Psalm 121:7, depending on translation, says that God will guard the faithful from either all harm or all evil. Based on my survey of commentaries, “evil” is the better translation. God protecting the faithful from evil also fits with the harm that has befallen many of the faithful. One who is pious may suffer harm–even die for the faith–yet remain protected from evil, in the afterlife.
The journey of life will not always be easy and free from harm, but it is better with God as the shade at one’s right hand.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 15, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF LIBYA, 2015
THE FEAST OF BEN SALMON, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PACIFIST AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR
THE FEAST OF HENRY B. WHIPPLE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF MINNESOTA
THE FEAST OF JOHN TIETJEN, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, ECUMENIST, AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF MICHAEL PRAETORIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND MUSICOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRAY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY
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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART LXXI
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Psalms 120 and 123
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Psalms 120 and 123 are similar to each other.
Psalms 120-134 are songs of ascents. As you, O reader, read these texts, imagine a caravan of devout Jews making a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Then you will be in the correct frame of mind for getting the most out of the texts.
Psalms 120 and 123 concern the perils of the negative attitudes and words of others. These perils may be individual or collective. That words matter is a point I have made many times at this weblog and already in this series. So, I hereby repeat the headline (“WORDS MATTER”) and decline to unpack it again in this post.
Psalm 120 does require some explanation, though.
Woe to me, for I have sojourned in Meshach,
dwelled among the tents of Kedar.
–Psalm 120:5, Robert Alter
Poetry does not have to be literal. Meshach and Kedar are far-flung places far away from each other. Meshach (Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 32:26; 38:2-3; 39:1-3) is in northwestern Asia Minor (now Turkey), between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Kedar (Genesis 25:13) is on the Arabian Peninsula. They symbolize barbaric, warlike peoples on the edge of the known world. Robert Alter explains the poetic imagery this way:
…it may be plausible to understand them as metaphors for living among people who behave like strangers, even if those people were within a stone’s throw of Jerusalem (as someone today might say, “I felt as though I were in Siberia or Timbuktu.”
—The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3, The Writings (2019), 292
The germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) concludes:
The psalmist feels as if he lives, metaphorically, among these far-away, militant people (v.6); he is alienated from his own society.
–1412
Imagine, O reader, a caravan of devout Jews from a village making their pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, for one of the major festivals. Then ask yourself why they would sing that psalm.
Psalm 123 begins as an individual prayer (“To You I lift up my eyes”) and concludes as a collective lament. Notice the words “our” and “us,” in verses 2-4, O reader.
Grant us grace, LORD, grant us grace,
for we are sorely sated with scorn.
Surely has our being been sated
with the contempt of the smug,
the scorn of the haughty.
–Verses 3-4, Robert Alter
Psalm 123, unlike other psalms, which complain about slander and libel, reflects frustration with arrogant scorn and contempt. “We” take that complaint to God.
What was happening close to home, for members of a pious caravan to sing Psalm 123 en route to the Temple in Jerusalem?
One need not stretch one’s imagination to grasp additional meanings of these texts for Jews of the Diaspora.
A psalm carries different meanings at different times and in various places. A text composed in one period with one meaning or set of meanings in mind may, therefore, remain germane elsewhere and long after composition. A psalm is a living text.
So, I propose a new context for relating to Psalms 120 and 123. The global Western cultures are becoming increasingly secular, with a growing strain of antitheism. Do not misunderstand me, O reader; I favor the separation of church and state, mainly to prevent the church from become an arm of the state, thereby losing its prophetic, moral edge. Yet the increasingly secular societies, combined with the rise of fashionable atheism and antitheism, heap scorn upon piety and the pious. The devout may, against their will, find themselves alienated from their own society and even from religious establishments which endorse bigotry and Christian or Jewish nationalism. Taking this sense of alienation and spiritual fatigue to God makes sense.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 14, 2023 COMMON ERA
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 FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
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: Coastal Landscape with Balaam and the Ass, by Bartholomeus Breenburgh
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Third Sunday after Easter, Year 1
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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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Almighty God, who showest to them that be in error the light of thy truth,
to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness;
grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion
that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 169-170
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Numbers 22:1-21
Psalms 121 and 123:1-3a
Revelation 3:1-6
John 16:12-22
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Appearances deceive sometimes. Consider, O reader, the case of the church at ancient Sardis at the time of the writing of Revelation. We read that, despite its reputation, the congregation was spiritually dead. There was still hope, however, we read.
After all, one purpose of pronouncing judgment is to convince people to repent, so that condemnation ill no longer is necessary.
Do the right thing, we read. God will help you to do it, we read as we continue. God is faithful, the readings tell us.
Do we believe that? The beginning of evil is the rejection of all the above. When we think that God does not exist or does not care, at least, we conclude that we can and must do everything on our own. Then we slip into amorality; the ends justify the means, we tell ourselves.
Trusting in the faithfulness of God liberates us to grow into our best spiritual selves, thereby leaving the world better than we found it.
May we trust in God, or continue to do so.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 7, 2020 COMMON ERA
TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
THE FEAST OF SAINT TIKHON OF MOSCOW, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
THE FEAST OF SAINT GEORGE THE YOUNGER, GREEK ORTHODOX BISHOP OF MITYLENE
THE FEAST OF JAY THOMAS STOCKING, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MONTFORD SCOTT, EDMUND GENNINGS, HENRY WALPOLE, AND THEIR FELLOW MARTYRS, 1591 AND 1595
THE FEAST OF RANDALL DAVIDSON, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
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Above: A Stamp Depicting Jonah in the Boat
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
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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The Assigned Readings:
Jonah 1
Psalm 121
Philippians 1:15-30
Matthew 26:20-35
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The story of Jonah is a work of satirical fiction that teaches timeless truths. It is the tale of a reluctant prophet who flees God’s call before finally accepting the vocation and succeeding, much to his disappointment. The book is a story about repentance, God’s mercy on our enemies, God’s refusal to conform to our expectations, and the foolishness of religious nationalism.
St. Paul the Apostle, perhaps writing from prison in Ephesus, circa 56 C.E., wrote:
It is my confident hope that nothing will prevent me from speaking boldly; and that now as always Christ will display his greatness in me, whether the verdict be life or death.
–Philippians 1:20, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Christ, in Matthew 26, was obedient to God–soon to the point of death. His final journey to Jerusalem had a result far different from that of the trek of pilgrims who sang Psalm 121.
Each of us has an inner Jonah. Each of us likes certain categories more than we ought and other categories we should reject. We like for God to bless people like ourselves and overlook our sis, and to smite our enemies, collective and individual. To some extent, we define ourselves according to who we are not. Therefore, if our enemies and those we dislike change, what does of identity become?
Defense mechanisms are frequently negative. When we embrace them and flee from God, they certainly are. When we embrace them and find divine grace scandalous, they are surely negative. When we embrace them and choose not to speak the words of God boldly or at all, they certainly are idolatrous.
May we, by grace, eschew this and all other forms of idolatry.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 23, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT IVO OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/devotion-for-the-second-sunday-in-lent-year-a-humes/
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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 LIII 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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Psalms 120-134 are Songs of Ascents, which pilgrims to Jerusalem used en route to festivals at the Temple.
Regarding Psalms 120-125, dependence upon God is a recurring theme. One might be alienated from one’s society (as in Psalm 120) or fear bandits, sunstroke, and lunacy (as in Psalm 121). The dependence upon God might also be national (as in Psalms 123, 124, and 125). Either way, congruity with concern for the shalom of Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile (as in Psalm 122) is certain.
In my distress I called to the LORD
and He answered me.
–Psalm 120:1, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The God of these psalms is one who cares deeply. He is the one who, in the words of Psalm 121,
…will guard your going and coming now and forever.
–Verse 8, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Given the postexilic context, pilgrims would have understood God as also being ready, willing, and able to punish individuals and nations for their persistent sins. The balance of divine judgment and mercy was on their minds.
Do good, O LORD, to the good,
to the upright in heart.
But those who in their crookedness act corruptly,
let the LORD make them go the way of evildoers.
May it be well with Israel!
–Psalm 125:4-5, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Such a balance is useful to ponder, yet only with great reverence and caution. One should also do so with much humility, for no mortal can know where the line between divine judgment and mercy exists. One can, however, study the scriptures and notice an emphasis on mercy for the faithful.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 22, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
THE FEAST OF JOHN DRYDEN, ENGLISH PURITAN THEN ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND TRANSLATOR
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Above: Jacob and Esau Are Reconciled, by Jan Van den Hoecke
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O Lord God, tireless guardian of your people,
you are always ready to hear our cries.
Teach us to rely day and night on your care.
Inspire us to seek your enduring justice for all the suffering world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 50
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 31:43-32:2 (Friday)
Genesis 32:3-21 (Saturday)
Psalm 121 (Both Days)
2 Timothy 2:14-26 (Friday)
Mark 10:46-52 (Saturday)
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He will not let your foot be moved and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.
Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD himself watches over you; the LORD is your shade at your right hand,
So that the sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; it is he who shall keep you safe.
The LORD shall watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time forth for evermore.
–Psalm 121:3-8, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Here is a saying you may trust:
“If we died with him, we shall live with him;
if we endure, we shall reign with him;
if we disown him, he will disown us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.”
Keep on reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before God to stop disputing about mere words; it does no good, and only ruins those who listen.
–2 Timothy 2:11-14, The Revised English Bible (1989)
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God seeks to build us up; we should strive to the same for each other. That is the unifying theme of these lessons.
Distracting theological arguments constitute “mere words” (2 Timothy 2:14). Of course, many people do not think that such theological arguments are distracting and destructive. Partisans certainly understand them to be matters of fidelity to God. Such arguments help to explain the multiplicity of Christian denominations. I think in particular of the Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma), which separated from the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) in 1910-1911 over, in part, the parent body’s liberalization with regard to Sola Scriptura (or, more to the point, that which the Reformed churches call the Regulative Principle of Worship) and worldliness. The Anderson Church began to (gasp!) permit the wearing of neckties! (Shock horror) Granted, the original, narrow meaning of Sola Scriptura, especially in Lutheran theology, applies only to requirements for salvation, but certain schools of Christianity have expanded its scope to matters beyond salvation–from liturgy to the presence or absence of neckties.
Legalism does not build up the body of Christ. Reconciliation, however, does. We read a prelude to the reconciliation of Jacob and Esau (effected in Genesis 33) in Chapter 32. Jacob, who had, with the help of his mother, cheated his brother out of his birthright in Genesis 27, had gone on to become a recipient of trickery in Chapter 29. He parted company with his father-in-law, Laban, with whom he had a difficult relationship, in Genesis 31, and was nervous about what might happen at a reunion with Esau, who proved to be conciliatory.
The healing of blind Bartimaeus (literally, son of Timaeus) is familiar. Jesus, unlike many people in the account, has compassion for the blind man calling out to him. Those others, we might speculate with little or no risk of being wrong, thought of Bartimaeus as a nuisance at worst and an irritant at best. One need not use one’s imagination much to grasp the application of this story in daily life. Do we see people, or do we see irritants and nuisances?
A moral law of the universe is that, whatever we do to others, we do to ourselves also. This challenges us all, does it not? Tearing others down might be in one’s short-term interests, but, in the long term, those who injure others do so to their detriment.
How is God calling you to build up others today, O reader?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 31, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/devotion-for-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-24-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: St. Paul Preaching in Athens, by Raphael
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O Lord God, tireless guardian of your people,
you are always ready to hear our cries.
Teach us to rely day and night on your care.
Inspire us to seek your enduring justice for all the suffering world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 50
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The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 54:11-17
Psalm 121
Acts 17:22-34
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I lift up my eyes to the hills;
from where is my help to come?
My help comes from the LORD,
the maker of heaven and earth.
–Psalm 121:1-2, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The reading from Isaiah 54, echoing Jeremiah 31:33-35 in verse 13, offers high hopes for the future of post-exilic Jerusalem. Divine anger has come and gone, it says, and the day of extravagant mercy is at hand. The reality of Jerusalem and Judea after the Babylonian Exile did not match high expectations, as history tells us, but one might hope for that bright future in days to come.
That theme of the balance of divine judgment and mercy continues in Acts 17:29-31. Mennonite theology has done much with the concept that this is the time of divine patience, with the understanding that such patience, with the understanding that such patience will come to an end. St. Paul the Apostle, we read, understood the time of divine patience to have ended already and the end times to have begun. You, O reader, and I know, however, that from the perspective of 2016, nearly 2000 years have transpired since the events of the Acts of the Apostles. We have nearly 2000 reasons for disagreeing with St. Paul’s assumptions regarding the timing of the parousia.
We live in the age of God’s patience. May we, by grace, not try or exploit it much more often than we have already. May our relationship to God be like the one described in Psalm 121 instead.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 31, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/devotion-for-thursday-before-proper-24-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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