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Psalm 30
Proper 8B
Psalm 30 is almost singularly upbeat in its incessant exaltations of God. But the discerning reader and preacher will notice that underneath all this praising there has been a history of pain. References are made to having gone down to the depths, to sinking into the pit, to enemies eager to gloat over the psalmist’s…
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
Proper 7B
The Lectionary assigns Psalm 107 now and again—the most recent time was just earlier this year in March—but chops it up somewhat differently each time. It never assigns the whole psalm, even though thematically it all hangs together. Because if you read the entire psalm, you will discover it is a curious historical retrospective on…
Psalm 92:1-4,12-15
Proper 6B
What’s in verses 5-11? This lection from Psalm 92 is one of many RCL texts that clearly skips a certain section of a passage, forcing the curious Bible student to wonder why a chunk gets leapfrogged over. Psalm 92 is hardly too long for a single reading or sermon. Yet the Lectionary deletes almost exactly…
Psalm 130
Proper 5B
This poem is labeled a “Psalm of Ascent” but it starts as a Psalm of Descent. It is called De Profundis in older Bibles—the Latin for “from the depths.” It is certainly a curious, perhaps an almost stark, way to begin 2021’s Season of Ordinary Time! And yet this psalm fits this time, these past…
Psalm 29
Trinity Sunday B
You can find an article with sermon ideas for Psalm 29 a total of 9 times in the Sermon Commentary Archive here on CEP. That is because in all three Lectionary cycles of Years A, B, and C, Psalm 29 is always assigned for the first Sunday after Epiphany/Baptism of Christ and for Trinity Sunday….
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost B
You have to look pretty close to figure out what brings the latter portion of Psalm 104 to the fore on Pentecost Sunday. But then you read verse 30 and perhaps you are reading a translation that capitalizes the word “Spirit” there, and then you connect the Lectionary dots. That capital “S” signals that the…
Psalm 47
Easter 7B
Sample sermon: How We See Things [Since Ascension Day is May 13 and the Sunday after it can also be Ascension Sunday, I am posting a sample Ascension Day sermon based on the Lectionary’s Ascension Day psalm text of Psalm 47.] One of the most mind-boggling spectacles I’ve ever seen is a short science movie…
Psalm 98
Easter 6B
Reading Psalm 98 is like uncorking a well shook-up bottle of champagne. The cork rockets upward and the bubbly inside the bottle fountains forth in exuberance. We’ve all seen those locker rooms after a team wins the World Series or the Super Bowl when players spray each other with such bottles—some years ago someone finally…
Psalm 22:25-31
Easter 5B
Let’s try a little thought experiment: imagine running across a long-ish narrative poem that began with something like, “The one I love torments me day and night, insults me in private and in public. She has made me out to be a villain, and I rue the day I ever met her at times. Who…
Psalm 23
Easter 4B
Psalm 23 is hands down the most famous poem in the Hebrew Psalter. People seem to read their own lives and experiences into this lyric little song. That is quite amazing given how foreign most of the imagery is. Have you ever met a shepherd? Spent any time with sheep? Has your head ever been…
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