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Psalm 80:1-7
Advent 4C
If you pay close attention to the Psalm readings across the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary, then you know the Lectionary likes Psalm 80. But it never manages to assign the whole psalm. Either you get just the first seven verses (as here for Advent 4C) or nine verses from the middle of…
Psalm 25:1-10
Advent 1C
The Revised Common Lectionary likes the first 10 or so verses of the 25th Psalm. Psalm 25:1-9 or 1-10 occur at least once each in Years A, B, and C. The last time we saw this was earlier in 2024 when these exact same verses were assigned for the First Sunday in Lent in Year…
Psalm 93
Proper 29B
What a lot gets packed into these five short verses of the 93rd Psalm! This poem is an obvious choice for Christ the King / Reign of Christ Sunday as we close out another liturgical year and conclude the Year B cycle of the Lectionary. The whole psalm is about the nature of God as…
Psalm 16
Proper 28B
It is easy to see why many people associate Psalm 16 with funerals. It often gets read at funerals and one or another of the verses sometimes gets printed on the cover or the back cover of a funeral program or memorial folder. And of course sometimes we preachers are asked by families to use…
Psalm 146
Proper 27B
Psalm 146 is the Year B psalm appointed for November 10, 2024, which in the United States will be the first Sunday following the Presidential election. No doubt even those of you reading this commentary who do not live in the U.S. have been aware of this election and maybe you have even paid some…
Psalm 119:1-8
Proper 26B
The Aleph section of Psalm 119 is a little all over the place in some ways. As many of us know, the longest of all the Psalms is divided up into 8-verse units that follow the ordering of the Hebrew alphabet with each line of each segment beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. …
Psalm 126
Proper 25B
Perky. That’s the word that came to mind after I once again read this short, effervescent psalm. It’s perky. It bubbles over with joy and hopefulness. It is about a reversal of fortune that generates almost giddy happiness and joy. It is about dreams coming true—dreams that for too long seemed to be unlikely at…
Psalm 91:9-16
Proper 24B
If you have been reading my sermon commentaries here on the CEP website over the years, then you have no doubt sensed that I hold a very high view of Scripture as God’s Word. I take it more than seriously and I reverently honor its inspired nature and believe it is infallible in all the…
Psalm 90:12-17
Proper 23B
The Lectionary has us picking up just the tail end of Psalm 90 this week. It is a curious poem. It opens with a lyric consideration of how God had been his people’s dwelling place—their home—from generation to generation. But then in the middle section there is a shift in tone as a rather fearsome…
Psalm 8
Proper 22B
Psalm 8 swiftly sums up something that the Israelites found as amazing as anything else they could think of. Yes, the psalm is about the majesty of God and that is awesome enough. And the psalmist sees that majesty of God chiefly in the things that this great God created and most especially the wonders…
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