Ignorance lives deep in the hearts of those who know not Love;
There is no reverence for Truth before their eyes.
For they see themselves as powerful and are too proud to see how
they deceive themselves and others.
They speak not with integrity and act not with wisdom and love.
At night their thoughts turn to plotting, driving them to seek more power;
fear becomes their constant companion.
Would that they knew that your steadfast love, O Holy One,
extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to all the world.
Your saving justice is like the mountains, firm and sure,
your judgments are like the mighty deep;
Your Love supports all of creation; yes,
Your Love Consciousness is everlasting.
How precious is your steadfast love, O Companioning Presence.
We, your children, take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
We feast on the abundance of Gaia, the Earth;
You invites us to drink from living streams of Life.
For in You is the very source of Life; and in your Light we do see light.
May your steadfast love endure to those who know You,
your saving grace to those who love truth and justice!
Protect us from the seeds of arrogance; the weeds of greed drive away.
Open the hearts of those who live in darkness, O Beloved,
that they might rise up and live in the Light of Oneness.
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
In a world full of lies and deception, where those in power choose to frighten and manipulate others to stay in power, choose love. Do not be afraid. Love extends to all of creation. Love supports truth and justice. Love tells us there is abundance, not just enough, but more than enough for all of us to share. Love reminds us that we are one.
We belong to Love. We are loved. And we are capable of making loving choices.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020. Shortly after, we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings to make text selections.
1st Sunday in Advent Psalm 25, 2nd Sunday in Advent instead of a Psalm the lectionary gives Luke 1:68-79, 3rd Sunday in Advent instead of a Psalm the lectionary gives Isaiah 12:2-6, 4th Sunday in Advent Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1st Sunday after Christmas, Psalm 148, New Year’s Day Psalm 8, 2nd Sunday after Christmas Psalm 147, Epiphany Psalm 72, 1st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 36, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 19, 4th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 71, 5th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 138, 6th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 1, 7th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 37, Transfiguration Sunday (Sunday before Lent) Psalm 99
Lent: Ash Wednesday Psalm 51, 1st Sunday in Lent Psalm 91, 2nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 27, 3rd Sunday in Lent Psalm 63, 4th Sunday in Lent Psalm 32, 5th Sunday in Lent Psalm 126, 6th Sunday in Lent (Palm or Passion Sunday) Psalm 118 or 31
Easter: Easter Psalm 118 or Psalm 114, 2nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 118 or Psalm 150, 3rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 30, 4thSunday of Easter Psalm 23, 5th Sunday of Easter Psalm 148, 6th Sunday of Easter Psalm 67, Ascension Psalm 47 or Psalm 93, 7th Sunday of Easter Psalm 97, Day of Pentecost Psalm 104
Season After Pentecost (Ordinary Time): 1st Sunday after Pentecost (Trinity Sunday) Psalm 8, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 or Psalm 22, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 77 or Psalm 16, 4th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 30 or Psalm 66, 5th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 82 or Psalm 25, 6th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 52 or Psalm 15, 7thSunday after Pentecost Psalm 85 or Psalm 138, 8th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 107 or Psalm 49, 9th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 50 or Psalm 33, 10th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 80 or Psalm 82, 11th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 71or Psalm 103, 12th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 81 or Psalm 112, 13th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 1, 14thSunday after Pentecost Psalm 14 or Psalm 51, 15th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 79 or Psalm 113, 16th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 91 or Psalm 146, 17th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 137 or Psalm 37, 18th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 66 or Psalm 111, 19th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119 or Psalm 121, 20th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 65 or Psalm 84, 21st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119 or Psalm 32, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 145 or Psalm 98 or Psalm 17, 23rdSunday after Pentecost Psalm 98, 24th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 46.
Sources and notes:
“”These are some of the most wonderful words in the Old Testament. Their fulness of meaning no commentary can ever exhaust (Perowne, 1:282). Similar remarks about Psalm 36 are scattered through the history of psalm interpretation. These wondering estimates of the psalm’s profundity are based primarily on the praise of the LORD in verses 5-8 and particularly on the declaration of verse 9 on which the praise is based: “With you is the source of life; in your life we see light.” Mays p. 155
“As verses 10-11 show, the psalm is a prayer for help. The prayer has three parts: a description of the wicked (vv. 1-4), praise of the LORD (vv. 5-9), and petitions (vv. 10-12). Mays p. 155
“… in the psalm it is the character of the wicked that drives one to prayer. For the psalmist, evil is not an abstraction, or only one judgment about things, or merely a vague rooted in one way of viewing things. It is the very shape that the character of the wicked assumes. That the wicked are, and are what they are, is a threatening reality in the world in which the faithful live. To ignore that reality would mean blindness to the situation of faith.” Mays p. 156
God’s salvation and on going care of all creation is similar to psalm 104. “This is the first part of the psalm’s answer to the character of the wicked –the knowledge of the God who holds the whole world in his hand. The irony of it! The wicked who has no fear of God is himself incorporated in the great system of divine providential care.” Mays p. 156
“Wherever there is life, there is a receiving from the source. Again the irony! The wicked are related to the source. God sends his rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5:45). The mysteriously redundant second sentence plays with two meanings of the metaphor “light”. It can be reworded as “By your favor [the light of your face] we experience salvation [light as opposite of dark times].” But the rewording is less than the original whose redundancy contains mysteries that will be contemplated again and again by those who use the psalm.” Mays p. 157
They in verses 10 – 11. “… they ask that the LORD’s hesed rather than the power of the wicked determination their present and future.” Mays p. 158
“In the New Testament the symbols of light and of food and drink are used to speak of the life that comes in and through Jesus Christ. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). “The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Because of that witness Christians understand that the “source of life” that is “with God” is Jesus Christ and they think of the service and sacraments as presence and participation represented by the symposium of verses 7-8. It is in this way that the psalm is read when it is used as the proper psalm for Monday of Holy Week.” Mays p. 158
“A consumer-oriented culture teaches people to view life as a reward to be earned; Psalm 36, however, is a radial profession of faith. It teaches us that life is not a reward to be earned but a gift to be received! God gives life (vv. 6c, 9), and God will provide for the life of the world an dits people (vv.7-8). This remarkable affirmation of faith lies at the heart of the book of Psalms and the entire Bible (see Psalms 23; 34, esp. v. 12; 73, eps. vv. 25-26).” NIV p. 405
“The psalmist can be confident in praying for God’s steadfast love and righteousness, because the psalmist trusts that God’s love is the fundamental reality in the universe and the tGod’s righteousness holds the world together (v.6). Again, Psalm 36 is a radical profession of faith, since hatred and violence seem so prevalent among us, and, indeed, it often seems that the world is falling apart.” NIB p. 406
“Obviously, this remarkable affirmation of faith has profound implications for the way we view the world a dour place in it. This affirmation is simultaneously good news and a warning. Consider, for instance, the ecological implications. The good news is that there is hope for the world despite the fact that in caring for the earth we have acted the part of the wicked; we “have ceased to act wisely and do good” (v. 36). The affirmation that God saves “humans and animals alike” (v. 6c) is good news as well, but it also functions as a warning that calls for a reverence for all creatures and their habitats that is seldom evidenced in our relentless desire for development and “progress”. Our plans for the future (ecological and otherwise) often reveal a self-flattery that our “iniquity cannot be found out” (v. 2)–that is, that we are not accountable. God so loves that world, and God calls us to do the same.” NIV p. 406
Previous Reflection:
You can try to ignore God. Shut your eyes. Gaslight the truth. God will not ignore you. She will nourish you and sustain you. As she does for all of creation. I long to open my eyes and see the light of that love. And to honor the truth in it. And to Love as she loves.
Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020.
Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.
NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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