For the next few months, Director of Faith Formation and Pastor Margo will preach on scriptures from the Revised Common Lectionary. Although this week’s worship service and devotions will feature these scriptures, Pastor Margo will preach on John 14:1-7, and you will see why on Sunday!
Read: Psalm 111
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of honor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever.
If we are familiar with a psalm, it can become so familiar we glaze over it. If we are not familiar with a psalm, we can struggle to find its relevance. Psalms speak best as we read them over and over again, even sing them! Consider memorizing one psalm during Lent (which begins Feb. 17 this year). David Taylor, assistant professor of theology and culture at Fuller Seminary, offers tips for reading the psalms below: https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/resources-exploring-psalms/. This link also has information on a conversation about the psalms between Bono and Eugene Peterson!
Reading tips for the Psalms:
- Pay attention to the whole of a psalm, not just to the parts of a psalm.
- Read the psalms consistently, rather than occasionally and sporadically.
- Pay attention to the internal coherence of a psalm or a section of psalms, rather than allowing them to remain fragmented parts, reflective of our immediate and self-absorbed interest.
- Read the psalms out loud, not just silently.
- Read and sing and pray the psalms together, not just alone.
- Pay attention the Psalter’s “hospitable ‘I’” and its “intimate communal” sense, rather than allowing the individual expressions to devolve to individualism and the communal expressions to devolve to an impersonal communalism.
- Immerse yourself in the metaphors that the psalmist employs, rather than remaining distant and detached from them.
- Pay attention to the placement and role of the psalms in the biblical canon, rather than viewing them as isolated and idiosyncratic.
Pray: Lord, help us to discipline ourselves to praise and to thank you daily. Let a holy awe overtake us as we come into your presence and increase our maturity and understanding as we encounter You in Your word. Amen.