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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LX

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Psalm 87

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Psalm 87 is textually difficult and has problematic syntax, as commentaries explain in detail.  I note those matters for the sake of thoroughness and move along to the point of the psalm.

Psalm 87, which prompts me to start humming “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, Zion, City of Our God,” extols Jerusalem as the chosen city of God and the Temple as the physical dwelling of God.  Jerusalem is the center of the world, according to the text.  And Gentiles who convert to Judaism join the people of God.  The nations of the known world will acknowledge the sovereignty of God, we read.

I am a Gentile and a Christian.  I also affirm that God lives everywhere.  God is as present in southwestern Georgia as in Jerusalem.  So, the psalmist and I have some differences of opinion.  Yet we agree more often than we disagree.

The psalmist’s known world was much smaller than the world as I know it.  Nevertheless, the claim of divine sovereignty over the world reminds us that, for the author of Psalm 87, YHWH was no mere tribal of national deity.  No, for the psalmist, YHWH was the sole deity.  That claim makes sense to me.  However, it sounds as ridiculous to a host of people in 2023 as it did to many people in antiquity.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

My faith does not depend on God being resident in a particular place, above all others.  In fact, I prefer a Sufi saying:

God is closer to you than your jugular vein.

And, despite all appearances to the contrary, God is sovereign.  Many people–as in antiquity–are oblivious, though.  So, the hope Psalm 87 expresses awaits fulfillment; all the world will acknowledge divine sovereignty eventually.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 3, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANSKAR AND RIMBERT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOPS OF HAMBURG-BREMEN

THE FEAST OF ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER, ENGLISH POET AND FEMINIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALFRED DELP, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1945

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAMES NICHOLAS JOUBERT AND MARIE ELIZABETH LANGE, FOUNDERS OF THE OBLATE SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE

THE FEAST OF JEMIMA THOMPSON LUKE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER; AND JAMES EDMESTON, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL DAVIES, AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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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 Five:  Psalms 107-150

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119:1-32

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Also in the Greek:  Psalm 151

151

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Above:  An Old World Map, Showing Jerusalem as the Center of the World

Image in the Public Domain

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POST XXXIII 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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Mitchell J. Dahood, while agreeing with the scholarly consensus that Psalm 86 is an individual lament, emphasizes the point that the author is the King of Israel.  Thus, as Dahood points out, the monarch’s woes have more far-reaching consequences than those of an anonymous subject and a favorable divine answer carries national significance.

Psalm 88 is also a lament.  The author, seriously ill and therefore ostracized, simultaneously blames God for his circumstances and requests divine deliverance.  Can a dead man praise God in Sheol, the psalmist asks.  According to the orthodoxy of the time, no.

Sandwiched between the two laments we read Psalm 87, which predicts that neighboring Gentile kingdoms and empires, from Babylon to Ethiopia, will eventually come to God and recognize Jerusalem as the center of the worship of God.  The Hebrews will remain the Chosen People, of course, but divine mercies extend to the Gentiles.  This is a wonderfully inclusive text.

Psalms 86 and 87 are explicitly national in theme.  Psalm 88, although outwardly individual, might be symbolic of the Babylonian Exile, with Sheol representing exile.  If this is true, reading it with Psalm 87 becomes interesting; enemies will become co-religionists and allies one day, via the power of God.  That is part of the promise of Psalm 87.

As with so many predictions of life after the Babylonian Exile, reality did not live up to high expectations.  The dream did not die, however; people kept deferring it.  The dream has not died.  Visions of lions and lambs lying down together in God’s kingdom on Earth have remained appealing.  Such visions have continued to expose the moral bankruptcy of states, kingdoms, empires, societies, and cultures founded on violence, exploitation, and artificial scarcity.  These visions have also continued to expose prominent figures, including heads of government and of state from antiquity to the present day.  None of them have been able to measure up compared to the standards of the Kingdom of God.  These dreams have never ceased to be relevant and contemporary.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 14, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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Above:  Icon of Christ Pantocrator

Scan 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:

Obadiah 1-21

Psalms 87 and 117

John 12:17-19, 37-50

1 Corinthians 15:27-34 (35-38) 39-41 (42-58)

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The resurrection of Jesus overlaps with Christ the King Sunday in Year D.  I like that liturgical year.

The power of God, in whom we need to rely, is a theme present in the assigned readings.  This power is evident in Jesus; that is no surprise.  Furthermore, all temporal substitutes for God–geography, international alliances, et cetera–are woefully inadequate.

The fear of certain Pharisees in John 12:19b is

Look, the world has gone after him!

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

If only that were true!  I am not oblivious to reality; I do not mistake superficial observance for discipleship.  I also know that, overall, the rate of discipleship in the Western world is declining.  An accurate reading of U.S. history reveals the fact that a substantial proportion of the population has always been non-observant.  Nevertheless, the current situation is not a return to historical patterns.  One can make similar generalizations about other parts of the Western world.  Nevertheless, I am optimistic; God is in charge and no human resistance or indifference can halt the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 21, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE, MARTYR

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/devotion-for-proper-29-year-d/

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Above:  The Star of David

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

God of all peoples, your arms reach out to embrace all those who call upon you.

Teach us as disciples of your Son to love the world with compassion and constancy,

that your name may be known throughout all the earth,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 45

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The Assigned Readings:

2 Kings 5:1-14 (Monday)

Isaiah 43:8-13 (Tuesday)

Isaiah 66:18-23 (Wednesday)

Psalm 87 (All Days)

Acts 15:1-21 (Monday)

Romans 11:13-29 (Tuesday)

Matthew 8:1-13 (Wednesday)

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Glorious things of thee are spoken,

Zion, city of our God;

He whose word cannot be broken

Formed thee for His own abode:

On the Rock of Ages founded,

What can shake thy sure repose?

With salvation’s walls surrounded,

Thou mayst smile at all thy foes.

–John Newton, 1779, quoted in The Hymnal (1895), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

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That magnificent hymn, keyed to Psalm 87, fits well with the assigned Isaiah readings, which speak of the Jews as playing a pivotal role in the salvation of the Gentiles.  And the cure of an enemy general’s skin disease comes via a Hebrew servant girl in 2 Kings 5.  In the time of Christ many Gentiles recognized the superiority of the Jewish faith to pagan mythology.  Our Lord and Savior acknowledged the faith of some of them and the early Church decided not to require Gentiles to become Jews before becoming Christians formally.

These were difficult issues because they were matters of identity, something which takes a negative form much of the time.  “I am not…” is a bad yet commonplace starting point for individual and collective identity.  “We are not Gentiles; we are the Chosen People” is as objectionable an identity as is “We are not Jews; we are Christians, who have a faith superior to theirs.”  Examples and rejections of both errors exist in the pages of the Bible.  My encounters with Jews have been positive, I am glad to say, but I have heard the second error repeatedly.

The question in Acts 15 was whether Gentiles had to become Jews to join the Church, thus it concerned male circumcision, a matter of Jewish identity and strong emotions then and now.  The early Church and St. Paul the Apostle, who never ceased being Jewish, favored not placing obstacles in the way of faithful people.  They favored a generous, inclusive policy which, ironically, functioned as an example of excessive leniency in the minds of conservative thinkers.  How much tradition should the nascent Church–still a small Jewish act at the time–retain?  Who was a Jew and who was not?  Keeping laws and traditions was vital, many people argued.  Had not being unobservant led to national collapse and exiles centuries before?

Unfortunately, Anti-Semitism has been a repeating pattern in Christian history.  The writing of the four canonical Gospels occurred in the context of Jewish-Christian tensions, a fact which, I am sure, shaped the telling of the first four books of the New Testament.  Jesus engaged in controversies with religious leaders, I affirm, but how could the conflicts of early Christianity not influence the telling of those stories?  Sometimes I read these accounts and recognize that misreading of them has had devastating effects on uncounted numbers of people over nearly two thousand years and sit in silence and absolute sadness.  On other occasions I focus on other aspects of these accounts.

St. Paul the Apostle offered sage advice.  Gentiles are a branch grafted onto a tree, he wrote.  That branch ought not to consider itself superior to the other branches.  As for the tree itself, I have only respect for the Jews and Judaism, for salvation is of the Jews.  Besides, I, as a Gentile and a Christian, have much to learn from those whom Pope John Paul II called the elder brethren in faith.  To that end I read and study as I thank God for all the gifts of the Jews.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 15, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF RUTH, ANCESTOR OF KING DAVID

THE FEAST OF SAINT BONAVENTURE, THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT SWITHUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF WINCHESTER

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Adapted from This Post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-proper-15-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Icon of Jesus

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Acts 11:19-26 (Revised English Bible):

Meanwhile those who had been scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, bringing the message to Jews only and to no others.  But there were some natives of Cyprus and Cyrene among them, and these, when they arrived at Antioch, began to speak to Gentiles as well, telling them the good news of the Lord Jesus.  The power of the Lord was with them, and a great many became believers and turned to the Lord.

The news reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem; and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.  When he arrived and saw the divine grace at work, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to hold fast to the Lord with resolute hearts, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.  And large numbers were won over to the Lord.

He went off to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.  For a whole year the two of them lived in fellowship with the church there, and gave instruction to large numbers.  It was in Antioch that the disciples first got the name of Christians.

Psalm 87 (Revised English Bible):

The city of the LORD founded stands on the holy hills.

He loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God.

I shall count Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me;

of Philistines, Tyrians, and Nubians it will be said,

Such as a one born there.

Of Zion it will be said,

This one and that one were born there.

The Most High himself establishes her.

The LORD will record in the register of the peoples:

this one was born there.

Singers and dancers alike say,

The source of all good is in you.

John 10:22-30 (Anchor Bible):

It was winter, and the time came for the feast of Dedication at Jerusalem.  Jesus was walking in the temple precincts, in Solomon’s Portico, when [some of] the Jews gathered around him and demanded,

How long are you going to keep us in suspense?  If you really are the Messiah, tell us so in plain words.

Jesus answered,

I did tell you, but you do not believe.  The works that I am doing in my Father’s name give testimony for me, but you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.  No one will snatch them from my hand.  My Father, as to what he has given me, is greater than all, and from the Father’s hand no one can snatch away.  The Father and I are one.

The Collect:

Grant, Almighty God, that the commemoration of our Lord’s death and resurrection may continually transform our lives and be manifested in our deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

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I grew up in a series of rural United Methodist congregations in southern Georgia.  This formative experience had both positive and negative consequences.  On one hand, I received a helpful theological education almost by osmosis.  On the other hand, I witnessed the dark underbelly of small, rural church life.  No matter how long one belongs to a congregation which consists of interlocking extended families, one is not really a part of said congregation unless one is related closely by genetics or marriage.  And too many times I witnessed one person or a small cadre of people driving away another is a series of pastors as other church members said that they had to live with him, her, or them, so “sorry,” but not really.  I have become somewhat jaded about congregational life, a fact which helps explain why I have remained a lay person.  As churchy as I am, I might seem a natural choice for an order of the clergy (probably the Diaconate), but do not feel attracted or called to it at this time.

So I respond strongly to the description of congregational life in Acts.  And I think about certain troubled people who caused trouble in some of the churches my father pastored and think that they did not act as Jesus’ sheep.  Yet I recall something my father told me:  “Troubled people cause trouble.”  Also, I remember that I need to be slow to judge these matters and people involved in them.  Perhaps these individuals did the best they could, as they understood it.  Maybe they believed they were acting properly.

Nevertheless, my faith survived my youthful church experiences.  That faith is in God, not any human beings or institutions.  And my faith tells me to act as Barnabas, Saul (Paul), and many Christians at Antioch:  engaging in fellowship, rejoicing in the wondrous acts of God, and instructing.  My faith compels me to help create and to nourish positivity and to reject negativity.  It commands me not to give up on organized religion just because I have crossed paths with some severely troubled people with imbalanced egos and destructive (to the congregation) agendas.  They are not my concern, and they and I stand in dire need of grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 6, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF CARTHAGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

THE FEAST OF ALBRECHT DURER, MATTHIAS GRUNEWALD, AND LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, ARTISTS

THE FEAST OF DANIEL G. C. WU, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY TO CHINESE AMERICANS

THE FEAST OF FREDERIC BARKER, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF SYDNEY

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Adapted from this post:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/twenty-fourth-day-of-easter/

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Above:  Map of Galilee

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Zechariah 8:20-23 (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures):

Thus said the LORD of Hosts:

Peoples and the inhabitants of many cities shall yet come–the inhabitants of one shall go to the other and say, “Let us go and entreat the favor the LORD, let us seek the LORD of Hosts; I will go, too.”  The many peoples and the multitude of nations shall come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.

Thus said the LORD of Hosts:

In those days, ten men from nations of every tongue will take hold–they will take hold of every Jew by a corner of his cloak and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Psalm 87 (1979 Book of Common Prayer): 

1  On the holy mountain stands the city he has founded;

the LORD loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

2  Glorious things are spoken of you,

O city of our God.

3  I count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me;

behold Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia:

in Zion were they born.

4  Of Zion it shall be said, “Everyone was born in her,

and the Most High himself shall sustain her.”

5  The LORD will record as he enrolls the peoples,

“These also were born there.”

6  The singers and the dancers will say,

“All my fresh springs are in you.”

Luke 9:51-56 (The Jerusalem Bible):

Now as the time drew near to be taken up to heaven, he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him.  These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem.  Seeing this, the disciples James and John said,

Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?

But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.

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The Collect:

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Jerusalem figures prominently in all this day’s readings.  Psalm 87 speaks of God sustaining Jerusalem, a city, which, according to Zechariah 8, will become a magnet for international pilgrims. Then there is Jesus in Luke 9:51.  The standard English translation of that verse says that he set his face toward Jerusalem.  William Barclay renders that verse to say that Jesus

fixed his face firmly to go to Jerusalem,

while The Jerusalem Bible says that our Lord

resolutely took the road for Jerusalem.

He and his Apostles were pilgrims, too, but their journey was no mere pilgrimage.  (I write these words on Monday in Holy Week 2011, so the culmination is very much on my mind.)

As Jesus and company set out they face immediate opposition from Samaritans.  Members of a previous generation of Samaritans obstructed the construction of the Second Temple, a fact of which many observant Jews in Jesus’ time were aware.  In fact, many Jews of our Lord’s time and place despised Samaritans, and many Samaritans reciprocated.  Jesus, however, spoke once of a Good Samaritan.  On another occasion he healed a Samaritan leper.  In the Gospel of John our Lord spoke at length to a Samaritan woman.  If he had a problem with Samaritans, he kept it to himself.

As Jesus  set out from Galilee and passed through Samaria en route to Jerusalem, he took a direct route to that holy city.  And he kept moving along when he and his Apostles faced rejection by some local Samaritans.   His actions are consistent with his instructions in Luke 10:11-12:  When a town does not welcome one of his disciples, that disciple ought to depart that town and leave judgment to God.

The Gospels record instances of Jesus condemning holier-than-thou religious figures and speaking ill of Roman puppet leaders.  Yet they also include a multitude of stories of our Lord associating with social outcasts and forgiving repentant sinners.  His mission was one primarily one of restoring people to wholeness (including in their community settings) rather than condemnation.  We who claim the label “Christian” need to keep this lesson in mind and to act accordingly.

So may we go about the business God has given us while leaving judgment to God.  There is much work to do, and there are many people forgive and help lead to wholeness.  We can stand up for what is right and good without uttering a harsh word.  I think of Father Joe, by Tony Hendra.  The eponynomous Catholic priest in that book never excused that of which he disapproved, but neither did he utter any derogatory words while expressing himself, at least in Hendra’s presence.

Jesus calls us to be positive influences where and when we are.  You might know or know of someone who self-identifies as Christian but who is prone to eruptions of spiritual negativity laced with presumptions of know-it-allism.  I do.  Without questioning the sincerity of these individuals, I propose that they, in their attitudes, hurt the cause they seek to advance.

I do not know what God’s judgment upon the residents of that Samaritan village was, but that is none of my business.  Nor was not the proper concern of James and John.  It is the proper concern of God, who is also prone to extravagant and scandalous mercy.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 18, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ROGER WILLIAMS, FOUNDER OF RHODE ISLAND

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Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on April 18, 2011

Adapted from this post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/week-of-proper-21-tuesday-year-1/

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