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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LII

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Psalm 72

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The Book of Psalms consists of five books; Book Two ends with Psalm 72, either “Of Solomon” or “For Solomon,” according to the superscription.  The superscription may be dubious, as superscriptions in the Book of Psalms tend to be.  Solomon’s reputation for wisdom seems dubious to me, given the total, Biblical depiction of him.

Psalm 72, possibly a coronation text, sets a high standard for the monarch.  He, ideally, governs justly, brings peace to the people, protects the poor, and crushes the oppressors.  From there the hyperbolic text extols the territorial range of the kingdom.  Much of the language applied to the king in Psalm 72 resembles terms reserved for God elsewhere in the Book of Psalms.

As Biblical narratives attest, most Kings of Israel and Judah fell far short of the exalted standards Psalm 72 sets forth.  Even David and Solomon were much worse than their nostalgic reputations.

Nevertheless, ideals are essential; they establish goals and standards.  When we fall short of ideals, we can measure our performance relative to them.  Optimistically, we can consider failure following an attempt to succeed a learning opportunity.  Then we can strive to do better the next time and to avoid repeating errors.  The metrics are tangible, not theoretical and abstract.

May all in authority exercise their power for the common good and think about the long term.  Whether because or despite their characters, may they decide and act wisely and leave the planet and their corners thereof better than they found them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 26, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS TIMOTHY, TITUS, AND SILAS, CO-WORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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

Above:  Adoration of the Magi Stamp from Latvia, 1992

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72

Ephesians 3:2-12

Matthew 2:1-12

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Lord God, on this day you revealed your Son

to the nations by the leading of a star. 

Lead us now by faith to know your presence in our lives,

and bring us at last to the full vision of 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), 15

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O God, by the leading of a star you once made known

to all nations your only-begotten Son;

now lead us, who know you by faith,

to know in heaven the fullness of your divine goodness;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with

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

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 20

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Third Isaiah, in Isaiah 60, applied motifs of the Davidic Dynasty, not to the Messiah, but to the Israelite nation as a whole.  (The “you” in Isaiah 60:1-6 is plural.)  There is no Messiah in Third Isaiah, which teaches that in the future, God will rule directly on Earth.

Yet we have this assigned reading on the Feast of the Epiphany, about Jesus, the Messiah.

Psalm 72, originally for a coronation, describes the ideal Davidic monarch.  He will govern justly, defend the oppressed, crush the extortioners, and revere God, we read.  His renown spreads far and wide, we read.  These sentences describe few of the Davidic monarchs.  They do not even describe King David.  The Christian tradition of reading Jesus into every nook and cranny of the Hebrew Bible interprets Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of the text, though.

Call me a heretic if you wish, O reader, but I resist the tendency to read Jesus into every nook and cranny of the Hebrew Bible.  Call me a heretic if you wish; I will accept the label with pride.  I even own a t-shirt that reads:

HERETIC.

Father Raymond E. Brown, whom I admire and some of whose books I own, argued against the historicity of the birth narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  I take this point while disagreeing with another one:  Brown considered the account in the Gospel of Luke closer to reality than the one in the Gospel of Matthew.  I reverse that.  I posit that there may have been a natural phenomenon (poetically, a star) that attracted the attention of some Persian astrologers.  This scenario seems plausible.

I, being a detail-oriented person, as well as a self-identified heretic, also wince at the depictions of the shepherds and the Magi together at Bethlehem.  Even if one mistakes the germane accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke for historical stories, one may notice that up to two years separated the stories.  St. Dionysius Exiguus, for all his piety, counted badly.  Herod the Great died in 4 B.C.E.  If one accepts the Massacre of the (Holy) Innocents as being plausible (as I do), then one may wish to notice that the Roman client king ordered the deaths of boys two years old and younger at Bethlehem.  This story, therefore, places the birth of Jesus circa 6 B.C.E.  Either way, St. Dionysius Exiguus still place the birth of Jesus “Before Christ.”  (This is why I use B.C.E. and C.E.)

Whoever wrote or dictated the Epistle to the Ephesians, I am grateful to St. Paul the Apostle, the great evangelist to the Gentiles.  I, as a Gentile, am happy to be in the club of Christ.  I also acknowledge that I, as a Christian, stand on the shoulders of Judaism, a faith I refuse to malign.

The Epiphany–set on the old Eastern date of Christmas–reminds us that God seeks to attract as many followers as possible.  We Gentiles, grafted onto the tree of faith, need to remember that we are a branch, not the trunk, of that tree.  The limits of divine mercy exist, but I do not know where the borders are.  I assume that Judaism and Christianity are the two true faiths.  Yet I do not presume to know who God’s “secret friends”–secret to me–are.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 17, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTONY OF EGYPT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND FATHER OF WESTERN MONASTICISM

THE FEAST OF SAINTS DEICOLA AND GALL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS; AND SAINT OTHMAR, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AT SAINT GALLEN

THE FEAST OF JAMES WOODROW, SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, NATURALIST, AND ALLEGED HERETIC

THE FEAST OF SAINT PACHOMIUS THE GREAT, FOUNDER OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNAL MONASTICISM

THE FEAST OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

THE FEAST OF THOMAS A. DOOLEY, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN AND HUMANITARIAN

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Adapted from this post

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

Above:  Cedars of Lebanon

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-75016

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Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 72:1-14 (15-19)

Romans 15:4-13

Matthew 3:1-12

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Stir up in our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way for your only Son. 

By his coming give us strength in our conflicts

and shed light on our path through the darkness of the world; 

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), 13

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Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son

that at his second coming we may worship him in purity;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 11

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For improved comprehension of Isaiah 11:1-10, O reader, back up to 10:32b-34.  There we read that God will destroy the Neo-Assyrian Empire, built on militarism, cruelty, and exploitation.  Isaiah 10:34 likens that empire to majestic cedars of Lebanon, cut down by God.  Then Isaiah 11 opens with the image of the Messiah, depicted as a twig sprouting from a tree stump.

The Messiah–the ruler of the fully-realized Kingdom of God in Isaiah 11–has much in common with the ideal king in Psalm 72.  Both monarchs govern justly.  They come to the aid of the oppressed and punish the oppressors.  Judgment and mercy remain in balance.

The ethics of the Kingdom of God–whether partially-realized or fully-realized–contradict the conventional wisdom of “the world” and its great powers.  The Roman Empire, built on militarism, cruelty, and exploitation, continues as a metaphor to apply to oppressive powers–not only governments–in our time.  Spiritual complacency remains a problem.  And how we mere mortals treat each other continues to interest God.

Real life is frequently messy and replete with shades of gray.  Sometimes one must choose the least bad option, for no good options exist.  Whatever one does, somebody may suffer or perhaps die, for example.  We live in an imperfect world.  But we can, by grace, make the best decisions possible then act accordingly.  We can, by grace, love one another selflessly and self-sacrificially.  We can, by grace, act based on mutuality and the Golden Rule.  We can, by grace, welcome those whom God welcomes.  We can, by grace, confront those whom God confronts.  We can, by grace, make the most good from an imperfect situation.

May we do so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 6, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

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Adapted from this post

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Above:  Sunrise

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Feast of the Epiphany, 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, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only begotten Son to the Gentiles;

mercifully grant, that, we, who know thee now by faith,

may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead;

through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord,

who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,

ever one God, world without end.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 123

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Isaiah 49:1-9

Psalm 72

Ephesians 2:1-22

Matthew 3:13-17

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The fully-realized Kingdom of God remains in the future tense.  It is a state of affairs in which exploitation, violence, and social injustice cease to exist.  It stands in stark contrast to our reality, marred and defined by those sins plus hostilities, both one-sided and mutual.  The Kingdom of God is already partially realized, at least from a human perspective, one bound by time.  It was evident in the life and ministry of Jesus.  It remains evident in the lives of faithful followers of God.

Ephesians 2 reminds us that, in Christ, God breaks down barriers of hostility separating people and groups of people.  Yet we mere mortals frequently rebuild those barriers.  One of my favorite single-cell cartoons depicts people with big pencils drawing lines yet using the eraser at the other end of a pencil.  The image is probably under copyright protection, so I have not looked for it, to add to this post.  Perhaps you, O reader, can find it and see what I mean.

God calls we of the faith to be a covenant people.  The best guess regarding the identity of the servant in Isaiah 49 is the personification of faithful Jews.  God calls us to help the faithless join or rejoin the flock, whether or not they are of our “tribe.”  God equips us to function as agents of reconciliation, both collectively and individually.  God invites us to live as agents of grace.

Edmond Browning, a former Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, emphasized a certain theme, “No Outsiders.”  He paid close attention of Ephesians 2.  In Christ, Browning preached, there are no outsiders.  In Christ, the Presiding Bishop proclaimed, everyone is an insider.  

This message remains as radical and offensive as it was nearly 2000 years ago.  This is the message at the heart at the heart of the Feast of the Epiphany and the season that follows it.  The light shining upon the Gentiles and inviting them to join the covenant people is the essence of the Epiphany.

Happy Epiphany, O reader!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 4, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN OF DAMASCUS AND COSMAS OF MAIUMA, THEOLOGIANS AND HYMNODISTS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALEXANDER HOTOVITZKY, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1937

THE FEAST OF SAINT BERNARD OF PARMA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH MOHR; AUSTRIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST; AND FRANZ GRUBER, AUSTRIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC TEACHER, MUSICIAN, AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT OSMUND OF SALISBURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Icon of King Solomon

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXIV

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1 Kings 11:41-42

2 Chronicles 9:29-31

Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 47:12-22

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Give the King your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to the King’s Son;

That he may rule your people righteously

and the poor with justice;

That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,

and the little hills bring righteousness.

–Psalm 72:1-3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The accounts in 1 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 9 are brief and to the point.  The text in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 47 is more interesting reading.  It is a lament for the potential King Solomon wasted.  That text also emphasizes the faithfulness of God–in this case, to the Davidic Dynasty.  People sin and suffer the consequences of their sins.  God remains faithful.

I write these posts to be universal, not bound by time and space.  I frequently restrict my choice of names to the material from the passage or passages.  I write these posts to be universal, therefore never at risk of becoming so dated as to be become irrelevant with the passage of time.  In so doing, I like to apply timeless principles which are, by definition, always germane.

Any leader of a nation-state, province, state, town, city, county, kingdom, et cetera, has certain duties.  These include making wise decisions and improving the common good.  Perhaps the most basic duty is to leave the nation-state, province, state, town, city, county, kingdom, or whatever is is better than he or she found it.

Solomon failed as a monarch and a leader.  Generations of people paid the high price for his failure.

May all in authority decide and govern wisely, for the common, intergenerational good.  May those who will not so decide and govern leave office as soon as possible.  May those who will so decide and govern replace them as soon as possible.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 23, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES OF JERUSALEM, BROTHER OF JESUS

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  King Solomon, by Simeon Solomon

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LVI

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1 Kings 4:1-28 (Protestant)

1 Kings 4:1-5:8 (Jewish and Roman Catholic)

3 Kingdoms 4:1-5:8 (Eastern Orthodox)

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He shall rule from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

–Psalm 72:8, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The material I read for this post is the type of content that makes many eyes glaze over.  Yes, the list of officials is a composite from different periods of King Solomon’s reign.  So be it.  Yes, the material lacks a narrative structure.  This material tells us much about the governance of the united Kingdom of Israel under King Solomon.

King Solomon weakened tribal power and centralized power in Jerusalem.  The twelve prefects had authority over jurisdictions defined by economic capacities, not tribes.

King Solomon favored Judeans first.  He took care of them and himself before he took care of others.

1 Kings 4:20 tells us that the people were content.  If we fast forward to Chapter 11, though, we read that many people, especially in ten of the twelve tribes, were discontent.  One who knows the narrative of 1 Kings understands the link of that discontent to the rebellion and secession in Chapter 12.

One should read 1 Kings 4:1-28/4:1-5:8 in the context of later material in 1 Kings.  Hindsight is an essential element in the book, after all.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 21, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GEORGE MCGOVERN, U.S. SENATOR AND STATESMAN; AND HIS WIFE, ELEANOR MCGOVERN, HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF DAVID MORITZ MICHAEL, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JAMES W. C. PENNINGTON, AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST AND PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EDUCATOR, AND ABOLITIONIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT LAURA OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, FOUNDRESS OF THE WORKS OF THE INDIANS AND THE CONGREGATION OF MISSIONARY SISTERS OF IMMACULATE MARY AND OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  The Judgment of Solomon, by William Blake

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LV

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1 Kings 3:1-28

1 Kings 4:29-34 (Protestant)

1 Kings 5:9-14 (Jewish and Roman Catholic)

3 Kingdoms 5:9-14 (Eastern Orthodox)

2 Chronicles 1:2-17

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Give the King your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to the King’s Son;

That he may rule your people righteously and the poor with justice;

That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,

and the little hills bring righteousness.

He shall defend the needy among the people;

he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

–Psalm 72:1-4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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One should read scripture in various contexts.  The historical record is such a context.  Other contexts include geography, cultural anthropology, and human psychology.  And other scripture provides essential contextualization, too.

Both 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles tell the story of the dream encounter between Solomon and God.  The petition for wisdom, to rule justly, sounds good, does it not?  One could forget the bloody purge in 1 Kings 2.  One could also ignore the foreshadowing of trouble and idolatry evident in King Solomon’s marriage to an Egyptian princess.  Furthermore, 1 Kings 5 and 2 Chronicles 2 refer to the use of forced labor to construct the First Temple.  The account in 2 Chronicles 2 minimizes this problem by stating that the burdens of forced labor fell solely on foreigners.  However, 1 Kings 5:13/27 (depending on versification) tells us that the monarch imposed forced labor on “all Israel.”

Perhaps we would all feel better if we were to focus on the dream vision and on how King Solomon determined which prostitute was lying to him about being the baby’s mother.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 21, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GEORGE MCGOVERN, U.S. SENATOR AND STATESMAN; AND HIS WIFE, ELEANOR MCGOVERN, HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF DAVID MORITZ MICHAEL, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JAMES W. C. PENNINGTON, AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST AND PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EDUCATOR, AND ABOLITIONIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT LAURA OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, FOUNDRESS OF THE WORKS OF THE INDIANS AND THE CONGREGATION OF MISSIONARY SISTERS OF IMMACULATE MARY AND OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  David King Over All Israel

Image in the Public Domain

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PART XXXI

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2 Samuel 5:1-16

1 Chronicles 11:1-9

2 Samuel 23:8-39

1 Chronicles 11:10-12:40

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Give the King your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to the King’s Son;

That he may rule your people righteously

and the poor with justice;

That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,

and the little hills bring righteousness.

–Psalm 72:1-3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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1 Chronicles 11:1-9 follows 2 Samuel 5:1-16, with some notable differences.  2 Samuel 5 follows a two-year-long civil war (2 Samuel 2-4), absent from 1 Chronicles 11.  In the version of events according to 1 Chronicles, Saul died in Chapter 10 then David immediately became the undisputed King of Israel in Chapter 11.  Also, 2 Samuel 5 establishes that David and his forces seized Jerusalem (Jebus) about five and a half years after David became the undisputed monarch.  1 Chronicles is unclear regarding the passage of time in this matter.

The germane texts argue that David, whose forces defeated the weakest and the strongest Jebusite soldiers alike, had human and divine recognition.

The lists of King David’s mighty warriors are very similar, with 1 Chronicles adding material.  So be it.

David reigned for about forty years and six months, including the two years of the civil war.  He governed from Hebron for about seven and a half years and from Jerusalem for about thirty-three years.  He added wealth, power, and women to his collection.  David’s family life was hardly ideal.  It became worse with the passage of time.  The shape of the end was evident in the beginning.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 30, 2020 COMMON ERA

PROPER 17:  THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT JEANNE JUGAN, FOUNDRESS OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN LEARY, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND ADVOCATE FOR THE POOR AND THE MARGINALIZED

THE FEAST OF KARL OTTO EBERHARDT, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST, MUSIC, EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above: The Coronation of King Saul

Image in the Public Domain

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PART X

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1 Samuel 11:1-15

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He shall defend the needy among the people,

he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

–Psalm 72:4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Saul, chosen to become the King of Israel, was not yet the monarch.  He was still working in the field at the beginning of Chapter 11.  Saul rose to the occasion and led forces into victory against those of the cruel Nahash the Ammonite.

The mention of Jabesh-Gilead, east of the River Jordan, constitutes a call-back to Judges 21:8-12.  In that passage, set after a civil war against the tribe of Benjamin, victorious tribes sacked Jabesh-Gilead  to find wives for Benjaminite men.  Judges 21:25 reads,

In those days, there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their eyes.

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

In narrative context, then, the deliverance of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead affirmed the necessity of the monarchy.

Saul’s behavior in 1 Samuel 9-11 indicated that he did not want to become the King of Israel.  The family farm seemed to be his preference.  After the anointing, Saul returned home and told nobody about the anointing.  He hid in the baggage at the assembly.  After the assembly, he was still a farmer.

Reading the stories of the beginning of Saul’s reign may create a sense of sadness.  Knowing the rest of the story places the beginning of the tale in context.  One can imagine what Saul may have become if he had made different choices or had never had to pursue runaway donkeys on a certain day.  There is also a cautionary tale about the allure of power and the fragility of some psyches.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 14, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JOHN BAJUS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, JR., EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND HYMNODIST; AND HIS NEPHEW, JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, III, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MUSICIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1941; AND JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR, 1965

THE FEAST OF SARAH FLOWER ADAMS, ENGLISH UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER; AND HER SISTER, ELIZA FLOWER, ENGLISH UNITARIAN COMPOSER

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