Sermon Commentary Library

Our weekly sermon commentaries are Lectionary-based, which across its three-year cycle, encompass a vast array of biblical texts. Filter the Sermon Commentary Library to search Scripture texts by book and chapter to find commentary, illustrations, and reflections to spark ideas.

Looking for something else? View our Heidelberg Catechism sermon resources and our Reformed Connections to the RCL section that traces Lectionary texts to specific parts of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession.

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Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 Sermon Commentary

Easter 5A

Sometimes the Revised Common Lectionary gives us the same Psalm somewhat frequently but each time it is chopped up in different ways.  As it is, selecting some verses, skipping over others, and then including a few more is not always a great way to preach on a given Hebrew poem in that they were written…

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Psalm 31:9-16 Sermon Commentary

Palm Sunday

Psalm 31:11 says “I am an object of dread to my neighbors; those who see me on the street flee from me.”  I suppose we all have our days when we feel like this but mostly we chalk it up to paranoia.  “I am just imagining that everyone I meet is averting their eyes.”  “It’s…

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Psalm 31:9-16 Sermon Commentary

Palm Sunday

Comments, Observations, and Questions It is Palm/Passion Sunday and so God’s people come to church.  We Christians come to church because we believe when we do, we come into the presence of God.  We believe in God and so we believe God is faithful to the promise that when we gather in God’s name, God…

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Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 Sermon Commentary

Easter 5A

A scant month ago as one of the Psalm readings for Palm Sunday, the RCL assigned portions of Psalm 31.  And now here it is again.  They have chopped it up a bit differently but it’s the same psalm and the whole poem hangs together and needs to be read together (no matter how much…

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Psalm 31:9-16 Sermon Commentary

Palm Sunday A

Psalm 31:11 says “I am an object of dread to my neighbors; those who see me on the street flee from me.”  Talk about your social distancing . . .    But seriously, as I read Psalm 31—all of it and of course also the RCL selection of verses 9-16—it became clear that this is a…

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Psalm 31:9-16 Sermon Commentary

Palm Sunday C

It is Palm/Passion Sunday and so God’s people come to church.  We Christians come to church because we believe when we do, we come into the presence of God.  We believe in God and so we believe God is faithful to the promise that when we gather in God’s name, God is among us. Certainly…

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Psalm 31:9-16 Sermon Commentary

Lent 6B

The Revised Common Lectionary has two suggested readings from the Psalms for this Sixth Sunday of Lent, Palm Sunday.  The first, Psalm 118, emphasizes the positive side of this day with lots of verses that anticipate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  The second, Psalm 31:9-16, zeros in on the tragedy of Palm Sunday, the gathering…

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Psalm 31:1-5; 15-16 Sermon Commentary

Easter 5A

“In this Psalm the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the heathen, and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen.”  Those words could have been written by any alert observer of the world-wide religious scene in 2017, as we witness, for example, the cruel persecution…

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Psalm 31:9-16 Sermon Commentary

Palm Sunday A

There are two ways to commemorate Palm Sunday, according to the Lectionary.  We can focus on the Palms and celebrate a day of victory filled with Hosannas.  That was my focus last year (see the Sermon Commentary for March 20, 2016).  Or we can focus on the Passion going on beneath the Hosannas.  That is…

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