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Sorrow Like My Sorrow – Lamentations 1:12
Can we really understand the suffering of another person or they ours?
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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 119:70 – Unfeeling or Insensitive
Their hearts are clogged with fat;I delight in your instruction (Torah). A very literal alternative for the first half of the verse would be “fattened with fat are their hearts.” The REB translates: [T]hey are arrogant and unfeeling,but I find my delight in your instruction. With the heart being more the seat of thought than…
Psalm 119:69 – Smeared
The passage emphasizes the importance of adhering to God’s precepts despite facing falsehoods and highlights the harm caused by gossip within communities, urging direct communication.
Psalm 119:68 – Doing Good
I discuss the goodness of God’s laws and statutes, contrasting human perceptions of rules as burdensome. It encourages viewing the law as a divine blessing promoting greatness.
Psalm 119:67 – Afflicted
Before I was afflicted, I went astray,but now I keep your word. What is your reaction to difficult times? I’m not a terribly optimistic person, and I don’t take to it all that well. I’ve noticed that modern Christians have inconsistent responses to trouble. On the one hand, they’ll say that if God is in…
Psalm 119:66 – Teach Me
I discuss interconnectedness of beauty, order, and knowledge in studying both nature and scripture. It warns against complacency, urging continuous exploration while balancing faith with accurate understanding and skepticism toward misleading narratives.
Psalm 119:65
You have treated your servant well,according to your word, LORD. I pause to note a milestone. This is the first verse in the new section of Psalm 119. We’re in the section in which each verse starts with the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Teth. That is the first letter of “TOV” which is…
Psalm 119:64
God’s grace precedes His laws, illustrating that divine love and covenant obligations are gifts. True holiness comes from God’s actions, not self-sufficiency.
The Demand for Opinions
There has always been a tendency for crowds to call for others to support them. If you do not, you are contributing to the other side, however they define that. Social media has multiplied that demand and given the demanders a megaphone. If you do not express an opinion–the right opinion according to them–on this…
Psalm 119:63 – Companion
I’m a companion to all who fear you,and to those who keep your precepts. My thoughts today took me onto the subject of companionship and friendship. Who are your friends? Why are you friends with various people? In scripture we have a tension between two views of the relationship between God’s people and those around…
Psalm 119:62
I reflect on the challenges of waking up at night, often due to worry, and discusses the importance of prayer and rest for mental clarity and health improvement, but also for simple rest and relaxation.
Psalm 119:61 – Bound?
The bonds of the wicked encompass me,I do not forget your instruction. These posts are meditations, not attempts at exegesis. I’m pretty sure the psalmist is here congratulating himself and pointing out to the Lord how he has been faithful under difficult circumstances. But what occurred to me is the number of times the “wicked,”…
The Danger of Serious Bible Study
I believe it’s important to study the Bible. Many approaches are useful in this, and I’ve discussed them elsewhere. But the idea of serious Bible study can become a problem. I’m sure some readers are scratching their heads. How can it possibly be a problem to study the Bible seriously? Isn’t that obviously the right…
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.