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What Is Biblical Literacy?
We complain about it, write about it, claim it’s important or even critical, design programs to create it, but what is it? I don’t mean that none of us know what we mean when we say “biblically literate” or “biblically illiterate,” but do we all mean the same thing? I don’t think we do, and…
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Fences: Mending or Rending
The following is a sermon I presented at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pensacola on September 11,2005 and originally posted here on September 13, 2005. I’m reposting it because when I went to look for it, I found that the original post had somehow been truncated, and also because there is a one word at a…
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Experiencing the (Baptism of the) Holy Spirit
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
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Psalm 119:60 – Obedience without Delay
I hurried, and didn’t delayin obeying your commands. The Message has an interesting way of expressing this: I was up at once, didn’t drag my feet,was quick to follow your orders. Psalm 119:60 (The Message) Some might like me to talk about what seems like a rash statement. Who can claim to have always been…
The Bible, Literally
I frequently note that if I could take just one line away from liberal/progressive/mainline Christians it would be “we don’t take that literally around here.” And if I could take one line away from conservatives/evangelicals/fundamentalists, it would be “the Bible plainly teaches.” To the first group I would simply ask, “How do you take it?”…
Psalm 119:59 – Consider
I considered my waysand turned my feet to your testimonies. As I translate it, this looks a bit like a mixed metaphor, but “turning my feet” is a idiom for “changing my ways.” I’ve been following more older translations. (See my post on Psalm 119:58). In this case there’s not a huge amount of difference,…
Psalm 119:58 – Favor
I seek your face with all my heart.Show me favor according to your word. A friend commenting on Facebook mentioned ancient translations, so I thought I’d mention a few of these over the next few days just to give a flavor. If you’re not that interested in this kind of detail, skip the section between…
Psalm 119:57 – Still Mine!
You are my portion Lord.I have said that I will keep your word. It’s interesting to look at multiple translations of this. Many of these translations reflect ways in which my meditation was going even before I read them. Some are straightforward, such as the NRSV: “The LORD is my portion; / I promise to…
Psalm 119:56 – Mine!
This has become mine,for I have kept your precepts. There’s an interesting translation of this verse in The Message, which may very well go back to a suggestion by Mitchell Dahood, though I don’t know that Eugene Peterson got it from that source. Still, I walk through a rain of derisionbecause I live by your…
Worship Is All About God
Bad Ideas I Learned from Good Leaders #3 “But that’s true!” some of you are thinking. And you’re right. The statement is true. Its usage can be a bad idea. I’ve rarely heard this statement from someone who was actually trying to make worship about God. To those of you who use it in that…
Psalm 119:55 – Remembering
I remembered your name in the night, Lord,So I followed your instruction. Dahood (Anchor Bible Psalms III) again has an alternate suggested, based on repointing the word translated “And I kept/guarded/followed.” I remember your name in the night YHWH,and during the watch, your law. I won’t discuss the arguments for his rendering, which I consider…
Psalm 119:54 – Songs
Your statues have been my songsIn my home away from home. Mitchell Dahood (Psalms III in the Anchor Bible), suggests: “Your statutes have been my defenses, / in the house of my sojourning.” He gets the translation “defenses” via Ugaritic. It’s interesting to see some alternatives in the way we translate Hebrew poetry. It is…
Psalm 119:53 – Rage!
Rage seizes me because of the wicked,Those who abandon your instruction. As I read this I remembered one interesting point about reading the Psalms. These are largely a record of what people said in worship of, or in honor of God, and not necessarily instructions for us. I immediately want to temper that with another…
Psalm 119:52 – Finding Comfort
I remembered your judgments from ages past,Oh Lord, in them I found comfort. The division of this verse into two lines seems slightly odd. I’ve taken it as a chiasm, a b b’ a’: (a) I remember your judgments (b) from ages past (b’) Oh Lord, (a’) I found comfort. It’s interesting to watch for…
Psalm 119:51 – Confidence
I discuss the importance of respectful dialogue about faith, emphasizing that true confidence doesn’t rely on demeaning others. Understanding diverse beliefs fosters communication and counters arrogance.
Psalm 119:50 – Experience
In difficult times, personal experience with God provided comfort and strength despite theological doubts. Sustained by God’s presence and creative Word, we found life amidst affliction.
Psalm 119:49 – Remember!
Remember your word to your servant,upon which you have caused me to hope. We have another imperative, but this one is addressed not to us, but to God! My wife sometimes is hesitant to remind me of things. She doesn’t want to say, “Henry, you forgot …” or “Please remember my ….” She especially wants…
Psalm 119:48 – Meditating
And I lift up my hands to your commands which I love,and I will meditate on your statutes. I haven’t been entirely consistent in how I translate the first word of each couplet in this section, but they begin with the Hebrew letter vav (or waw as is sometimes taught in classical Hebrew). This would…
Psalm 119:47 – Taking Delight
And I will take delight in your commands,which I love. Everyone who loves being commanded, raise your hands. Well, I can’t see the hands over the internet, but I’m guessing there aren’t many. There are only a few people who really enjoy dealing with regulations. We may consider them necessary, but we don’t generally get…
Psalm 119:45 – Speaking Before Kings
I will speak of your testimonies before Kingsand will not be ashamed. Do you speak of your faith to other people? For many, this is a question specifically about making religious statements. Can you attempt to “bring someone to Christ?” Can you make a new disciple? What I wonder is whether we can talk about…
If You’re Nice, Diversity Will Take Care of Itself
Bad Ideas I Learned from Good Leaders #2 I’ve heard this one from so many people that I would hardly know who to blame for it if I wanted to blame someone. I’ve been told that if you will just be nice and positive, you can ignore the differences in your congregation and everything will…
Psalm 77:13 – Answering a Question about Translation
I am frequently asked questions about the translation of a specific word, often because there is a difference in English translations. Frequently, the specific wording of a text means a great deal to the person who asked, as it may be part of the exposition of some other doctrine or chain of thought. Sometimes it…
Psalm 119:45 – Walk in Liberty
So I will walk in libertyfor I seek your precepts. I must credit Mitchell Dahood in his 3 volume commentary on Psalms in the Anchor Bible (vol 1, vol 2, vol 3) for the word “liberty.” I was struggling for a translation that I felt lived up to the context. I think that one does….
Psalm 119:44 – Keep it Forever
And I will keep your instruction (Torah) continuallyforever and ever. For another sense of Hebrew parallelism, note the short 2nd line here, “forever and ever.” This is parallel with “continually” and suggests a combined “all the time for all time.” If we hadn’t just read a number of verses in which the Psalmist expresses dependence…
Psalm 119:43 – Power to Speak Truth
Never take the word of truth from my mouthfor I place my hope in your judgments. Tomorrow morning I’ll be leading a discussion of John Wesley in my Sunday School class. The notes in the book we’re using point especially to Wesley’s view of prevenient grace and to Christian perfection. It’s interesting to take these…
Psalm 119:42 – Whose Word Counts Most?
Now I can return my taunter a word,For I trust in your word. The lesson here is both simple and profound. Some of my background thoughts on it are in my post on Psalm 119:38. In Hebrew poetry, making a thought parallel by using synonyms is common, as for example in Psalm 119:30, “I have…
Psalm 119:41 – Grace, Rescue, and Response
Let your grace (chesed) come to me;Rescue me according to your word. I’m sure you can see where the “grace” and “rescue” come from in my title, but what is this matter of “response”? We’ve already talked about grace and rescue, and will do so again before I’m finished with these verse-by-verse meditations. But what…