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Psalm 4
Easter 3B
The superscription of Psalm 4 tells us that this individual prayer was always intended to be used with musical accompaniment in a service of public worship. That’s how the church has used it for centuries now. Long ago, the monastic movements noticed the references to sleep in both Psalm 3 and 4 and have bracketed…
Psalm 133
Easter 2B
As is so often the case with the RCL, Psalm 133 seems an odd choice for this second Sunday of the Easter season– until we read it in conjunction with the other readings for today. Read in the context of Acts 4:32-35 in particular, it is very clear why we should focus on Psalm 133. …
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Easter Day B
Psalm 118 is the Lectionary’s default Psalm for Holy Week. It is used in all three years of the cycle for both Palm Sunday and Easter. It is easy to see why. Verses 26-27 are a virtual description of what would happen on Palm Sunday and verses 17-18 fairly shout, “Easter.” Making a connection to…
Isaiah 25:6-9
Easter Day B
Easter Sunday may not seem like an ideal time to compare God’s kingdom to Isaiah 25’s lavish feast. After all, many of those who proclaim and hear the Old Testament lesson the Lectionary appoints for this Sunday will spend at least some of Easter preparing, eating and cleaning up food. Yet nearly every culture and…
Psalm 31:9-16
Lent 6B
The Revised Common Lectionary has two suggested readings from the Psalms for this Sixth Sunday of Lent, Palm Sunday. The first, Psalm 118, emphasizes the positive side of this day with lots of verses that anticipate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The second, Psalm 31:9-16, zeros in on the tragedy of Palm Sunday, the gathering…
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Lent 6B
Isaiah 50:4-9a’s juxtaposition of beauty and brutality is so jarring that it may be disconcerting. Yet that combination is part of what helps make our text in so many ways reminiscent of daily life. After all, it sometimes feels as if we’re almost constantly moving from beauty to brutality (and then, so often, right back…
Psalm 119:9-16
Lent 5B
The Revised Common Lectionary has two suggestions from the Psalter for this Fifth Sunday of Lent—Psalm 51:1-12 and Psalm 119:9-16. Psalm 51 is, of course, the quintessential Lenten Psalm, full of guilt and contrition because a terrible sin has been committed by a man who was sinful from birth. Psalm 119 is all about how…
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Lent 5B
When I was in Sunday School, we sang, “Into my heart,/ come into my heart, Lord Jesus./ Come in today,/ come in to stay,/ come into my heart, Lord Jesus.” As we sang, we imagined Jesus standing and knocking as long it takes for us to faithfully open the door to and invite him into…
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Lent 4B
Psalm 107 was originally a liturgy of thanksgiving offered at one of Israel’s great festivals, as evidenced by the opening call to give thanks and the repeated refrain, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” The theme of this thanksgiving is the often-repeated word, hesed,…
Numbers 21:4-9
Lent 4B
Snakes have had, at best, a mixed reputation throughout history. Some people have associated them with healing. A snake, after all, represented Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. The modern symbol of the medical profession is also a snake wrapped around a branch. What’s more, in some passages in Scripture, snakes also have somewhat positive…
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