“Judge not lest you be judged, for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Jesus tells us (Mt. 7:1-2). Judgment is mine says the Lord,” we are also reminded in Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19. The writer of Psalm 82 would […]
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Summer is here, life is good! All reasons to rejoice. But we also need to remember, as Psalm 81 tells us. Psalm 81 Psalm 81 starts with a call to celebrate, “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet lyre with […]
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Our psalm for last week of bargaining with God, gives way to depression this week with Psalm 80, the fourth stage of Kubler-Ross’ stages of dying. The Israelites are so sad that their daily bread is made up of tears, as well as their drinking water. “You have fed them with the bread of tears, […]
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Have you ever gone through a time of loss and disorientation? Sometimes these are necessary for spiritual growth. Theologian Walter Brueggemann divides the Psalms into three categories: psalms of orientation, disorientation and re-orientation. This week’s psalm, Psalm 79, is a psalm of disorientation. Psalm 79 Psalm 79 is a communal lament. The temple has been […]
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“Those who don’t learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” (George Santayana) And sometimes, even when we know our history, we repeat it! Psalm 78 is a loose accounting of the history of the Hebrew nation up to the time of David. It is a story we continue to repeat; a history of our […]
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After my first third world experience, I believed in God, but questioned God’s goodness. How could a good God allow so much suffering? When I worked on my dissertation and interviewed adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, I questioned God again. How could God allow innocent children to suffer so? It wasn’t the doubt of […]
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We see God as we are, not as God is. Hence, the image of a warrior God, as found in Psalm 76. Psalm 76 Psalm 76 extols the power of a conquering God. It is harsh and unrelenting. God is “glorious and terrible” – two translations of the same Hebrew word. “Glorious are you, more […]
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If it can be celebrated, it must be celebrated! At least that’s my thinking. I’m halfway through the book of Psalms. Once Psalm 75 is done I’ll have only seventy-five to go! That’s a reason for celebrating. A Cup of Spiced Wine Time to raise a glass of wine. “For in the hand of the […]
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Where was God when the Twin Towers fell? When the tsunami swept away thousands of lives in Indonesia? When the woman was brutally raped and murdered? The child abused? Christians beheaded by ISIS? Where was God? Psalm 74 is a lament of the community that asks this question. Where was God when the Temple was […]
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“Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.” (1) Thus begins Psalm 73. The psalm ends with words of confident trust, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.” (26) But the path to reach this faith […]
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