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Psalm 50:7-15
Proper 5A
The Lectionary has carved out the exact middle section of Psalm 50 for this Ordinary Time Sunday in Year A. It would have us skip the first half-dozen verses that summon Israel to gather before God and then the final verses that are all about a scolding of the wicked. Instead we focus on God’s…
Psalm 8
Trinity Sunday A
Probably we don’t know enough about angels to know exactly what it means for the psalmist to suggest that we human being have been made “a little lower” than the angels. We have the sense in Scripture that angels are powerful in their own way. They do the will of God. They are messengers for…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost A
Would it ruin anyone’s Pentecost if the Revised Common Lectionary had allowed Psalm 104:35a to be a part of this lection rather than coyly skipping over its line about wishing that evil and wicked people would vanish from the earth? And by itself, is that desire so terrible? Maybe it’s a luxury for people in…
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
Easter 7A
Regular readers of my commentaries here on the CEP website know that I generally frown upon the Lectionary’s tendency to delete certain portions of passages. Usually the stuff the RCL skips over pertains to judgment and the like but since we cannot get a fully rounded picture of God’s views toward sin and evil without…
Psalm 66:8-20
Easter 6A
Psalm 66 requires a bit of a theological balancing act. On the one hand most of this song is a pretty straightforward expression of thanksgiving to God for delivering the psalmist from plights of various kinds. The songwriter had passed through a season of suffering. And so he cried out to God to save him. …
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
Easter 5A
For the most part Psalm 31 sounds just one primary note across its 24 verses. So although the Lectionary has chopped it up to carve out the opening 5 verses and then 2 verses closer to the middle of the song, the main theme and imagery of the psalm are still visible. In the verses…
Psalm 23
Easter 4A
In an article he wrote some years ago, theologian Neal Plantinga told the story of a choir that was rehearsing for a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. But the choir was not giving the conductor what he was looking for. As it turned out, the choir was almost too good, too professional. So the…
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