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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXXI

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Psalms 42 and 43

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Psalms 42 and 43 were originally one text.

The psalmist presents himself as a pious person suffering from derision.  (Words matter.)  He, cut off socially, endures persecution and yearns to come to the Temple in Jerusalem.  He is downcast–sad, bent over from his plight.  The psalmist–his soul, in many translations–yearns for God.  Given that Judaism in not Platonism, Robert Alter’s translation of the germane Hebrew word as “I,” “whole being,” and “being,” but never as “soul,” makes sense.

The spiritual despair in Psalms 42 and 43 is not unique.  One may detect it, for example, in the prophet Jeremiah and in Jesus of Nazareth, between the Bible’s covers.  One can also detect this spiritual despair in the lives of saints, such as St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), who wrote Dark Night of the Soul.  Perhaps one even recognizes having felt the same type of despair.

Spiritual life has peaks and valleys.  The peaks are pleasant; the valleys are not.  Yet the spiritual valleys are frequently times during which we grow more than we do during spiritual peaks.  This is my experience.  I appreciate and feel grateful for my spiritual growth during time spent in valleys.  However, I do not want to spend any more time in spiritual valleys, even though I know that I will.

In a scene in First Reformed (2018), a depressed minister sits with a group of youth at an Evangelical megachurch.  One male adolescent has a superficial understanding of spiritual life.  He says:

If happiness came in pill size, it would have JC stamped on it.

Those for whom spiritual life is superficial may shun the valleys and dismiss the ennui of people in them.  Yet spiritual depth grasps that valleys are unavoidable stages in spiritual journey.  And, if we were always on spiritual peaks, we would be incapable of appreciating them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 5, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF ANTONIO LOTTI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF FELIX MANZ, FIRST ANABAPTIST MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT GENOVEVA TORRES MORALES, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE HOLY ANGELS

THE FEAST OF JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PENNSYLVANIA

THE FEAST OF MARGARET MACKAY, SCOTTISH HYMN WRITER

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There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.

Above:  Icon of the Assumption of Elijah

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Sunday After 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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O God, the King of glory, who through the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ,

hast opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers;

leave us not comfortless, we beseech thee, in our weary mortal state,

but send unto us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,

to guide us into the way of truth and peace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 178

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2 Kings 2:1-15

Psalm 42

Colossians 3:1-11

Matthew 28:16-20

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–Colossians 3:11b, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

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For most of the Gospel of Matthew, Christ’s mission was t Jews only.  Certain Gentiles expressed interest, though.  These were some of the God-fearers, who rejected the paganism of their cultures and recognized YHWH as the one true God.  At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus issued the Great Commission:  to go out into all the world, to baptize, and to make disciples in all parts of the world.

Grace is free yet not cheap.  Accepting it imposes obligations upon one.  These include maturing spiritually, as in Colossians 3:5-11.  The list there is representative, not comprehensive.  It points to how we think about and behave toward one another.

Such spiritual maturity also thrives at the high points of life and endures in the depths of despair.  Psalm 42 comes from exile.  Exile can assume many forms.  The longer the COVID-19 pandemic continues, for example, the more it feels like exile to many people, including me.  Souls feel cast down.  They feel thirsty for God.  Spiritual maturity helps one endure the wilderness of despair.

God loves all people and beckons them.  God even predestines some percentage of them to Heaven yet none to Hell.  The extravagant love of God functions as a model for we mere mortals.  Do we love people unconditionally?  Do we love those who are very different from us?  I confess that, at my best, my love falls far short of divine love.  Yet I trust in God, whose grace suffices.  And I strive to do better.

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:  Saint Paul Preaches in Athens

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:

Acts 17:16-34

Psalm 42

2 John

John 17:1-26

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Attaching a precise theological label to the heresy in the community of the Second Letter of John is difficult.  Which -ism is it?  Anyway, it entails denying the Incarnation.

The Incarnation is central to Christianity.  Easter depends upon Good Friday.  Easter and Good Friday, in turn depend upon Christmas.  Therefore, whenever I listen to certain classical music for Christmas and hear the familiar tune of the Passion Chorale, I know that some composers understood the link between Christmas and Easter.

The Incarnation may be one of the more audacious claims of Christian doctrine.  It seems absurd to many.  Rejection of it by many may discourage some who proclaim the Gospel.  Yet the light continues to shine in the darkness, which has not overcome it.

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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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/devotion-for-the-sixth-sunday-of-easter-year-d-humes/

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…therefore, as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.”

Above: Tablets of the Ten Commandments

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fifth Sunday in Lent, 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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We beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people,

that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved ever more,

both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 154

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Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm 42

1 Corinthians 1:21-31

Luke 13:22-35

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Themes from the previous post in this series continue in this one:

1. Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance.
2. Trust in God.
3. Glorify God, not self.

The pericope from 1 Corinthians 1 (quoting Jeremiah 9:24) even offers

–1 Corinthians 15:31, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

St. Paul the Apostle used the same quote again in 2 Corinthians 10:17.

Above:  A Timeless Principle Applicable Both Individually and Collectively

Image Source = Google Earth

God has provided instructions–a combination of timeless principles and timeless and culturally-specific examples–so that people will not go astray.  Yet, as I do not need to point out, people have continued to go astray, even after learning of this law.  Giving lip service to the Law of Love/the Golden Rule, for example, is easy.  Many people who outwardly acknowledge that commandment also lie, cheat, and/or steal.  If one knows the books of the Hebrew prophets well, one knows that this is ancient and documented behavior.

Human nature is a constant factor.  Our only hope is the only one it can be–God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 27, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES HENRY BRENT, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINES, BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINTS NICHOLAS OWEN, THOMAS GARNET, MARK BARKWORTH, EDWARD OLDCORNE, AND RALPH ASHLEY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601-1608

THE FEAST OF ROBERT HALL BAYNES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MADAGASCAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT RUPERT OF SALZBURG, APOSTLE OF BAVARIA AND AUSTRIA

THE FEAST OF STANLEY ROTHER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN GUATEMALA, 1981

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Above:  Job and His Alleged Friends

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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Job 8:8-22 or Deuteronomy 11:18-28

Psalm 42

James 2:18-26

Mark 2:1-12

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In the perfect moral universe of Bildad the Shuhite and those who think like him, piety is a shield against misfortune.  This is an attitude present in parts of the Book of Psalms.  That book also contradicts the attitude, however, for certain psalms acknowledge that innocent people suffer.

Jesus, without ignoring that the suffering of many resulted partially from their sins, did not state that all human suffering resulted from the sins of the suffering.  His sinless life testified to a different reality, that sometimes we suffer because of the sins of others, and piety sometimes leads to persecution and/or death.

Certainty can become an idol, as in the cases of Bildad (Job 8) and the accusers of Jesus (Mark 2).  Idols abound; certainty is one of the most popular ones.  I refer to false, misplaced certainty, not to confirmed knowledge, such as 2 + 2 = 4.  No, I refer to certainty that fills voids meant for faith in God.  The human psyche craves certainty.  Unfortunately, false certainty leads to conspiracy theories, to other denial of reality, and to idolatry.  In reality, what we do not know outweighs what we do know, and humility is in order; certainty be damned much of the time.

May we walk the path of faith in Christ without ignoring that of which we can objectively be certain.  May God grant us the wisdom to recognize the difference between matters in which we need faith and those in which we can reasonably have certainty.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 15, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN ELLERTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF CARL HEINRICH VON BOGATSKY, HUNGARIAN-GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY FRANCES BLOMFIELD GURNEY, ENGLISH POET AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDELINUS OF VAUX, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; SAINT AUBERT OF CAMBRAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT URSMAR OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND SAINTS DOMITIAN, HADELIN, AND DODO OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2019/06/15/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-b-humes/

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The light of Christ,

Above:  Icon of the Resurrection

Image Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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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:

At least three of the following sets:

Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13 and Psalm 46

Genesis 22:1-18 and Psalm 16

Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 and Exodus 15:1b-13, 17-18

Isaiah 55:1-11 and Isaiah 12:2-6

Ezekiel 20:1-24 and Psalm 19

Ezekiel 36:24-28 and Psalms 42 and 43

Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Psalm 143

Zephaniah 3:14-20 and Psalm 98

Then:

Romans 6:3-11

Psalm 114

Matthew 28:1-10

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The history of the Great Vigil of Easter is interesting.  We do not know when the service began, but we do know that it was already well-established in the second century C.E.  We also know that the Great Vigil was originally a preparation for baptism.  Reading the history of the Easter Vigil reveals the elaboration of the rite during ensuing centuries, to the point that it lasted all night and was the Easter liturgy by the fourth century.  One can also read of the separation of the Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday service in the sixth century.  As one continues to read, one learns of the vigil becoming a minor afternoon ritual in the Roman missal of 1570.  Then one learns of the revival of the Easter Vigil in Holy Mother Church in the 1950s then, in North America, in The Episcopal Church and mainline Lutheranism during the liturgical renewal of the 1960s and 1970s.  Furthermore, if one consults the U.S. Presbyterian Book of Common Worship (1993) and The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), on finds the ritual for the Great Vigil of Easter in those volumes.

The early readings for the Easter Vigil trace the history of God’s salvific work, from creation to the end of the Babylonian Exile.  The two great Hebrew Biblical themes of exile and exodus are prominent.  Then the literal darkness ends, the lights come up, and the priest announces the resurrection of Jesus.  The eucharistic service continues and, if there are any candidates for baptism, that sacrament occurs.

One of the chants for the Easter Vigil is

to which the congregation chants in response,

Thanks be to God.

St. Paul the Apostle, writing in Romans, reminds us down the corridors of time that the light of Christ ought to shine in our lives.  May that light shine brightly through us, by grace, that we may glorify God every day we are on this side of Heaven.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 29, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PERCY DEARMER, ANGLICAN CANON AND TRANSLATOR AND AUTHOR OF HYMNS

THE FEAST OF SAINT BONA OF PISA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC AND PILGRIM

THE FEAST OF JIRI TRANOVSKY, LUTHER OF THE SLAVS AND FOUNDER OF SLOVAK HYMNODY

THE FEAST OF JOACHIM NEANDER, GERMAN REFORMED MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/devotion-for-the-great-vigil-of-easter-years-a-b-c-and-d-humes/

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Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)

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O Almighty God, who alone can order the unruly wills and affections of sinful human beings:

Grant to your people, that they may love the thing which you command, and desire that which you promise;

that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world,

our hearts may surely be fixed, where true joys are to be found;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 119

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Isaiah 12:1-6

Psalm 42

Romans 6:3-11

John 6:37-40

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The reading from Romans is one piece of evidence for the proposition that one can use the death and resurrection of Jesus metaphorically while considering them to be literal events.  In this case the metaphorical death is our death to sin and the metaphorical resurrection is to our life in God in Christ Jesus.  In the Gospel of John that life is eternal life, which begins on this side of the afterlife (17:3).  John 6 also emphasizes the faithfulness of God, a theme in Isaiah 12, a hymn of praise to God to sing after the Day of the Lord.  We can sing it to God just as well today, can we not?

Psalm 42 (originally part of one psalm with #43) comes from a particular context.  The author, who is ill, cannot make the customary pilgrimage from his home near Mount Hermon to Jerusalem.  He longs to travel to that city and the Temple there.  Some people around the psalmist say that his illness signifies that God has forsaken him.  They are mistaken, of course, but the words still sing.  The psalmist prays for vindication in the form of healing, so that he may make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  We do not read what happened next.

Even when those (including the self-identified orthodox around us) are wrong, their words and attitudes have power to affect us.  They might imagine themselves to be faithful, but God certainly is.  May we thank God for that and respond faithfully, depending on grace, as we must.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT GIULIA VALLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ISAAC HECKER, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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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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119:1-32

119:33-72

119:73-104

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Also in the Greek:  Psalm 151

151

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Happy are they who consider the poor and the needy!

Above:  Psalm 41

Image in the Public Domain

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POST XVI 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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Reading the Book of Psalms from the beginning leads one to notice certain recurring themes.  In Psalms 41, 42, and 43, taken together, I notice certain motifs on which I have commented in previous posts.  They include the following:

1. Being seriously ill and calling out to God for deliverance,
2. Being the victim of malicious gossip,
3. Seeking divine vindication,
4. Wishing the worst for one’s enemies, and
5. Trusting in God while wondering why God has permitted one to suffer so badly.

My previous comments on those themes stand.

I prefer instead to focus on the question of the translation of the opening of Psalm 41.  The rendering of the opening of that text in The Book of Common Prayer (1979) is typical of most English-language translations:

the LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble.

–Verse 1

In TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985) we read of one who is

thoughtful of the wretched.

The pious person in The Revised English Bible (1989)

has a concern for the helpless.

However, as Mitchell J. Dahood writes, slander, not helping the poor and needy/the wretched/the helpless, is a major concern in Psalm 41.  Therefore the Dahood translation of that verse reads

How blest the man prudent in speech,

in time of danger may Yahweh deliver him.

–Verse 2

One can read Dahood’s full case for this translation in Psalms I:  1-50 (1966), page 249.

Prudence in speech and writing is a virtue, is it not?  Indeed, one need not apologize for oratorical and written prudence.  Furthermore, the lack of prudence leads to troubles one could have avoided easily.  Yet a lack of prudence in speech and writing becomes (temporarily, at least) a political asset for some; it is allegedly plain spokenness.  The Dahood translation prompts me to think of James 3:1-12, a passage about the power of speech for positive and negative purposes.  That text needs no commentary, for it explains itself.

The slanderers of Psalm 41 are of the same ilk as the enemies of Psalm 42, the treacherous men of Psalm 43.  One temptation is, to use an old expression, fight fire with fire.  Although that strategy is effective in fighting literal fires sometimes, it is probably not the best spiritual practice most of the time.  How about trusting in God instead?  How about fighting fire with fire extinguisher instead?  How about, in the style of Jesus, forgiving one’s enemies?

This is difficult, of course.  Yet we need not operate under the delusion that we ought to be able to do it under our own power.  No, we rely on grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT EDITH STEIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND PHILOSOPHER

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