PSALM 148 - Praise for God’s Universal Glory

PSALM 148 - Praise for God’s Universal Glory
First Sunday after Christmas
27^th December 2020

This is one of those psalms that are full of joy and bliss. Somehow the people gather to sing praises to the Lord. There are no crises hanging over the people. God has been merciful. The psalm joins all creation in a song of praise. The glorification of the Creator and Preserver of the world fulfils the ultimate depth of meaning which unites the inanimate created things and the living creatures in a mutual relationship; to praise the sole majesty of God is the final goal which unites the whole universe in a communion of God’s service.

1          Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!

2          Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!

3          Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!

4          Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

5          Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.

6          He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

The song of praise sung by the heavens opens in the heights the grand symphony which the world created by God sings to the praise of its Maker. This has echoes of the song attributed to St Francis of Assisi, ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’.

7          Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,

8          fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!

9          Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!

10        Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!

This part talk of the worship offered by both heavens and the earth (and even sea monsters or dragons that were part of ancient creation myths) form part of this choir of praise to the creator. Verse 8 mentions ‘fire and hail.....stormy winds’ all part of a visit from God in person. Remember Elijah in the mountain, who had a vision of God with all these attributes around him.

11        Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!

12        Young men and women alike,
old and young together!

13        Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.

In this third section where the call to sing the praise of God form the conclusion, the poet turns to humankind, in particular to the rulers of the world of nations and to the whole cult community, comprising all age groups

14        He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

Belief in salvation is the whole culmination of the poem and that is of crucial importance to the whole world. For it points at the same time beyond itself to the consummation of salvation which the angel host proclaimed from heaven to all the world at the first Christmas as the Good News of the birth of a Saviour.

Thank you Fr Graham Alston for your weekly commentary on the psalms.

PSALM 126 – THOSE WHO SOW IN TEARS WILL REAP WITH SHOUTS OF JOY!

PSALM 126 – THOSE WHO SOW IN TEARS WILL REAP WITH SHOUTS OF JOY!

13^th December 2020

Third Sunday of Advent

Homely and yet profound piety is here combined with noble simplicity of artistic form in a wonderful harmony which imparts to this widely known psalm its singular value. The psalm is like a precious stone in a simple and yet worthy setting. The gentle spirit of a heartfelt and trusting hope based on faith pervades the whole psalm; and from this very trustfulness springs the strength of that hope which is a living fountain of true piety. It proves equally true of the pure childlike delight in the hoped-for happiness and blessing (vv. I-2), of awed and wondering praise of the majesty and grace of God (v. 3), of the intimacy and assurance with which the psalmist prays (v. 4), and of the powerful comfort which that hope imparts on the way through darkness to light (vv. 5-6).

 

1    When the Lord turned again the fortunes of Zion

then were we like men restored to I life

and our tongue with singing.

‘The Lord has done great things for them’

and therefore we rejoiced.

As the streams return to the dry south

shall reap with songs of joy

shall come again in gladness bringing his sheaves with him.

2    Then was our mouth filled with laughter:

At the very beginning of the psalm the faith of the cult community spreads the wings of its thoughts in a bold flight into the future and looks into the smiling fields of blissful hope as through a widely opened gate they do not dare to push open with their own hands. The gate which separates the dismal present from the bright future, knowing by faith that the decisive transformation of their present circumstances lies in the hand of God alone. Therefore, their entire hope is founded on God.

 

3    Then said they among the heathen:

4    Truly the Lord has done great things for us:

5    Turn again our fortunes O Lord:

6    Those that sow in tears:

 

The community’s supplication is followed by the answer, which was probably uttered by the priest or a prophet. The promise is clothed in the proverbial image of the sowing in tears and reaping with shouts of joy. The imagery developed when the Yahweh religion was taking over from Canaanite agriculture religion. In order to understand this image, which does not simply speak of the periodic succession of sowing and reaping in the sense, for instance, of the proverbial phrase ‘The calm after the storm’, we must study it in the light of its contemporary background. It is a common ancient idea, which is reflected in various customs of Near East nations, that the time of sowing was to be considered as a time of mourning. We know from Egyptian examples that sowing was accompanied by funeral hymns as a symbol of the burial of the god Osiris. At the root of this ceremony was the interpretation of the natural process as the dying and rising again of living things, a view which, as discoveries at Ras Shamra have confirmed, was also shared by the Canaanite cultic myth, and which has also found expression in the German proverb: ‘Do not laugh when you sow; otherwise you must weep when you reap’; it also underlies the biblical parable of the grain of wheat which must die in order to bear much fruit (John 12.24; I Cor. 15.36). It is only from this point of view that the phrases used in the psalm, ‘those who sow in tears’ and ‘they go along weeping' become intelligible. The poet shows his artistic power in keeping the metaphor of sowing and not adding an explanation. Of course he intends a reference to their present calamities; in present - suffering and death he discerns not only the allusion to the future of a new life but, as in the case of the seed corn planted in the earth, he sees already at work the mysterious power of God which creates new life out of death.

 

7    He who goes out weeping bearing the seed:

 

This is an incredibly hopeful and exciting poem that should buoy us up at this time of the surge in COVID-19 cases. Through all the fear and doubt that we experience from our fellow human beings the vision of faith we can see the exciting work of our Saviour who said, ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain: but if it dies, bears much fruit.’

Thank you Fr Graham for your weekly narrative on the psalms.

PSALM 85 – COMFORT AND HOPE

PSALM 85 – COMFORT AND HOPE
6^th December 2020
2^nd Sunday of Advent

 

This is the psalm set for the second Sunday in Advent and continues in some our Advent themes of expectation.

It has a background of liturgical expression couched in a responsorial way – someone starting and another group responding. When they first sang this psalm there were no prayer books or music sheets with parts marked out in bold print (like now) for all to sing together. Those gathered at the Temple or shrine would usually know the words off by heart and know when to join in.

1     O Lord you were gracious to your land:

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
and covered all their sin.
for he will speak peace to his people to his
faithful ones whose hearts are turned to him.
and his glory shall dwell in our land.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other;
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
And our land shall yield its plenty
and tread the path before his feet.

2     You forgave the iniquity of your people:

In this first part of the psalm the members of the congregation recall the past as they pray, holding it up to themselves and to God. Their faith takes comfort in the nature and the providential role of God, who withdrew his wrath and proved his gracious will by forgiving their sins.

Verses 3-7 are not reflected on here, but they form a lament asking God to come and answer their prayers. And there is a change…

8     I will hear what the Lord God will speak:

A prophetic voice speaks to the congregation demanding that they listen to hear whether God speaks, and he does, giving the word ‘peace’. He, and the congregation with him, anxiously listen for what God will say to them in reply. The people, the community of the faithful, have now received the answer they had longed for from God. At the moment of the crisis of their faith, as they were in danger of ‘falling into folly’ and of doubting God’s salvation, God himself intervenes to revive and strengthen their faith by his word.

9     Truly his salvation is near to those that fear him:

But the prophetic seer has more to tell: the peace and salvation is imminent, and the glory of the Lord will dwell in the land – a new year, season, epoch is coming. Sounds like some Christmas songs. In this worship service the people are given the vision of the divine – heralding a new start.

10   Mercy and truth are met together:

11   Truth shall flourish out of the earth:

12   The Lord will also give us all that is good:

In verses 10 – 12 there is a wonderful set of images where truth, mercy, righteousness, and peace are persons that meet, kiss, flourish and look down. It is a dynamic and lively image of the characteristics of God being present and alive to the people. The poet in a magnificent picture visualizes how the mythologically personified powers of divine love and faithfulness, of righteousness and peace as God’s messengers at his advent are at work to fashion the end of time.

13   For righteousness shall go before him:

The conclusion of the poem, which once more makes the theophany the centre of the events leads to the same view. God appears like a king, suitably escorted, to usher in the age of salvation. Righteousness precedes him like an outrider and Salvation follows in his way.

There is a wonderful sense that this psalm takes on the pattern of Judaeo-Christian liturgy. The first part of our liturgy is often filled with praise which looks to the past graciousness of God; then while still in the past we turn to requesting God for forgiveness; this is followed by listening for God’s message to his people, and concludes with a time of meeting, of communion with God. Isn’t it wonderful that when you look at the psalms you discover more and more ways to discover the fullness and variety of our religious life.

Thank you Fr Graham Alston for your weekly commentary on the psalms.