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Psalm 146:5-10
Advent 3A
However it was that the Virgin Mary composed her Magnificat song as recorded in Luke 1, one thing that is certain is that she had a lot of Old Testament material at her disposal to work from. Particularly she had many apt psalms to draw upon, and Psalm 146 is surely one of them. No…
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Advent 2A
In too many places all over the world it has long been the case that some who come into power as kings, presidents, prime ministers, and the like seem to see their power as principally an avenue by which to enrich themselves. Power corrupts, they say, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And all too often…
Psalm 122
Advent 1A
It may be difficult for us in the modern world and in the era of Christ’s Church to understand Ancient Israel’s attachment to Jerusalem. This city still exists today of course and visiting it is probably always a key destination for all tourists who want to visit “The Holy Land.” There is no denying the…
Psalm 46
Proper 29C
Many of us are old enough to remember that whatever preachers around the world and particularly in the United States had planned to preach on for Sunday September 16, 2001, all that changed after that fateful Tuesday now referred to by the shorthand of 9/11. And so very many of us who preach switched to…
Psalm 98
Proper 28C
I come from an ecclesiastical tradition that for a long time shunned the singing of anything but settings of the 150 psalms in worship. Despite a burst of hymnody in the post-Reformation church world—think of names like Isaac Watt or the Wesleys—singing any text that was not straight out of the Psalter was verboten. Ironically…
Psalm 17:1-9
Proper 27C
If you bring last week’s psalm lection of Psalm 32 and place it next to Psalm 17, you find a curious contrast. In Psalm 32 the psalmist wrestles with unconfessed sin and how his not confessing it led to no small measure of torment for his spirit but even for his body. Finally he does…
Psalm 32:1-7
Proper 26C
Psalm 32 has multiple voices. In this commentary I will comment on the entire Psalm despite the RCL’s cutting it off at verse 7. But the four remaining verses are important to get the upshot and meaning of the entire poem. The psalm begins with the first voice with a double beatitude pronounced by an…
Psalm 84:1-7
Proper 25C
Psalm 84 is a lovely poem and song and at just a dozen verses, it’s a fairly short song at that. So why the RCL would have us take up only the first seven verses is a mystery to me. Aside from a passing reference to “the wicked,” verses 8-12 simply continue the radiant imagery…
Psalm 121
Proper 24C
The reassurances of Psalm 121 notwithstanding, even most pious Christian parents have a common byword or saying for their children: “Nothing good happens after midnight.” This is the stuff that curfews are made of. Behind it is the belief that when the world grows dark, it grows dangerous. Under the cover of dark, certain things…
Psalm 111
Proper 23C
Psalm 111 was written by somebody who pulled out every stop on the praise organ and then let it rip! In the span of just 10 verses, God is praised up and down, forward and back. God is extolled for the works of God’s hands, for keeping covenant with God’s people, for providing food for…
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