Temple

Psalm Reading for March 31, 2024 (Easter)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This selection from Psalm 118 is a song of joy and victory that is appropriate for Easter Sunday, the Day of Resurrection. Obviously, the original context preceded that event by many centuries. (We note that Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 were featured in our lectionary reading for the Liturgy of the Palms last Sunday, so the verses this week provide some amplification to that theme of joy.)

Scholars tell us that this is the last of six Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118), which were Psalms of praise and thanksgiving. It is likely that this Psalm is associated with the Jewish feast of Tabernacles and other Jewish festivals.

This Psalm begins with a liturgical phrase that frequently appears in the Psalms, especially here and in Psalm 136, as well as others. We surmise that this may have been a call and response between the worship leaders (possibly the Levites) and the congregation:

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.

In the verses from 14 to 24, the Psalmist explores the nature of Yahweh, his blessings, and the response of the grateful congregation.

The Lord is acknowledged as the Psalmist’s strength and song — and the Psalmist then describes a new characteristic that he has begun to experience from the Lord:

he has become my salvation.

He then explores what this salvation means to him — victory, for one thing. In an allusion to the nomadic life of his ancestors, or perhaps to the encampments of a military campaign, he refers to the songs of praise sung in the tents like those used in the feast of Tabernacles:

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”

Salvation also means life, not death:

I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

The Psalmist calls for the gates of righteousness to be opened to him — this is likely both literal and figurative, as the congregation is led in procession into the temple. The occasion is the opportunity to give thanks to Yahweh. But it is also clear that there are requirements for those who enter:

This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.

The Psalmist again gives thanks that Yahweh has answered his prayer and has become his salvation. And then there is a verse quite familiar to readers of the New Testament:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.

The cornerstone was the bondstone at the corner of the foundation of the building. This image is used by some of the prophets as well.

From the Psalmist’s perspective, this metaphor probably suggests that Israel is the cornerstone that was rejected by the Gentiles but has become a great nation through the blessing of the Lord.

However, from a Christian perspective this proverb describes the ministry of Christ — rejected and crucified, he is nonetheless the chief cornerstone, chosen by God and raised to life in order to provide the foundation of a new spiritual temple.

This verse is quoted by Jesus in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17) as a comment on his parable of the wicked tenants who reject the messengers from the landowner, and then kill his beloved son. Jesus is the cornerstone whom the wicked tenants have rejected.

In the New Testament, the chief cornerstone is clearly identified with Jesus:

So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).

This selection of the Psalm concludes with an exhortation very appropriate for the observation of Easter Sunday:

This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!

This day, of all days, is a day of rejoicing!

APPLY:

This selection from Psalm 118 is perfect for Easter Sunday, reminding us that God brings life out of death, and hope out of despair.

We are especially reminded that Christ, though rejected, despised and crucified, has been vindicated by his resurrection.

No wonder the early church saw this Psalm as a prophecy of Christ. Jesus himself refers to himself as the stone rejected by the builders who has now become the chief cornerstone. The carpenter’s Son has begun the process of building his church!

RESPOND:

There are so many hymns we sing in church that allude to Christ as our cornerstone and the foundation of our faith.

One of my favorites extols Christ:

Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone;
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the church in one.

Though the historic “temple” of the Christian church has been built with elaborate chambers and columns, arches and domes and spires, metaphorically, by Christians of every denomination and tradition, one thing is certain — they all build upon Christ as the one foundation.

Lord, I rejoice that you are the cornerstone of my faith, and the structure of my life is founded upon you. Amen.

PHOTOS:

“Omaha North Presbyterian Church cornerstone” by Ammodramus is in the public domain.

Old Testament for December 24, 2023

“King David”
From the East window at Pusey House chapel, by Comper, c.1935-9.
(caption and photograph by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

King David is the model king upon whom the monarchy in Israel is predicated, and by whose standards every subsequent king would be judged.

In this passage, David has been crowned king of both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, and he has established his capital in the “neutral” zone between the two kingdoms in the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been a city belonging to the Jebusite people until David conquered it.

But David’s conscience is troubling him. He built himself a palace in Jerusalem, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord still rests amidst the tents of the tabernacle as had been directed by Moses some hundreds of years earlier.

In the previous chapter, 2 Samuel 6, David had personally led the procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem, dancing ecstatically before the Ark.

Now he feels led to build a suitable house for the Ark of the Covenant. His motivation is noble — he wants a temple that more adequately reflects the reverence due to the Lord.

He consults the prophet Nathan, who initially gives the green light to build it, until the Lord intervenes with Nathan in the night.

The message is clear:

The Lord does not require a house of cedar in which to dwell. God is not localized or limited by boundaries. God dwells everywhere in his creation, and in the midst of his people.
The Lord called David from the shepherds’ fields and has given him victories in battle and made him ruler over Israel. God didn’t do that in order for David to build him a house! God has given to David, not David to God.
And God issues definite promises — David’s fame will equal the greatest men in history; Israel under his rule will be established in peace and security from their enemies; David won’t build a house for God, but God will establish a “house,” i.e., a dynasty, for David; and that dynasty shall last forever and ever.

In verses 12-15, not included in our text today, God also makes it clear that David’s direct descendant specifically will build a temple for God, as we see if we read on into the Book of 1 Kings. That son will be Solomon.

APPLY:

This may seem an odd passage for the season of Advent, until we consider the view from a prophetic perspective. The promises made to David may be provisionally fulfilled by his son Solomon, who does build a temple to the Lord in Jerusalem. But the sorry story of David’s descendants can’t possibly begin to fulfill this prophecy:

Solomon loses his way because he begins to worship the many gods and goddesses of his many wives.
Rehoboam, David’s grandson, follows bad advice and ends up losing the northern kingdom of Israel, leaving only Judah as the remaining kingdom over which he and his descendants will reign.
Even the best of the kings of Judah were flawed. Eventually, in 587 B.C., the last descendant of David to actually reign in Jerusalem, Zedekiah, will be deposed by the Babylonians and the temple and city of Jerusalem reduced to rubble.

Ah, but that doesn’t snuff out the lineage of David! If we consult the genealogies found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, we see that David’s descendants continued even through the dark years of exile. David’s line continues through the years when some of the Israelites returned to Judea and they continued first as a vassal state of the Persians, and then the Greeks, and then the Romans. But none of David’s descendants would ever sit on the throne again after Zedekiah. Except for the one whose throne is eternal.

This is the Son of David whom the Angel Gabriel describes to Mary in The Annunciation: Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 32-33:

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.

In other words, Luke and other New Testament writers understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy that was given through Nathan to David. The only king whose throne would last forever and whose kingdom would never end, is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

We see yet again that there is a direct and conscious link between the Old and New Testament; that in fact Jesus is the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets. Therefore, the Old Testament is also our book as Christians. We are children of Abraham because of our faith. We are guided by the laws of Moses in our ethical behavior. The Wisdom books provide prudent help for our daily lives. And the prophets speak to us just as clearly about social justice, the age to come, and the Messiah as they did to the Jews.

Jesus is our prophet, priest and king.

Respond:

God does not “need” my meager efforts to please him. Instead, like David, he promises to establish me, and to work in my life. Whatever meager gifts or successes I have enjoyed come from God’s hands. And I pray that I will continue to submit to my Lord and my King who was born in the city of David and who lives and reigns over me. I am a subject of one King and one King only.

I am your subject, Lord. The promises you have made that the Son of David will sit on the throne forever and ever remind me that he is your Son as well. Rule in my life forever and ever. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“King David” by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for November 19, 2023

The words “Never Again” are written in several languages at a memorial at the Dachau concentration camp.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 123
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This Psalm is called a Song of Ascents. A Song of Ascents was generally sung as part of a pilgrimage by the congregation as they climbed the path toward the temple in Jerusalem. They were literally “ascending” from the valley below toward the temple heights.

This is made more pointed by the first verse:

To you I do lift up my eyes,
you who sit in the heavens.

There is both a literal, physical aspect to this description, and a spiritual application. The worshippers literally look up to the temple as they climb, but inwardly they are also looking up to him who sits enthroned in heaven.

The language of the worshippers here is self-abasing and humbling. The Psalmist uses a simile that compares the worshippers to slaves in relation to their masters — the worshipper is to God as a slave is to his/her owner. There is the sense of utter submission to God’s authority.

But they are also supplicants as well — they are asking for God’s mercy.

The ironic twist here is that the worshippers are humbling themselves before God, but they are seeking help because they have been humiliated by the arrogant and the proud. They are seeking God’s help to right the wrong that has been done to them.

APPLY:

It is one thing to humble oneself before God; it is quite another to be humiliated by the arrogant and the proud. This begs the question for us — how much do we allow ourselves to be humiliated or “despitefully used” by others who treat us unjustly?

This becomes relevant for a Christian who is in a repressive situation, where a powerful majority exercises authority over the minority in a cruel and outrageous way. The Jews of Europe who found themselves swept up by Nazi anti-Semitism and the Holocaust at first were passive in the face of Nazi aggression. Perhaps they believed it would blow over like such discrimination had done in the past. In the aftermath of genocide, Jewry around the world, and particularly in Israel today, have vowed “Never Again.”

Black Christians in the Civil Rights era had to find this same balance between submission to God and seeking racial equality in the face of a culture that viewed them as a subordinate race.

So the question remains — if we “love our enemy, and pray for those who persecute us, and do good to those who despitefully use us” as Jesus teaches, does that mean that we ignore justice?

It is one thing to “turn the other cheek” if someone strikes us — that is personal humility in the face of injustice. It may be ungodly to look the other way if someone else is struck.

RESPOND:

The following are thoughts prompted by Psalm 123, not necessarily directly related to its meaning for the Psalmist:

For myself, I must be willing to tolerate humiliation, ridicule, even contempt if I am to take seriously the teaching of Jesus. I may find it spiritually useful to respond humbly to such treatment as a way of “mortifying” my own ego. I must particularly humble myself before God. But if I see others being treated unjustly by other people, that may require me to intervene on their behalf because I am a Christian. To do nothing when someone else is being harmed seems to me immoral.

Our Lord, I must kneel before your majesty, because you are my Maker and you are sovereign. I am rightly humble before you. But when I am confronted by others who may be insulting or inhumane, I need your grace not to react defensively. Every fiber in my being wants to hit back. And I ask for your wisdom when I see others being treated unjustly — that I may defend them in proportion to the offense, and seek reconciliation with those who are doing wrong. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Never Again.” by Wendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license.

Psalm Reading for April 9, 2023 (Easter)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.

In the verses from 14 to 24, the Psalmist explores the nature of Yahweh, his blessings, and the response of the grateful congregation.

The Lord is acknowledged as the Psalmist’s strength and song — and the Psalmist then describes a new characteristic that he has begun to experience from the Lord:

he has become my salvation.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”

Salvation also means life, not death:

I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.

The Psalmist again gives thanks that Yahweh has answered his prayer and has become his salvation. And then there is a verse quite familiar to readers of the New Testament:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.

The cornerstone was the bondstone at the corner of the foundation of the building. This image is used by some of the prophets as well.

From the Psalmist’s perspective, this metaphor probably suggests that Israel is the cornerstone that was rejected by the Gentiles but has become a great nation through the blessing of the Lord.

In the New Testament, the chief cornerstone is clearly identified with Jesus:

So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).

This selection of the Psalm concludes with an exhortation very appropriate for the observation of Easter Sunday:

This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!

This day, of all days, is a day of rejoicing!

APPLY:

This selection from Psalm 118 is perfect for Easter Sunday, reminding us that God brings life out of death, and hope out of despair.

We are especially reminded that Christ, though rejected, despised and crucified, has been vindicated by his resurrection.

RESPOND:

There are so many hymns we sing in church that allude to Christ as our cornerstone and the foundation of our faith.

One of my favorites extols Christ:

Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone;
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the church in one.

Lord, I rejoice that you are the cornerstone of my faith, and the structure of my life is founded upon you. Amen.

PHOTOS:

“Omaha North Presbyterian Church cornerstone” by Ammodramus is in the public domain.

Gospel for November 13, 2022

Pray for the Persecuted Church

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 21:5-19
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

In Luke 19:19-47 Jesus has entered Jerusalem in triumph riding on the back of a donkey, and has been hailed as king by the people; but he has also wept with grief because Jerusalem didn’t recognize that their visitation by God had come near; he has cleansed the temple of the money changers; and he has gone to the temple daily in order to teach the people — much to the chagrin of the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men. It is clear that Jesus respects and honors what the temple is meant to represent.

But Jesus is also aware that the era of the temple in Jerusalem is about to pass away. In our lectionary passage he describes just a few of the events that will shortly occur.

The setting for these remarks is the temple:

As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts….

Here is an interesting sidebar — here in Luke, the reference to those admiring the temple is rather vague. In the other two of the synoptic Gospels, those who are marveling at the temple are the disciples themselves (Matthew 24:1-3; Mark 13:1-4).

Jesus prophesies events that are soon to take place:

As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.

What he foresees is the destruction of the temple, which the Roman legions will level to the ground in 70 A.D., killing hundreds of thousands of Jews who were in the city for the Passover feast. This event would happen at least 40 years after the prediction of Jesus.

Naturally, his listeners are now intensely curious. They want to know when these things will happen, and whether there will be warning signs of these events. This gives Jesus the opportunity to address the wider scope of apocalypticism. He warns them not to be deceived.

First, he advises them that many who will claim his name and authority are not from him:

Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore don’t follow them.

This would suggest the importance of being well-acquainted with Jesus and his teaching, so as not to be duped by imposters.

He offers a realistic appraisal of the times in which he lives:

When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.

This isn’t necessarily an apocalyptic statement. Wars and violence are constants in human history. I think that’s why he is careful to say the end won’t come immediately.

But then he turns to descriptions that do seem apocalyptic. Not only warfare between nations, but:

There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Are these events that are soon to take place, or is he describing, with a prophetic eye, what is to happen in the distant future? One thing is clear, when he describes persecutions by kings and governors for his name’s sake, this oppression will happen almost immediately after his ascension. All we need do to confirm this is read Luke’s companion volume, The Acts of the Apostles.

In anticipation of these persecutions, he is offering them encouragement. He promises that he himself will inspire their witness:

It will turn out as a testimony for you. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.

Sadly, even those who are closest to his followers will betray them:

You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death.

Jesus has been insistent that his true family are his followers:

My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it (Luke 8:21).

Nevertheless, despite the hate that they will endure for his name’s sake, and even despite death, they will ultimately be saved:

not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will win your lives.

This is surely an eschatological statement, because Jesus knows that some of his followers will be martyred. But because of their enduring faith, they will live eternally.

APPLY:

One thing that we must acknowledge — according to Biblical criterion, the only proof that a prophet is truly a prophet is the fulfillment of their predictions. Moses says in Deuteronomy:

You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).

How does Jesus fare as a prophet based on this criterion?

First, Jesus prophesies the fall of Jerusalem some forty years prior to its destruction. He correctly predicts that:

there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.

According to Flavius Josephus, a Jewish eyewitness who was advising the Roman General Titus, the siege of Jerusalem was ghastly. And of the temple itself, he writes:

When at last the walls were breached Titus tried to preserve the Temple by giving orders to his soldiers not to destroy or burn it. But the anger of the soldiers against the Jews was so intense that, maddened by the resistance they encountered, they disobeyed the order of their general and set fire to the Temple. There were great quantities of gold and silver there which had been placed in the Temple for safekeeping. This melted and ran down between the rocks and into the cracks of the stones. When the soldiers captured the Temple area, in their greed to obtain this gold and silver they took long bars and pried apart the massive stones. Thus, quite literally, not one stone was left standing upon another. The Temple itself was totally destroyed, though the wall supporting the area upon which the Temple was built was left partially intact and a portion of it remains to this day, called the Western Wall.

Second, Jesus correctly predicts the persecution that would afflict those who claim his name. Again, we need only read Luke’s Acts of the Apostles to confirm this. But it also has continued until this day.

What of the other predictions of Jesus? For our purposes, in our Gospel lectionary reading, there are predictions of wars, great earthquakes, famines, and plagues and terrors and great signs from heaven. Skeptics might argue that these are phenomena that have afflicted the world throughout history.

I believe that the prophecies we see here are two-fold. On the one hand, Jesus is predicting events that will happen very soon, at least in historical terms. Persecution will begin the moment the disciples begin to preach the death and resurrection of Jesus, just forty days after his resurrection! And the fall of Jerusalem will occur within 40 years. On the other hand, Jesus is also talking about events that will take place centuries, and perhaps even millennia, after his earthly ministry. For example, he predicts his own return, which has not occurred yet:

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (Luke 21:27).

We are reminded of God’s perspective on history. We see history as linear, with a beginning, middle and end. And because our lives are only a very tiny slice of millions of years of this history, a century or a millennium seems very long.

God, however, sees time as now because he is eternal. We are finite, God is infinite. So, except for that one brief moment when God enters into history in a Person, God transcends all time. We are reminded that God’s perspective on time is relative:

But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).

I would add that this comparison of a thousand years to one day is simply an illustration that God is not bound by time as we are.

So, the prophecies that Jesus gives elsewhere are still being fulfilled. And Jesus himself gives a helpful interpretation of the wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes in The Gospel of Matthew:

all these things are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8).

RESPOND:

[A Note from Celeste: Tom originally wrote this Bible study in 2016. He passed away in 2018. Since the lectionary cycles every 3 years, I am able to re-post his studies on the lectionary Scriptures.
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church for 2022 was November 6. I encourage you to visit the Open Doors website for more information on the Christian martyrs of today.]

This may be a very appropriate passage for November 13, 2016. In some denominations, this day is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Jesus predicted that his followers would be persecuted. Today, there are estimates that up to 100 million Christians have been persecuted in one year in up to 111 nations. Open Doors reports that 7,000 Christians were killed for their faith between Nov. 1, 2014, and Oct. 31, 2015.

For those who live in nations where there is open and even official hostility to Christianity, the words of Jesus are not academic. For those of us who live in nations where Christianity is a majority religion, we tend to lose perspective. We think if the local courthouse caves in to secularists and removes a nativity scene that we are being persecuted.

We need to repent of our shallow perspective, and truly pray for those whose churches are burned to the ground, who worship in secret, who may be arrested, or even beheaded because of their testimony as Christians.

Lord, you promise to give us the words that we need when we face persecution for your name’s sake. For those of us who can only imagine what it may be like to face persecution in Syria or North Korea or elsewhere, give us the words that we may pray for our sisters and brothers who live with uncertainty and fear every day. Amen.

PHOTOS:
"persecuted church" by Imagens Cristas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for April 17, 2022 (Easter)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COMa

OBSERVE:

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.

In the verses from 14 to 24, the Psalmist explores the nature of Yahweh, his blessings, and the response of the grateful congregation.

The Lord is acknowledged as the Psalmist’s strength and song — and the Psalmist then describes a new characteristic that he has begun to experience from the Lord:

he has become my salvation.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”

Salvation also means life, not death:

I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.

The Psalmist again gives thanks that Yahweh has answered his prayer and has become his salvation. And then there is a verse quite familiar to readers of the New Testament:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.

The cornerstone was the bondstone at the corner of the foundation of the building. This image is used by some of the prophets as well.

From the Psalmist’s perspective, this metaphor probably suggests that Israel is the cornerstone that was rejected by the Gentiles but has become a great nation through the blessing of the Lord.

In the New Testament, the chief cornerstone is clearly identified with Jesus:

So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).

This selection of the Psalm concludes with an exhortation very appropriate for the observation of Easter Sunday:

This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!

This day, of all days, is a day of rejoicing!

APPLY:

This selection from Psalm 118 is perfect for Easter Sunday, reminding us that God brings life out of death, and hope out of despair.

We are especially reminded that Christ, though rejected, despised and crucified, has been vindicated by his resurrection.

RESPOND:

There are so many hymns we sing in church that allude to Christ as our cornerstone and the foundation of our faith.

One of my favorites extols Christ:

Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone;
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the church in one.

Lord, I rejoice that you are the cornerstone of my faith, and the structure of my life is founded upon you. Amen.

PHOTOS:

“Omaha North Presbyterian Church cornerstone” by Ammodramus is in the public domain.

Psalm Reading for July 11, 2021

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This Psalm of David is entitled “Entrance into the Temple.” But what exactly is the Temple to which the Psalm refers? Is the Temple that which is built by human hands, or the Temple of the created order, or the hearts of the worshippers?

The Psalm is divided into three essential units. In the first section (verses 1-2), the Psalm relates to the Lord as Creator and Owner of all things. The second section (verses 3-6), describes the moral and spiritual qualities necessary for the human worshiper to enter into God’s presence. The third unit (verses 7-10), is an exhortation to the personified gates of the city that they be opened:

that the King of glory may come in.

The first section provides a divine perspective. God’s reign and presence are not limited to a dwelling place in the Temple or seated in the ark of the covenant. His reign is universal, as is his Lordship:

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.

God’s claim to the title as Ruler and Owner of all is quite simple — he is the Creator of all:

for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.

The second section asks the vital question:

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?

Interestingly, the Psalmist does not offer the conventional answer — the Priests and Levites. No, those who are qualified to climb this holy hill are not qualified by their titles or lineage, but by their character:

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.

They shall be vindicated and blessed by the God of their salvation. And perhaps the most significant quality required of those who are deemed worthy of climbing the ascent to the Temple Mount and standing in the presence of the Lord is their spiritual hunger:

Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

The third section personifies the ancient doors of Jerusalem, as the Psalmist exhorts these gates to lift up their heads. But even more significantly, the Psalmist justifies the purpose of opening these presumably long closed gates — the Lord and Sovereign of all the earth, and the one whom those of clean hands and pure hearts are seeking, is preparing to enter!

Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.

APPLY:

There are three dimensions to this Psalm that lift us to true worship.

First, we are reminded that the Lord is God, the Creator and owner of the universe that he has created — and we are not! This provides a sound theological foundation for our perspective. We own nothing at all — God is the owner of everything. So, we worship the Lord as the one from whom all things flow.

Second, we are reminded that worship is never casual and careless. The qualifications for entering into the presence of God require clean hands and pure hearts. This is a moral imperative, that we enter worship only after scrupulous self-examination and repentance. From a Christian perspective, we know that there is none of us who is worthy to come into the presence of God, except through the redemptive blood of Christ and his grace. But his grace both pardons and cleanses us:

If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Moreover, we are reminded that our response to the grace of God is to seek him with all our hearts. God acts and we react in response to his gracious initiative toward us. But by seeking him we find him who is already seeking us. Jesus says:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

Finally, we ask ourselves, where is the Temple into which God awaits entrance? For us, is it not ourselves, the people of God? As Paul tells us:

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst (1 Corinthians 3:16)?

We are to open the doors of our lives that the King of glory may come in.

RESPOND:

Recognizing that God is Lord over heavens and earth is vital. However, when that truth becomes real in our hearts, we begin to recognize the vast chasm between ourselves and God. He is The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

How can we possibly come into his presence, and offer appropriate worship? Only when, through his grace, we have been cleansed and made suitable:

who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.

It is this quest, to know and worship the King of glory, that drives me to seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Our Lord, purify my hands and my heart, that I may suitably worship and glorify you! I seek you with all my heart, though I so often fall short. Grant that I may see your glory! Amen.


PHOTOS:
The photo used in "Psalm 24:3-4":  "Figures ascend the Manaslu Glacier on their summit push" by Mark Horrell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for April 4, 2021 (Easter)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COMa

OBSERVE:

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.

In the verses from 14 to 24, the Psalmist explores the nature of Yahweh, his blessings, and the response of the grateful congregation.

The Lord is acknowledged as the Psalmist’s strength and song — and the Psalmist then describes a new characteristic that he has begun to experience from the Lord:

he has become my salvation.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”

Salvation also means life, not death:

I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.

The Psalmist again gives thanks that Yahweh has answered his prayer and has become his salvation. And then there is a verse quite familiar to readers of the New Testament:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.

The cornerstone was the bondstone at the corner of the foundation of the building. This image is used by some of the prophets as well.

From the Psalmist’s perspective, this metaphor probably suggests that Israel is the cornerstone that was rejected by the Gentiles but has become a great nation through the blessing of the Lord.

In the New Testament, the chief cornerstone is clearly identified with Jesus:

So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).

This selection of the Psalm concludes with an exhortation very appropriate for the observation of Easter Sunday:

This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!

This day, of all days, is a day of rejoicing!

APPLY:

This selection from Psalm 118 is perfect for Easter Sunday, reminding us that God brings life out of death, and hope out of despair.

We are especially reminded that Christ, though rejected, despised and crucified, has been vindicated by his resurrection.

RESPOND:

There are so many hymns we sing in church that allude to Christ as our cornerstone and the foundation of our faith.

One of my favorites extols Christ:

Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone;
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the church in one.

Lord, I rejoice that you are the cornerstone of my faith, and the structure of my life is founded upon you. Amen.

PHOTOS:

“Omaha North Presbyterian Church cornerstone” by Ammodramus is in the public domain.

Old Testament for December 20, 2020

“King David”
From the East window at Pusey House chapel, by Comper, c.1935-9.

[caption and photograph by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. ]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

King David is the model king upon whom the monarchy in Israel is predicated, and by whose standards every subsequent king would be judged.

In the previous chapter, 2 Samuel 6, David had personally led the procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem, dancing ecstatically before the Ark.

Now he feels led to build a suitable house for the Ark of the Covenant. His motivation is noble — he wants a temple that more adequately reflects the reverence due to the Lord.

He consults the prophet Nathan, who initially gives the green light to build it, until the Lord intervenes with Nathan in the night.

The message is clear:

The Lord does not require a house of cedar in which to dwell. God is not localized or limited by boundaries. God dwells everywhere in his creation, and in the midst of his people.
The Lord called David from the shepherds’ fields and has given him victories in battle and made him ruler over Israel. God didn’t do that in order for David to build him a house! God has given to David, not David to God.
And God issues definite promises — David’s fame will equal the greatest men in history; Israel under his rule will be established in peace and security from their enemies; David won’t build a house for God, but God will establish a “house,” i.e., a dynasty, for David; and that dynasty shall last forever and ever.

APPLY:

Solomon loses his way because he begins to worship the many gods and goddesses of his many wives.
Rehoboam, David’s grandson, follows bad advice and ends up losing the northern kingdom of Israel, leaving only Judah as the remaining kingdom over which he and his descendants will reign.
Even the best of the kings of Judah were flawed. Eventually, in 587 B.C., the last descendant of David to actually reign in Jerusalem, Zedekiah, will be deposed by the Babylonians and the temple and city of Jerusalem reduced to rubble.

This is the Son of David whom the Angel Gabriel describes to Mary in The Annunciation: Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 32-33:

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.

Jesus is our prophet, priest and king.

Respond:

I am your subject, Lord. The promises you have made that the Son of David will sit on the throne forever and ever remind me that he is your Son as well. Rule in my life forever and ever. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“King David” by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for November 15, 2020

The words “Never Again” are written in several languages at a memorial at the Dachau concentration camp.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 123
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is made more pointed by the first verse:

To you I do lift up my eyes,
you who sit in the heavens.

But they are also supplicants as well — they are asking for God’s mercy.

APPLY:

Black Christians in the Civil Rights era had to find this same balance between submission to God and seeking racial equality in the face of a culture that viewed them as a subordinate race.

So the question remains — if we “love our enemy, and pray for those persecute us, and do good to those who despitefully use us” as Jesus teaches, does that mean that we ignore justice?

It is one thing to “turn the other cheek” if someone strikes us — that is personal humility in the face of injustice. It may be ungodly to look the other way if someone else is struck.

RESPOND:

The following are thoughts prompted by Psalm 123, not necessarily directly related to its meaning for the Psalmist:

PHOTOS:
“Never Again.” by Wendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license.