I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XLIV

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Psalms 58, 59, 140, and 141

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Psalms 58, 59, 140, and 141 are similar; they emphasize justice and honesty.  Prayers that the wicked will suffer the consequences of their actions also exist in all four texts.

The concepts of justice and righteousness require explanation in Biblical terms.  The two terms are interchangeable.  Also, righteousness denotes right relationship with God, self, others, and all creation.  So, O reader, I disagree when I read Psalm 58:11a (Robert Alter):

The just man rejoices when vengeance he sees….

Justice and righteousness may be interchangeable, but vengeance is neither just nor righteous.  Justice may entail punishment, but never revenge.

The superscription of Psalm 59 links that text to 1 Samuel 19:11, in which Michal helped David, her husband, escape from men whom her father, King Saul, had sent to kill David.  The superscription is dubious, for:

1. Psalm 59, in the form in which we have it, is the product of authors and editors.  The content and the style are inconsistent.
2. Psalm 59 refers to both individual and national foes, including “all the nations” (vers 6, Jewish versification).
3. If we accept Robert Alter’s hypothesis, physical violence may be a metaphor for slander (verse 13, Jewish versification).

Psalm 59 likens the foes to a pack of wild dogs.  This reference comes from a cultural context in which dogs were unclean animals, not beloved pets.  The “dogs” of Psalm 59 are aggressive evildoers.  They are also arrogant and never satisfied.

Yet God is the haven of targeted righteous and the falsely accused.

The emphasis on honest speech is an evergreen issue, for it never ceases to be relevant.  It may be more important in the age of social media and the Internet.  Technology accelerates the speed of character assassination and the spread of lies and inaccurate information.  So, the prayer that slanderers will have no place in the land becomes more urgent with the march of time and the progress of technology.

A related issue is the spread of inaccurate information–not necessarily lies.  A lie is an intentional deception.  So, one may spread objectively false information while believing that it is true and accurate.  This matter is a major problem in the age of “alternative facts.”  A person’s motivation and perception filters aside,

the proof of the pudding is in the eating,

to quote an old saying.  Objective reality is what it is, regardless of what anyone thinks about it.  “Fake news” is objectively inaccurate information, not whatever is accurate and true yet politically inconvenient for a person, for example.

Discerning the liars and slanderers from the deluded fools may prove difficult sometimes.  The consequences of their words may be the same, though.

By grace, may we speak the truth, honestly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 18, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE CONFESSION OF SAINT PETER THE APOSTLE

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Above:  Ruth, the Dutiful Daughter-in-Law, by William Blake

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 18:1-15 or Ruth 1:1-19

Psalm 140

Revelation 19:1-10

John 12:37-50

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I detect some themes in the assigned readings.  These include:  

1. Failure to believe, sometimes despite evidence:
2. The victory of God over evil regimes, institutions, and people;
3. Divine destruction of the corrupt, violent, exploitative, and oppressive world order ahead of replacing it with the fully realized Kingdom of God;
4. The divine preference for the poor; and
5. God acting in the lives of people, often via other people.

This week, the Humes lectionary takes us to the Book of Ruth, a delightful book about the faithfulness of God, especially in the lives of women.  The Book of Ruth also teaches that some Gentiles have faith in the God of the Jews.  When one considers that the text may date to either the Babylonian Exile or to the Postexilic period, one may recognize more hope in the story than one would see otherwise.  One may even recognize a protest against Ezra 9:9, 10 and Nehemiah 13:23-30, as well as an assertion that foreigners may join the Jewish community.

Divine love includes all who follow God, after all.  I, as a Gentile, approve of that message.  Divine love also reaches out to those who reject it.  Divine love calls upon all people to respond affirmatively.

I do not presume to know who has gone to Heaven or Hell, or who will go to either reality.  I guess that Adolf Hitler, for example, is in Hell.  However, I affirm that even Hitler was not beyond redemption.  I also affirm that he made decisions, which had negative consequences for himself and the world.

The Gospel of Jesus is inclusive.  The love of God is inclusive.  When we say that salvation comes via Jesus, what does that mean?  That question is distinct from what we think it means?  I leave to the purview of God what belongs there.  My role is to point toward Jesus.  To whom else would I, a Christian, point?

How inclusive do we who claim to follow God want to be?  Do we want to include all those whom God includes?  In other words, who are our Gentiles?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 26, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS TIMOTHY, TITUS, AND SILAS, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/devotion-for-proper-22-year-d-humes/

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Book One: Psalms 1-41

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 Two:  Psalms 42-72

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Book Five:  Psalms 107-150

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119:1-32

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Also in the Greek:  Psalm 151

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POST LVII 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 139 opens and concludes piously.  The author also asks God to examine him spiritually and writes of God’s omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.  Unfortunately, the psalmist’s piety includes the understanding that solidarity with God entails hatred for God’s enemies.  The author of Psalm 139 seeks their destruction, not their repentance.  This is a perspective one also finds in Psalm 140, in which the author is under siege from evil, lawless men whose words are like weapons.

I do not defend evil, lawless people who engage in slander and/or violence.  Neither do I stand up for enemies of God.  I do not, however, seek their destruction and damnation.  No, I seek their repentance; I want them to amend their lives.

Hatred, after all, is a vice, not a virtue.

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:  Fig Tree Cleaving a Rock, Transjordan, Circa 1930-1933

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-14982

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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:

Genesis 3:1-7 (8-15) 16-24 or Jeremiah 8:4-13 or Jeremiah 24:1-10 or Habakkuk 3:1-19

Psalm 140

Matthew 21:12-22 or Mark 11:12-25 (26)

Colossians 1:29-2:5 (16-19) 20-23

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God is the only proper source of confidence, human philosophies and accomplishments are puny and transitory at best and deceptive at worst.  They are also seductive.  Consequences of giving into them in the assigned readings include exile, pestilence, famine, and destruction.

The readings from Matthew and Mark, despite their slight chronological discrepancy, are mostly consistent with each other.  In the narrative they follow the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem immediately.  We read that Jesus takes great offense to people profiting by converting Roman currency (technically idols, given the image of the Emperor, described as the “Son of God”) into money theologically suitable for purchasing sacrificial animals.  He also curses and kills a fig tree for not bearing figs.  We who read these accounts are supposed to ask ourselves if we are fruitful or fruitless fig trees.  One will, after all, know a tree by its fruits.

Are we the kind of people who would have followed Jesus all the way to Golgotha or are we the variety of people who would have plotted or ordered his execution or at least denied knowing him or would have shouted “Crucify him!”?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 17, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, ABOLITIONIST AND FEMINIST; AND MARIA STEWART, ABOLITIONIST, FEMINIST, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB AND DOROTHY BUXTON, FOUNDERS OF SAVE THE CHILDREN

THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER

THE FEAST OF MARY CORNELIA BISHOP GATES, U.S. DUTCH REFORMED HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/devotion-for-proper-16-year-d/

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Above:  Dawn

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Sovereign God, ruler of all hearts,

you call us to obey you, and you favor us with true freedom.

Keep us faithful to the ways of your Son, that,

leaving behind all that hinders us,

we may steadfastly follow your paths,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 41

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The Assigned Readings:

Jeremiah 3:15-18 (Tuesday)

Jeremiah 23:16-22 (Wednesday)

Psalm 140 (Both Days)

Ephesians 5:6-20 (Tuesday)

Matthew 10:16-25 (Wednesday)

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Rescue me, Yahweh, from evil men,

protect me from violent men,

whose heart is bent on malice,

day after day they harbour strife;

their tongues as barbed as a serpent’s,

viper’s venom behind their lips.

–Psalm 140:1-3, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

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The reading from Jeremiah 3 comes from a section of scripture about repentance.  God is calling a rebellious people to holiness.  One day, the passage says,

They shall no longer follow the willfulness of their evil hearts.

–Jeremiah 3:17c, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

That prophecy had not come true by the end of the first century of the Common Era.  It had not come true by the time of Jeremiah 23, which includes references to false prophets.  That prophecy had not come to fruition by the time of Ephesians 5:6-20, during evil days.  It had not become reality by the time of Matthew 10:16-25, which refers to the persecution of followers of Jesus.

That prophecy has yet to come true, for its fulfillment resides in the future.  Until then the best advice to follow is that we find in the readings for these two days:

1. Live as children of the light,
2. Be filled with the Holy Spirit,
3. Give thanks to God for everything and at all times,
4. Trust in God during good times and good times, and
5. Remember that no pupil ranks above his or her master.

God will save the world, but we can leave it better than we found it.  We have a moral obligation to do so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 8, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT, JULIA ANNE ELLIOTT, AND EMILY ELLIOTT, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT HUMPHREY OF PRUM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF THEROUANNE

THE FEAST OF JOHN HAMPDEN GURNEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD, FOUNDER OF THE BROTHERS HOSPITALLERS OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/devotion-for-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-proper-8-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Eliezer Meeting Rebekah at the Well

Image Source = Elsie E. Egermeier, Bible Story Book (1939)

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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The Collect:

Sovereign God, ruler of all hearts,

you call us to obey you, and you favor us with true freedom.

Keep us faithful to the ways of your Son, that,

leaving behind all that hinders us,

we may steadfastly follow your paths,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 41

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The Assigned Readings:

Genesis 24:34-41, 50-67

Psalm 140

1 John 2:7-11

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I know that Yahweh will give judgement for the wretched,

justice for the needy.

The upright shall praise your name,

the honest dwell in your presence.

–Psalm 140:12-13, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

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The reading from Genesis 24 might prove confusing unless one reads the entire chapter.  In it Abraham sends a servant (whom the text does not name) to find a wife for Isaac.  The standard for a wife is good character.  Rebekah, daughter of Laban, passes the test by extending hospitality (a matter of life or death in that place and culture) to the servant.  She becomes Isaac’s beloved.  On the other hand, we read of her devious side in Genesis 27.  That, however, is another story for a different story.

The standard for righteousness in 1 John 2:7-11 is love–agape, to be precise.  Agape is unconditional and selfless love, the variety of love that leads one to sacrifice for another person.  The person who lacks agape resides in spiritual darkness, but he or she who has agape knows the way to go.

This is an appropriate standard to apply to questions of individual actions and governmental policies, especially when lives are at risk.  Extending hospitality might constitute the difference between people living or dying, or of living in a better situation or in worse circumstances.  The commandment to love unconditionally and selflessly applies, does it not?  It might be politically unpopular, but it still applies.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 8, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT, JULIA ANNE ELLIOTT, AND EMILY ELLIOTT, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT HUMPHREY OF PRUM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF THEROUANNE

THE FEAST OF JOHN HAMPDEN GURNEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD, FOUNDER OF THE BROTHERS HOSPITALLERS OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/devotion-for-monday-after-proper-8-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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