Category: psalms

Both Matthew and Mark, in their gospel stories, report that after Jesus and the 12 had celebrated the Passover meal that night in the upper room, they sang a hymn before leaving for the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). The NRSV has it in Matthew that they sang THE hymn.

Wait, what? What hymn? Are we supposed to know which hymn is THE hymn?

Indeed, the Jews celebrating Passover would have known which hymn, as would the first century Christians who continued to use the Hebrew scriptures, considering themselves Jews in every sense who had accepted Jesus as the foretold Messiah.

The aforementioned hymn would have been the Hallel, including Psalm 116 which is appointed for Maundy Thursday in our lectionary. Six psalms were part of the Hallel – psalms 113 to 118 – that the Jews were commanded to sing on the night of the Passover celebration. They were sung not all at once but at certain points throughout the meal. Hallel means “praise,” which was what faithful Jews did on this night when they remembered that God had saved them from the angel of death when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt (see our Old Testament reading for today.) 

Interesting that Jesus chose this celebration, this remembrance, as the setting for his final act of opening the way for all of us to be in relationship with God.

A night of praise and thanksgiving is to be our response to God’s love for us.

“It is too small a thing,” Isaiah had said of the chosen servant, “that you should raise up the tribes of Jacob to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
    that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6).

Psalm 116 calls us to respond. We too are obliged to remember, to sing, to praise God, and to offer ourselves in thanksgiving. 

On this strange Maundy Thursday, when we cannot gather as community to humbly wash the feet of our neighbor, when we cannot glorify God together for the sacrifice of the bread and the cup, we can recite Psalm 116. Perhaps gathered around the table with our family, we can tell each other for what we are grateful and how we will praise God with our lives in response. 

Then we can sing our favorite hymn. The Doxology is fitting.

Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
    my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, save my life!”

Pause here to recall the ways in which God has rescued you.

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
6 The Lord protects the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation,
    “Everyone is a liar.”

Pause to recall the ways in which you keep your faith in hard times.

12 What shall I return to the Lord
    for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his faithful ones.

Pause to commit to at least one way you will honor and thank God for all God has done for you.

16 O Lord, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
    You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
    and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

How will you praise God in thanksgiving?

Listen to the Doxology on UTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQxZ3hPbBWg

Find all of the lectionary readings for Maundy Thursday here.

Marjorie George serves the Diocese of West Texas as a consultant in Adult Christian Formation. Reach her at marjorie.george@dwtx.org.  Or leave a reply below.

I have a friend who came to the Episcopal Church as an adult, although she had been active all her life in another Christian denomination. It was an Easter Sunday when her children dragged her to St. Mark’s Church in downtown San Antonio. What she was struck with that first time, she says, were the words, especially the words of the confession, asking forgiveness “for what we have done and for what we have left undone.”  “That’s exactly how I felt,” she says, “but I had never had the words to express it.”

When we don’t have the words, the Church provides them. How often do I go to the “back of the book” – pages 814 to 841 in The Book of Common Prayer – when I need help and don’t know how to ask for it? 
“Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favor . . .” – from a Prayer for Guidance (p 832).
“Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do . . .” from another Prayer for Guidance (p 832).
“By the might of your spirit, left us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God . . .” from a Prayer for Quiet Confidence (p 832).

So it is with the psalms.  We read them and exclaim, “Yes, that’s what I was trying to say.”  

Psalm 70, which is appointed for Wednesday in Holy Week, uses words that are also found in Psalm 40 (vss 13-17) with minor variations. There is speculation that Psalm 70 was detached from the end of Psalm 40 for use in temple worship, just as one might take part of a hymn and use it as a chorus.

We are familiar with the first two verses of Psalm 70 as the opening words of Noonday Prayer (BCP p 103). 

The scriptures we read this Holy Week put us in remembrance of the first Holy Week and all that have followed. The words put us at the scene as we follow Christ’s journey.  Interestingly, in the Revised Common Lectionary, which most Episcopal churches use, the lectionary readings for Holy Week do not change from year to year, unlike the readings for Sundays and the weekdays the rest of the year.  Every Holy Week we read the same words we read last year and the year before. Even so, they offer new revelation for our lives. As today’s post from Society of St. John the Evangelist (ssje.org) says, the continuing revelation of God is sometimes less like learning something new, and more like remembering something we’ve forgotten.

I invite you, the Church invites you, to find words today that speak comfort or transformation or hope or even lament to you in this time. Find them in the prayer book, find them in the psalms, find them in your favorite poetry, recall them from your own history.

Read them again and again as we walk toward Easter.

Psalm 70
¹ Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
² Let those be put to shame and confusion
    who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who desire to hurt me.
³ Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!”
    turn back because of their shame.

⁴ Let all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
    say evermore, “God is great!”
⁵ But I am poor and needy;
    hasten to me, O God!
6 You are my help and my deliverer;
    O Lord, do not delay!

Find all of the lectionary readings for Wednesday in Holy Week here.

Marjorie George serves the Diocese of West Texas as a consultant in Adult Christian Formation. Reach her at marjorie.george@dwtx.org.  Or leave a reply below. 

David is in trouble.  Again.  One more time he is being pursued by those who want his throat and his throne.  It’s a nasty business, this being king of Israel. To be fair, David never asked for the job. He was out taking care of the sheep when God insisted that David be anointed king.  Wouldn’t one of his brothers do? No, it had to be David.

Now David is an old man, and in Psalm 71 David once again is pleading with God. Many commentaries believe the psalm describes the circumstances when David was fleeing from his rebellious son Absalom, the story of which is told in the book of 2 Samuel. But even if David is not the author, the psalm poignantly tells of the faith of an elder with a good memory. 

To also be fair, David’s problems were often his own doing. There was that whole Bathsheba thing when David lusted then tried to cover up that sin with murder. There was David’s looking the other way when one of his sons raped his half-sister, which has brought him to his present predicament.

To also be fair, David’s problems were often his own doing.

Even so, David dares to call upon God for mercy. And what he remembers now, in his old age and failing strength, is that God has sustained him all his life. God has been his hope and confidence since he was young, his strength from his birth: For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth (vss 5-6).

His task, as he sees it from this vantage point of having sinned and been forgiven, of having failed and been rescued, is to proclaim the faithfulness of God that he has witnessed. “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long,” he promises. (vs 15).

Just when we think the job is finished, whether we are of old age or not; just when we think we are too sinful to speak for God; just when we are giving up hope, our God calls us to continue to proclaim God’s presence among us and favor towards us. 

Today read Psalm 71. Remember and rejoice. Then tell someone.  

Psalm 71

A Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help

1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge,
    a strong fortress, to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
    it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

7 I have been like a portent to many,
    but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
    and with your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
    do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me,
    and those who watch for my life consult together.
11 They say, “Pursue and seize that person
    whom God has forsaken,
    for there is no one to deliver.”

12 O God, do not be far from me;
    O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
    let those who seek to hurt me
    be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I will hope continually,
    and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all day long,
    though their number is past my knowledge.
16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,
    I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs,
    O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
    to all the generations to come.
 
19 Your power and your righteousness, O God,
    reach the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
    O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
    will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my honor,
    and comfort me once again.

22 I will also praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have rescued.
24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
for those who tried to do me harm
    have been put to shame, and disgraced.

Find all of the lectionary readings for Tuesday in Holy Week here. 

Marjorie George serves the Diocese of West Texas as a consultant for Adult Christian Formation. Reach her at marjorie.george@dwtx.org.  Or leave a reply below.

There’s a lot of talk about darkness these days. The darkness of Holy Week. The darkness of this pandemic we are in. My doctor telling me to be sure to use a night light so I won’t trip over the throw rugs in the dark. (“We worry about older people falling,” she explains. Politely.)

In the exquisite prologue to John’s gospel, the writer names Jesus as the light of all mankind at the very creation of the world. “The light shines in the darkness,” says John, “and the darkness has not overcome it” (1:4-5).

Now as we begin to walk once again with Jesus to his cross, we are reminded of the Christ light in the lectionary readings for Monday in Holy Week. “In your light we see light” says the psalmist (36:9). 

Were we to read all of Psalm 36 – only verses 5-11 are assigned – we would see that light contrasted with the darkness of those who do not know God. 

Verses 1 to 4 of the psalm describe the way of the unrighteous: they flatter themselves, they lie and cheat, they plot evil:

Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
    before their eyes.
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
    that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
    they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
They plot mischief while on their beds;
    they are set on a way that is not good;
    they do not reject evil .

In contrast, the psalmist compares the virtues of God, addressing God directly:

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light (vss 7-9)

In God’s light, we are reminded in other psalms, darkness has no place to hide:

Even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you (139:12).

Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? (88:12) 

Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path (119:105).

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid? (27:1)

The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple (119:130).

For you have delivered my soul from death,
    and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
    in the light of life (56:13).

The clarity that light reveals is made even more significant when we consider that in the ancient world one did not walk into a room and flip a switch to obtain light.  The darkness of night was penetrated only by the stars in the sky or by candle or oil lamp. One rose to each new day by the light of dawn. The light of creation.

The prophet Isaiah told God’s people to expect this light of Christ in the Old Testament reading for today (42:1-9). What’s more, says Isaiah as he describes the chosen servant of God, this light would reveal God’s love for all mankind:

I have given you as a covenant to the people, 
    a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness (42:6-7).

We can even see the contrast between darkness and light in the gospel reading – John 12:1-11.

After arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus has gone to Bethany to visit Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. A dinner party is held to honor Jesus, and Mary, the sister of Lazarus, brings a jar of very expensive perfume, anoints Jesus’ feet, and wipes them with her hair.  She is preparing him for his burial.

But Judas, the one who will betray his leader, can only see waste.  “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money used for the poor?” he demands. Jesus responds: You can always take care of the poor, but right now we need to focus on what my crucifixion will mean for all of humanity (my paraphrase).

The Christ light shines, but Judas is not able to see by it, for he is blinded by his own agenda.

It’s hard to shine like Jesus this week in the midst of our own reaction to COVID-19.  We are so scared.  We do not know what is ahead of us. Will I have a job at the end of this? Will I be able to complete my schooling? Will my family get sick? Will my elderly parents die sooner than I had planned for?

Did Jesus’ followers wonder what was ahead of their friend, their leader, the one they thought had come to save the world? How was it all going to end?

The hope of Easter is what we are hanging on this week. The light of Christ still shines in the darkness.  We can choose to see by it. Or we can stumble in darkness. 

– Marjorie George

For all of the readings for Monday in Holy Week, click here https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/HolyMon_RCL.html#gsp1  

Marjorie serves the Diocese of West Texas as a consultant in Adult Christian Formation.  Reach her at marjorie.george@dwtx.org.  Or leave a reply below.