The Psalms
On the last teaching day of each month all three Religion classes study a Psalm and its relationship to other poetry and their own lives.
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January 28, 2009
Our lesson today was on Psalm 118:1-18. So many exceptional thoughts were offered by students in all three classes, but the thread that rang the loudest was that God’s love endures forever and that during the Civil Rights Movement many of the participants saw God’s steady love as a sign of hope. I told the students that I would share with them a version of the folk tune, We Shall Overcome, which became such an important and unifying hymn during The Movement. This is a Pete Seeger version, and though it sounds like it belongs solely around the campfire, it has surfaced at many sites of protest. It’s worth researching the relationship between Pete Seeger and Martin King.
Notes for our Lesson:
The Psalms, with a few exceptions, are not the voice of God addressing us. They are rather the voice of our own common humanity – gathered over a long period of time…a voice that continues to have amazing authenticity… It speaks about life the way it really is, for in those deeply human dimensions the same issues and possibilities persist.
–Walter Brueggemann
Psalm 118:1-18
Steady LOVE
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
6 With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
Questions and Comments for Reflection
What are some biblical images that surface as you look over Psalm 118?
Are there any biblical characters that the psalmist calls on for hope? Why?
Psalm 118 is a Psalm of Thanksgiving for victory in battle. Can you imagine a battle that you would give thanks for with such words as these? Is it a military battle? A spiritual battle? Some other kind?
Let’s look briefly at:
1 Chronicles 16:34
The goodness of the Lord. Where else have we learned that God is a good God?
Identify at least one metaphor used by the psalmist.
Examine verse 17 in relationship to Deuteronomy 30:19ff and the themes of life and death.
Exercise: Learning to Write the Sacred
from Writing the Sacred by Ray McGinnis, pp. 26-27.
Look closely at vv. 1-4 in a slightly different translation and format:
Praise the Holy One, who is so good,
Whose faithful love endures forever!
Let the house of Israel proclaim,
God’s faithful love endures forever!
Let the house of Aaron say,
God’s faithful love endures forever!
Let all who revere the Holy One say,
God’s faithful love endures forever!
Psalm 118:1-4
As the repetition builds in Psalm 118, the hearer is invited to agree more and more emphatically that God’s love endures forever. As the mind focuses on this thought, something may occur for the speaker and the hearer. For a moment, we may find ourselves encouraged by the idea that God’s love endures forever. Where we may have felt irritation, sadness, confusion, fear or anxiety, our mind has shifted to this affirmation of God’s lasting love. A spiritual mystery is afoot as we recite the psalm.
Exercise: Using the repeated line from Psalm 118, create new phrases while continuing to alternate them with the phrase “God’s love endures forever.” Create whatever statement or question you wish with this alternating phrase. The pattern should look like this.
A) _____________________________________________________________________
B) God’s love endures forever.
Exercise: Now invent your own phrase and repeat it through two verses.
Listen to the remaining verses in Psalm 118, vv. 19-29
Anything you would like to add based on our study or your hearing of these final verses?
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December 17, 2008
Advent Lesson on the Icon of The Nativity.
Among our questions during the lesson:
MEMORY VERSE
Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger.
Have you ever heard different words in this verse?___________________________________________________________________
November 19, 2008
Psalm 1
Closer look at Ps 1:3—They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.
On the Pulse of Morning, a poem by Maya Angelou
Hosts to species long since departed,
Mark the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.
But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.
I will give you no hiding place down here.
You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.
Your mouths spelling words
Armed for slaughter.
The rock cries out today, you may stand on me,
But do not hide your face.
Across the wall of the world,
A river sings a beautiful song,
Come rest here by my side.
Each of you a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more.
Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.
The river sings and sings on.
There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing river and the wise rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew,
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek,
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the tree.
Today, the first and last of every tree
Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the river.
Plant yourself beside me, here beside the river.
Each of you, descendant of some passed on
Traveller, has been paid for.
You, who gave me my first name,
You Pawnee, Apache and Seneca,
You Cherokee Nation, who rested with me,
Then forced on bloody feet,
Left me to the employment of other seekers–
Desperate for gain, starving for gold.
You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot…
You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru,
Bought, sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare
Praying for a dream.
Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the tree planted by the river,
Which will not be moved.
I, the rock, I the river, I the tree
I am yours–your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,
Need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.
Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands.
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts.
Each new hour holds new chances
For new beginnings.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.
The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me,
The rock, the river, the tree, your country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.
Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
Into your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.
*words in Bold are mine for teaching purposes related to Psalm 1
See also “Arcing Into Shape”—Blog Post on 9/2/08
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October 29, 2008
The 23rd Psalm
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
From Day by Day, March 2008.
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd.
Our family lived in Scotland for two years; we never got used to seeing sheep all over the countryside. With the sheep were always the shepherds…Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) wrote this about the Christian life:
We offer ourselves, one way or another, to try to work for God. We want, as it were, to be among the sheepdogs employed by the Good Shepherd. Have you ever watched a good sheepdog at work? He is not an emotional animal. He goes on with his job quite steadily; takes no notice of bad weather, rough ground, or his own comfort. He seldom or never stops to be stroked. Yet his faithfulness and intimate communion with his master are one of the loveliest things in the world. Now and then he looks at the shepherd. And when the time comes for rest, they are generally to be found together. Let this be the model of your love.
The 23rd Psalm
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The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
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He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
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He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
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Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
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Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Try to change this line to modern English in a way that you would say it:
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
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September 29, 2008
Psalm 33 and The Rhythm of Creation
See Answering God by E. Peterson
Psalm 33
The Greatness and Goodness of God
1Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
2Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3Sing to him a new song;
play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
14From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
15he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
16A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.
18Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
20Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
21Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
