Home » Old Testament »
Psalm 19:7-14
Proper 21B
We all recognize that rules and regulations are simply a part of life. Mostly, however, we are only too happy to dispense with recitations of such things as quickly as possible. Anyone who has ever flown on a commercial airline know that before the flight can begin, the flight attendants have to run through their…
Psalm 54
Proper 20B
Psalm 54 tells a story in just seven short verses. Like most if not all of the stories the psalms tell, it is a very generic tale. We have no precise clue who the psalmist is, who his enemies are, exactly what actions the enemies take, or what God does to earn the praise he…
Proverbs 31
Proper 20B
Content Warning Because the Biblical text overwhelmingly centers male characters in a way that is unsurprising for ancient near-eastern literature, every women’s devotional writer and preacher tasked with a Mother’s Day sermon takes a turn with Proverbs 31. The result is over-used and over-wrought exegesis. Unfortunately, far too many women and girls in our churches…
Psalm 116:1-9
Proper 19B
One of the benefits of the fact that psalms are not tied to any obvious specific set of circumstances is that they can be applied to a wide variety of experiences whether or not those exactly match whatever any given psalmist was talking about. In the case of Psalm 116, one could surmise this was…
Proverbs 1:20-33
Proper 19B
Wisdom Personified Tackling this week’s lectionary text from the first chapter of Proverbs, with next week’s text from the last chapter in mind, it may be worth considering making a short series out of the two together. The first thing that holds them both together is the theme of wisdom and, particularly, the way wisdom…
Psalm 146
Proper 18B
As we often note here on the CEP website and in our various sermon commentaries on the Psalms, we use the word “Hallelujah” as an expression of praise. For us it is synonymous with the sentiment, “I am praising God right now!” And sometimes we use it as a way to express gratitude and relief,…
Isaiah 35:4-7
Proper 18B
Is the Anger of God Good News? All the way back in Isaiah 27, the sword of the Lord’s wrath is brought out. We are told in verse 4 that thorns and briers will war against Israel’s enemies, that unless there is peace, God will bring judgment. All of these images are picked back up…
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Proper 17B
Commentary: Hear and Live “Hear” is a key word in all of Hebrew Scripture, most notably in the Shema, which is the central prayer of Judaism. Perhaps Christians might think of it also as a credal formulation. It goes like this: “hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love…
Psalm 15
Proper 17B
We could summarize and simultaneously contemporize Psalm 15 this way: Who may dwell with God on God’s holy mountain? The one who stays off social media. Or at the very least the one who does not do on social media what altogether too many other people have been doing in the years since Facebook and…
Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18
Proper 16B
Worship Idea: This reading from Hebrew Scripture is a key example of the ancient near-eastern tradition of covenant renewal. It comes at a wonderful spot on the calendar as students in many places are returning to the classroom and folks are finding the rhythm of the school year again. This is a great time to…
Content related to Old Testament