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:  Jesus Heals the Man with Palsy, by Alexandre Bida

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 43:18-25

Psalm 41 (LBW) or Psalm 130 (LW)

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Mark 2:1-12

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Lord God, we ask you to keep your family, the Church, faithful to you,

that all who lean on the hope of your promises

may gain strength from the power of your love;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 16

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God of compassion, keep before us the love

you have revealed in your Son, who prayed even for his enemies;

in our words and deeds help us to be like him

through whom we pray, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 16

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O Lord, keep your family and Church continually in the true faith

that they who lean on the hope of your heavenly grace

may ever be defended by your mighty power;

through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns

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

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 28

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The key word this week is forgiveness.  A second word–faithfulness–relates to it.  As we read in 1 Corinthians 1:18, God is faithful.

I, I wipe away your transgressions for My sake,

and your offenses I do not recall.

–Isaiah 43:15, Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible:  A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 2, Prophets (2019), 766

Those are words addressed to Jews at the twilight of the Babylonian Exile.  This forgiveness is unconditional and absolute, apparently without any sign of repentance.

Psalm 130 reminds us that nobody could endure if God were to “watch for wrongs” (Robert Alter) and encourages the chosen people of God to wait for God, in whom is steadfast kindness.

Psalm 41 cites the betrayal by the author’s enemies, including a former friend.  The author, not forgiving, seeks divine vindication:

But you, LORD, take note of me to raise me up

that I may repay them.

–Psalm 41:11, The New American Bible–Revised Edition

A rejoinder from the Gospels is appropriate:

For if you forgive others, the wrongs they have done, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs that you have done.

–Matthew 6:14-15, The Revised English Bible

Forgiveness, from a human perspective, can be challenging to commit or to accept.  Committing forgiveness liberates one, regardless of the effect on the person or persons forgiven.  Lugging a grudge around is never spiritually helpful and healthy.

Forgiving someone is a matter separate from seeking justice.  Some deeds are inexcusable and indefensible.  Sometimes justice requires punishment.  Forgiveness precludes revenge, not justice.

Isaiah 43:25 occurs in a particular context.  I notice the lack of penitence and repentance between verses 24 and 25.  This does not mean that penitence and repentance are irrelevant; they occur in other passages.  Yet Isaiah 43:25 tells us that sometimes God forgives for divine purposes.

Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance throughout the Bible.  Trust nobody, O reader, who pretends to know what that balance is.  I have some guesses.  Some may be correct for the same reason for the same reason that a broken clock is correct twice a day.  Grace remains a glorious mystery.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 14, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF FANNIE LOU HAMER, PROPHET OF FREEDOM

THE FEAST OF ALBERT LISTER PEACE, ORGANIST IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

THE FEAST OF HARRIET KING OSGOOD MUNGER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALISTS HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF NEHEMIAH GOREH, INDIAN ANGLICAN PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT VINCENZINA CUSMANO, SUPERIOR OF THE SISTERS SERVANTS OF THE POOR; AND HER BROTHER, SAINT GIACOMO CUSMANO, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS SERVANTS OF THE POOR AND THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE POOR

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LEDDRA, BRITISH QUAKER MARTYR IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY, 1661

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Adapted from this post

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Advertisement

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:  Ruins of Nineveh

Image Source = Google Earth

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Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Psalm 62:6-14 (LBW) or Psalm 62:5-12 (LW)

1 Corinthians 7:39-31

Mark 1:14-20

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Almighty God, you sent your Son to proclaim your kingdom

and to teach with authority. 

Anoint us with the power of your Spirit, that we, too,

may bring good news to the afflicted,

bind up the brokenhearted,

and proclaim liberty to the captive;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 15

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O Lord God Almighty, because you have always supplied your servants

with the special gifts which come from your Holy Spirit alone,

leave also us not destitute of your manifold gifts nor of grace

to use them always to your honor and glory and the good of others;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns

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

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 24

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For the world in its present form is passing away.

–1 Corinthians 7:31b, The New American Bible–Revised Edition

Yet here I am in March 2023, typing words (in English translation) dictated in Greek in the fifties C.E.  So, we may consider the marital advice in the verses before and after 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 in the context of an inaccurate prediction of the Second Coming of Jesus.

We read in Mark 1 that “the Kingdom of God has drawn near.”  In the canonical Gospels, the Kingdom of God is simultaneously present and future.  The Kingdom of God, partially realized, is present.  The fully-realized Kingdom of God awaits.  Nevertheless, I harbor much sympathy for Alfred Loisy’s lament:

Jesus foretold the kingdom, and what came was the Church.

Now we return to the Gospel of Mark:

The time has arrived; the kingdom of God is upon you. Repent, and believe the gospel.

–Mark 1:15, The Revised English Bible

David Bentley Hart translates a particular Greek verb not as “repent” but as “change your hearts.”  Although “repent” is familiar, many people misunderstand it.  Many think, for example, that repentance is remorse for sins.  No, remorse precedes repentance.

In much of the Bible, repentance can prevent divine judgment.  That is the sense in Mark 1:15.

Yet, in the brilliant and profound work of fiction called the Book of Jonah, the reluctant prophet does not offer repentance to his enemies.  No, he predicts their destruction in the near future.  Jonah seeks his foes’ annihilation.  In the story, however, the population of Nineveh overturns it ways; it repents.  God does not overthrow the city, much to Jonah’s distress.

I have read the Hebrew prophetic genre closely enough to understand that the genre is inconsistent regarding whether collective repentance will suffice to prevent destruction.  Any given Hebrew prophetic book may contain several strata.  So, for example, a layer from before the Babylonian Exile may state that the time for repentance has passed and that God will no longer forgive.  Yet a stratum from during or following the Babylonian Exile may hold that repentance remains possible.  This contradiction would bother me if I were an Evangelical or a fundamentalist.  I have no such problem, fortunately.

I argue that repentance may remain a feasible option longer than many people may think.  When repentance ceases to be a feasible option is for God to decree.  I am not God.

But why wait to repent?  Why wait to respond favorably and faithfully to God?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 10, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF MARIE-JOSEPH LAGRANGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT AGRIPINNUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT GERMANUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT DROCTOVEUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER CLARK, U.S. METHODIST PROTESTANT MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR

THE FEAST OF FOLLIOT SANDFORD PIERPOINT, ANGLICAN EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN OGLIVIE, SCOTTISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1615

THE FEAST OF SAINT MACARIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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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:  U.S. Highway 93, Near Ely, Nevada

Image Source = Google Earth

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Isaiah 40:1-10

Psalm 85 (LBW) or Psalm 19 (LW)

2 Peter 3:8-14

Mark 1:1-8

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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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The assigned readings for this week, taken together, are more positive in tone than last week’s readings.  God forgives us, both individually and collectively.  In Isaiah 40, the focus is on the impending end of the Babylonian Exile, followed by a second Exodus.  Yet none of this absolves us–individually and collectively–of our obligations to God and each other.  The seeming delay in divine actions is to our advantage, we read.  We–individually and collectively–need to use this gift of time well.  And, when God does act, the manner of that action may not be what we–individually and collectively–expect.  So, we may miss it if we are not properly attentive.

Expectations can be tricky.  They establish a standard of human satisfaction or disappointment.  This standard may be unfair.  We human beings are entitled to our informed opinions.  Alas, many expectations flow from uninformed opinions.  Therefore, we may unwittingly set ourselves–individually and collectively–up for disappointment.  Then we complain to God, as if God is responsible for our disappointment.

Arguing faithfully with God is my second favorite aspect of Judaism.  (Monotheism is my first.)  I, as a Christian, embrace arguing with God as part of my inheritance from Judaism.  Yet I grasp that arguing faithfully differs from merely arguing.  Merely arguing can function as a distraction from admitting how little I know.

Isaiah 40:8, in Robert Alter’s translation, reads:

Grass dries up, the flower fades,

but the word of our God stands forever.

The “word,” in this case, means what God says, not any particular canon of scripture.  The word of God, whom we can describe partially and never fully understand, stands forever.  In other words, God is faithful forever.  And God refuses to fit inside any theological box.

Does that disappoint us?  If so, it is our problem, not God’s.

I know an Episcopal priest who deals deftly with people who tell him they do not believe in God.  He asks these individuals to describe the God in whom they do not believe.  They invariably describe a deity in whom the priest does not believe either.

God created us in the divine image.  We have imagined God in our image.  Then we have become disappointed with this false image of God while mistaking it for God.  This is one of those forms of “unperceived guilt” (Psalm 19:13, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures) of which we need God to clear us.

By grace, may we perceive and frolic in the gracious surprises of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SEVENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF ANNA JULIA HAYWARD COOPER AND ELIZABETH EVELYN WRIGHT, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATORS

THE FEAST OF MARY LYON, U.S. CONGREGRATIONALIST FEMINIST AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BADGER, SR., U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST AND PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER; FIRST MISSIONARY TO THE WESTERN RESERVE

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL SIMON SCHMUCKER, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND SOCIAL REFORMER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN CASSIAN AND JOHN CLIMACUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS AND SPIRITUAL WRITERS (TRANSFERRED FROM FEBRUARY 29)

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUIS DE LEON, SPANISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN (TRANSFERRED FROM FEBRUARY 29)

THE FEAST OF PATRICK HAMILTON, FIRST SCOTTISH PROTESTANT MARTYR, 1528 (TRANSFERRED FROM FEBRUARY 29)

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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:  Icon of the Second Coming of Jesus

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 63:16b-17; 64:1-8

Psalm 80:1-7 (LBW) or Psalm 98 (LW)

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:33-37 or Mark 11:1-10

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Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.

Protect us by your strength and

save us from the threatening dangers of our sins,

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 13

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Stir up, we implore you, your power, O Lord, 

and come that by your protection

we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins

and be saved by your mighty deliverance;

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 10

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These assigned readings, taken together, portray God as being faithful and fearful–not a warm fuzzy.  Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.

1. Isaiah 63:16b-17 and 64:1-8 come from Third Isaiah, from the time in which Jewish Exiles had begun to return to their ancestral homeland.  The text indicates great disillusionment as well as the confession that Judea did not live up to long-held expectations of a verdant, fertile paradise.  Yet consider, O reader, that God had ended the Babylonian Exile.
2. Psalms 80 and 98 have different tones.  Psalm 80 fits tonally with the lesson from Isaiah.  Yet Psalm 98 has a triumphant, celebratory tone.
3. The pleasant tone of the introduction of St. Paul the Apostle’s First (really Second) Epistle to the Corinthians belies the corrective tone that commences in 1:10. The focus on the faithfulness of God in the introduction meshes with the other readings.
4. Assigning the account of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the First Sunday of Advent is a tradition in lectionaries of the Lutheran and Moravian churches.  The faithfulness of God exists in the flesh in the reading.
5. Mark 13:33-37 reminds us that God is faithful, so we need to be faithful, too.

I do not fixate on the Second Coming of Jesus, for I know too much about the tradition of failed expectations and specific dates to play that game.  Also, I affirm that God will attend to all matters of the Second Coming.  Meanwhile, feeding hungry people and working for righteousness/social justice is a better use of time than attending any prophecy conference or reading any book about prophecy.  Besides, much of the content to the interpretation of prophecy is dubious, as the passage of time proves.  And righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all creation.  Biblically, righteousness and justice are interchangeable.  Certainly, working for righteousness is more important than guessing the identity of the Antichrist.

The early part of Advent is about the Second Coming of Jesus.  The latter part is about the First Coming of Jesus.  Much of the challenge of Advent is not to become distracted by the busyness of December, with all its shopping, advertising, materialism, and parties.  These distract–or can distract–one from simple, quiet faithfulness to God, who is faithful.  God may not always act according to our expectations.  That is our problem, not God’s.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 27, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF NICHOLAR FERRAR, ANGLICAN DEACON AND FOUNDER OF LITTLE GIDDING; GEORGE HERBERT, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND METAPHYSICAL POET; AND ALL SAINTLY PRIESTS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANNE LINE AND ROGER FILCOCK, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601

THE FEAST OF FRED ROGERS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HOST OF MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD

THE FEAST OF SAINT GABRIEL POSSENTI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PENITENT

THE FEAST OF MARIAN ANDERSON, AFRICAN-AMERICAN SINGER AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT RAPHAEL OF BROOKLYN, SYRIAN-AMERICAN RUSSIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP OF BROOKLYN

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Adapted from this post

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXXVIII

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Psalms 135, 136, and 138

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Psalms 135 and 136 are both litanies.  The primary difference between them is that Psalm 136 uses only response.  Robert Alter’s translation of that response is:

for His kindness is forever.

In TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures, the response is:

His steadfast love is eternal.

Psalms 135 and 136 praise God, the Creator, active in history.  They recall God’s mighty acts of deliverance.  One may reasonably imagine a postexilic Temple liturgy as returned exiles struggled to rebuild their lives in their ancestral homeland.  As they recalled what God had done, they waited for what God would do next.  Some of the people praying did so impatiently; why had God not done more and done it sooner?

Psalm 138, an individual prayer, shares a link with Psalm 136.  Psalm 138:8 reads:

The LORD will settle accounts for me.

O LORD, Your steadfast love is eternal;

do not forsake the work of Your hands.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures 

This prayer follows praise of God and remembrance of deliverance from enemies of God.  The psalmist needs rescue again.

Why has God not done more and done it sooner?  Why is divine deliverance necessary again?  This is the tension in which many individuals, families, congregations, and communities live.   Yet we recall what God has done and hope for what God will do next.  Such impatience is predictable.  I know the feeling of such impatience.  Perhaps you, O reader, know it, also.  Such impatience does not constitute an offense in my theology; it recurs throughout the Psalter and finds a relative in the Book of Job.  The spiritual issue which demands attention is what we do with it.  Do we, like Job and the Psalter, take it to God?  If so, we handle this impatience properly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 21, 2023 COMMON ERA

SHROVE TUESDAY

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST-CARDINAL

THE FEAST OF SAINT ARNULF OF METZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT GERMANUS OF GRANFEL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MARTYR, 677

THE FEAST OF HENRY JOHN GAUNTLETT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROBERT SOUTHWELL, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1595

THE FEAST OF SAINT THOMAS PORMORT, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1592

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXXVI

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Psalm 132

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Psalm 132 is a prayer for the restoration of the Davidic Dynasty, the last king of which was Zedekiah (reigned 597-586 B.C.E.).  The text, therefore, comes from either the Babylonian Exile or afterward.  A date prior to the dedication of the Second Temple (516 B.C.E.) is probable, based on the text.

The historical record indicates that the Davidic Dynasty never returned to power.  Regarding the question of the anointed one (The Messiah)–the Davidic heir or regnant monarch–the Hebrew prophetic literature diverges in interpretation.  Depending on the prophet one believes, there will either be a Davidic heir and regnant monarch in Jerusalem or the covenantal promises came to apply to the people of Judea–a royal nation.

Psalm 132 calls to mind historical nostalgia, hindsight Biblical authors could not have had, and the Biblical tradition of reinterpreting prophecies.  So be it.  As Psalm 132 teaches, the moral mandates of the Law of Moses remain in force.  Salvation for the Jews (collectively) is a matter of divine choice.  However, dropping out is a matter of persistent and unrepentant disregard of those moral obligations, according to Covenantal Nomism.

I, as a Gentile, stand outside Covenantal Nomism; I come under the New Covenant in Jesus.  However, the same moral mandates Jews have apply to Gentiles, both collectively and individually.  And Gentiles face consequences for disregarding those mandates, too.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 19, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT NERSES I THE GREAT, CATHOLICOS OF THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH; FAND SAINT MESROP, BIBLE TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AGNES TSAO KOU YING, AGATHA LIN ZHAO, AND LUCY YI ZHENMEI, CHINENSE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHISTS AND MARTYRS, 1856, 1858, AND 1862; SAINT AUGUSTE CHAPDELAINE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR, 1856; AND SAINT LAURENTIUS BAI XIAOMAN, CHINESE ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVERT AND MARTYR, 1856

THE FEAST OF BERNARD BARTON, ENGLISH QUAKER POET AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH C. CLEPHANE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HUMANITARIAN AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH PARRY, WELSH CONGREGATIONALIST ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF MASSEY H. SHEPHERD, JR., EPISCOPAL PRIEST, ECUMENIST, AND LITURGIST; DEAN OF AMERICAN LITURGISTS

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXXIV

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Psalms 124 and 129

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Let Israel now say,

we read in Psalms 124 and 129.

The ancient Hebrews were not naive; they understood geopolitical perils, the Fall of Samaria, the Fall of Jerusalem, and the Babylonian Exile.  In subsequent generations, they also understood the Seleucid oppression and the Roman occupation.  Furthermore, Jews of the Diaspora understood localized oppression and marginalization.  Generations of ancient Jews prayed Psalms 124 and 129 in full awareness of repression and national defeat.  Through it all, they prayed:

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

maker of heaven and earth.

–Psalm 124:8, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

They also prayed:

The LORD is just.

He has slashed the bonds of the wicked.

–Psalm 129:4, Robert Alter

Why not?  Divine love is always more powerful than human hatred.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 17, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF AUGUST CRULL, GERMAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, POET, PROFESSOR, HYMNODIST, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTONI LESZCZEWICZ, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, 1943

THE FEAST OF EDWARD HOPPER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JANINI LUWUM, UGANDAN ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR, 1977

THE FEAST OF JOHANN HEERMANN, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN MEYENDORFF, RUSSIAN-FRENCH-AMERICAN ORTHODOX PRIEST, SCHOLAR, AND ECUMENIST

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXXIII

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Psalms 122, 125, 127, 128, and 134

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Psalms 122, 125, 127, 128, and 134 are similar to each other.  Jerusalem or the Temple feature prominently in most of these texts.  Obeying and trusting God–both communally and individually–is another connecting thread.  Active faith–both individual and collective–manifests partially in how we treat each other.

I could focus on any of a number of facets in these texts.  Indeed, as the leader of a lectionary discussion group, I have taken detailed notes on some of these psalms.  I know, for example, that in Psalm 122, the thrones of judgment either stood or stand in Jerusalem, depending on the translation one reads.  Comparing translations of one psalm can yield differences in verb tenses.  Differences in interpretations follow.  Yet, in this post, I opt to focus on a few lines from Psalm 127, as quoted in The Book of Common Prayer (1979):

It is in vain that your rise early and go to bed so late;

vain, too, to eat the bread of toil,

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Years ago, before I deleted my Facebook account, I read Psalm that verse (Psalm 127:3) quoted on that social media platform.  Another used commented:

Says who?

I did not reply, but I could have written:

The author of Psalm 127.

This verse flows from the two preceding verses, which teach that building the house or watching over the city is in vain unless God builds and keeps watch.  In other words, God is in control.  The house in Psalm 127 is the home, by the way.

Anyway, we–both individually and collectively–can expend all the effort we can muster.  Yet if we do so in the delusion that we can accomplish anything of lasting value apart from God, we labor in vain.  We may build structures and stockpile money, for example, but is doing so of lasting significance?  These accomplishments will prove transitory, as in the myth of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), a story transformed into a Jewish commentary on the conquered Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire after the Babylonian Exile.  Thus, in the words of Psalm 125:

Those who trust in the LORD

are like Mount Zion

that cannot be moved,

enduring forever.

–Verse 1, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

And, as we read in Psalm 128, those who stand in awe of God will enjoy the fruits of their labors (verse 2).  Why not?  Those are labors consistent with what God builds.

Many monuments to human egos dot the landscape.  They may be architecturally impressive or aesthetically pleasing.  Some may even possess artistic merit and historic value.  I, as a student of history, like historic value and value it.  Yet monuments to God are more impressive.  So are deeds of justice and kindness.  They are never in vain.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PHILIP MELANCHTHON, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN AND SCRIBE OF THE REFORMATION

THE FEAST OF CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF TENNESSEE

THE FEAST OF CHARLES FREDERICK MARTIN, SR., AND CHARLES AUGUSTUS ZOEBISCH, GERMAN-AMERICAN INSTRUMENT MAKERS

THE FEAST OF LOUIS (LEWIS) F. KAMPMANN, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MISSIONARY, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF NICHOLAS KASATKIN, ORTHODOX BISHOP OF ALL JAPAN

THE FEAST OF PEDRO CASALDÁLIGA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF SÃO FÉLIX; “BISHOP TO THE POOR”

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXIX

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Psalms 114 and 115

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Psalms 114 and 115 are one psalm in the Septuagint.

Before I address the content these texts, I note that the Latin text of the opening line of Psalm 115 is

Non nobis, Domine.

This calls to mind Patrick Doyle’s superb track of that title from his soundtrack to Henry V (1989).

Walter Brueggemann tells us that exile and exodus are the two major themes of the Hebrew Bible.  Both themes feature prominently in Psalm 114, which fixates on water.  The text opens with the Exodus from Egypt, continues with the crossing of the River Jordan, and concludes (out of chronological order) with the supplying of water in the Sinai Desert.  Psalm 114 celebrates the Exodus from Egypt as

an event through which all nature came to see the power of power of God.  The exodus is a cosmic theophany that alters the course of nature.

—The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), 1397

Internal evidence may support composition following the death of King Solomon (928 B.C.E.) and prior to the Fall of Samaria (722 B.C.E.); verse 2 mentions Israel and Judah side-by-side.  Yet the germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) posits a different hypothesis:

The language suggest that this is a late psalm and is commemorating the return from the Babylonian exile.

–1397

Regardless of the temporal origin of Psalm 114, the merger of that text with Psalm 115 in the Septuagint makes sense.  The second seems to flow from the first.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us

but to Your name give glory

for Your kindness and Your steadfast truth.

–Psalm 115:1, Robert Alter

Psalm 115 contrasts YHWH with the false gods of the nations.  The text–like other Biblical texts which condemn idolatry–overlooks an important distinction, though.  We must, if we are to understand this matter accurately, realize that the ancients regarded objects–such as statues–as items their deities briefly inhabited, and through which the worshipers encountered their gods.  The Letter of Jeremiah, a.k.a. the sixth chapter of Baruch, for example, likewise fails to make this distinction; it is too caught up in invective and polemic to use nuanced language.

Psalm 115 addresses the faith community of YHWH, defined by YHWH.  Exegetes disagree wither the reference to “You who fear the LORD” includes Gentiles who worshiped YHWH.  We do know, however, that Gentiles who worshiped YHWH became part of Israel in the Hebrew Bible.  Yet, if the hypothesis that Psalm 115 dates to the period following the Babylonian Exile is accurate, an anti-Gentile attitude may exist in this text.  Psalm 115, despite declaring that YHWH is the sole deity and that the heavens belong to YHWH, does not emphasize universalist tendencies.

Psalm 115 also indicates a belief in Sheol:

The dead do not praise the LORD

nor all who go down into silence.

–Verse 17, Robert Alter

This theological position places Psalm 115 no later than a particular phase of the postexilic period, given the historical development of Jewish doctrines of the afterlife.  Psalm 115:17 indisputably precedes the Apocalypse of John, in which the dead in Heaven praise God.

Psalm 115, which speaks of the divine blessings of prosperity and children, envisions a three-tiered cosmos.  God lives in the heavens, the earth is the domain of human beings, and the dead reside in the underworld.  This is also the assumption in the New Testament, hence Christ’s descent into Hades and his Ascension into Heaven.

Another prominent theme in Psalm 115 is the call to trust in YHWH.  Why not?  Witness Psalm 114, for example, O reader.

Idols abound.  They need not be false deities.  An idol is anything which or anyone who functions as an idol for a person.  The definition of an idol depends on function.  An idol for one person may not be an idol for another person.  And an idol may be either tangible or intangible.  For example, a sports team or an idea may be an idol for Person A yet not for Person B.  An idol distracts someone from God.  One cannot trust in God if one is distracted from God.

So, O reader, what are your idols?  We all have our collections of idols.  If we are wise, we will acknowledge this fact and ask God to reveal them to us.  And, just as individuals have collections of idols, so do groups of people.  Psalm 115 speaks of and to nations, not individuals.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 12, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF ABSALOM JONES, RICHARD ALLEN, AND JARENA LEE, EVANGELISTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

THE FEAST OF BENJAMIN SCHMOLCK, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF CHARLES FREER ANDREWS, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF JULIA WILLIAMS GARNET, AFRICAN-AMERICAN ABOLITIONIST AND EDUCATOR; HER HUSBAND, HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET, AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND ABOLITIONIST; HIS SECOND WIFE, SARAH J. SMITH TOMPKINS GARNET, AFRICAN-AMERICAN SUFFRAGETTE AND EDUCATOR; HER SISTER, SUSAN MARIA SITH MCKINNEY STEWARD, AFRICAN-AMERICAN PHYSICIAN; AND HER SECOND HUSBAND, THEOPHILUS GOULD STEWARD, U.S. AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL MINISTER, ARMY CHAPLAIN, AND PROFESSOR

THE FEAST OF MICHAEL WEISSE, GERMAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR; AND JAN ROH, BOHEMIAN MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ORANGE SCOTT, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, ABOLITIONIST, AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CONNECTION

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXIV

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Psalms 105, 106, 107, 126, and 137

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Psalms 106, 126, and 137 reflect the harrowing experience of the Babylonian Exile.  Psalms 105, 106, and 107 are similar yet different. Hence, I write based on these five psalms in this post.

The Hebrew Bible has a small collection of repeated “God is…” statements.  The more common manner of explaining divine attributes is to recall what God has done and to state what God does.  By extension, we humans–both collectively and individually–are like what we do and have done.  Judaism, having neither invented nor accepted Augustinian Original Sin, teaches that we can keep the covenant if only we will; doing so is neither beyond our reach nor too difficult for us (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).  Sirach 15:15, a Jewish text from the Hellenistic period, agrees:

If you wish, you can keep the commandments,

and to behave faithfully is within your power.

—The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

Psalms 105, 106, and 107, taken together, present a stark contrast between divine faithfulness and human infidelity, with its terrible consequences.

Although Robert Alter dates the composition of Psalm 137 to the early part of the Babylonian Exile, The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) places composition after the Babylonian Exile.  Either way, the anger and resentment of exiles is palpable in the text.  Why should it not be so?  The treacherous Edomites bear the brunt of particularly potent venom.  Without attempting a justification of

Happy who seizes and smashes your infants against the rock,

(to quote Robert Alter’s translation), I ask one question:

What else did you expect?

Treating a population harshly frequently and predictably leads to such resentment, complete with revenge fantasies.

Etymology tells us that the English word “anger” derives from the Old Norse angr, meaning “grief.”  We mourn that which we have lost.  So, we become angry.  If all we do with that anger is to take it to God, we do well.  However, if we permit that anger to consume us, we harm ourselves.

Whether Psalm 126 anticipates the end of the Babylonian Exile or reflects upon it, having happened, is a matter of scholarly debate.  Either way, the juxtaposition of Psalm 126 to Psalms 106 and 137 works well and continues the story.  That God ended the Babylonian Exile pays off Psalm 106:47:

Deliver us, O LORD our God,

and gather us from among the nations.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah detail a portion of the troubles returned exiles endured.  Beside those books one may properly read the conclusion of Psalm 126:

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like watercourses in the Negeb.

Those who sow in tears

shall reap with songs of joy.

Though he goes along weeping,

carrying the seed-bag,

he shall come back with songs of joy,

carrying his sheaves.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HELDER CAMARA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF OLINDA AND RECIFE

THE FEAST OF SAINT ADALBERT NIERYCHLEWSKI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1942

THE FEAST OF DANIEL J. HARRINGTON, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GREGORIO ALLEGRI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, COMPOSER, AND SINGER; AND HIS BROTHER, DOMENICO ALLEGRI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER AND SINGER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MOSES, APOSTLE TO THE SARACENS

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BOYCE AND JOHN ALCOCK, ANGLICAN COMPOSERS

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