Lift up your hearts, all you who choose the path of Life!
Sing songs of praise the Beloved–
To the Holy One, who encompasses all creation with Love,
to You, who enter all open hearts!
We raise our voices in praise to You; we call upon your Holy Name!
For You call us your friends,
and invite us to commune with You by day and through the night.
For great are You, closer than our very breath.
Through You the world evolves–
in heaven and on earth, in the heights and in the depths.
In You and with You do we live and have our being,
You, who send your Spirit to dwell in our hearts!
Yes, You are with us in the trials and temptations of life;
Your mercy and strength uphold us when fear and injustice prevail.
You forgive our transgressions, our shortcomings and wrongdoings;
You lead us Home when we have gone astray,
when we have chosen paths that lead to darkness.
You have given us a birthright of Love, a heritage of Truth.
Your Name endures forever, your kindness is imprinted for all eternity.
For in your mercy, You reclaim the people,
with steadfast patience and compassion.
The nations have chosen material idols–the lure of silver and gold.
With their mouths they utter falsely, blind to the people’s needs;
Their ears are deaf to the cries of the poor,
they breathe greed and spit out arrogance.
Awaken, O people of earth!
Unbind the fetters of stone hearts that balance, and harmony may be restored!
O nations of earth, bless the One Spirit!
O people of the world, gather together in unity!
O children of Light, radiate blessings to the universe!
Surrender yourselves to Love!
Blessed be You, O Beloved, Breath of our breath!
Praises be to your Holy Name!
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
Blessed be You, O Beloved, Breath of our breath!
I have hope in God because of past encounters with the divine, and the witnesses who have shared their sacred stories with me. Recounting this history gives hope that God will intervene again.. and again and again. God holds my past, present, and future in her heart, so in turn, I hold God in my heart.
While my confidence in God is based in my own faith traditions and experiences (and those of my close friends), the more I encounter other people who experience the divine differently than I do, I am an awe by the vastness of God’s love. My story, my faith, my experience is special to me, but it is not superior to someone else’s idea about God.
Sometimes in psalms like 135 we get too caught up in how great “our” God is compared to other gods and think that we can say our religion is better than others. A modern view of this psalm might interpret the view that God is superior to other gods, as an invitation to think about what holds our time and attention hostage as a lesser god, those things that are not healthy for us, or distract us from being the loving and compassionate people that relationship with the divine (in all its forms) calls us to be.
There is goodness in all religious expressions. We can all light our own candles to give each other hope and peace.
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. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I posted Psalm 119 and began work on missed psalms from Year D and others not in the lectionary. Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year D Psalms that I haven’t come across in the other lectionary years, yet:
18, 144, 44, 110, 73, 75, 76, 28, 12, 61, 11, 88, 108, 64, 60, 10, 120
These are the psalms I haven’t found in any lectionary, yet:
Sources and notes:
“Psalm 135 is a hymn of praise that haws clear verbal connections with its literary context. Like Psalm 134, it addresses “the servants of the LORD who stand in the house of the LORD” (vv. 1-2; 134:1); both feature the theme of blessing in and from Zion (vv. 19-21 and 134:3). Psalm 135 praises the LORD as the God above all gods (v. 5), a note that is heard in Psalm 136 (vv. 2-3), where a summary of Israel’s story used in Psalm 135:8-12 is repeated (136:10-22). As a pair, Psalms 135 and 136 stand as partners in praise to resume the “praise the LORD” and “O give thanks to the LORD” psalms in Psalms 111-118, after the interval of prayer for the law of the LORD (Psalm 119) and the pilgrim voices of the songs of ascents (Psalms 120-134).” Mays p. 415
“The praise of the LORD’s name as everlasting (v. 13) in a restatement of the LORD’s comment on his now name in Exodus 3:15. The attached assurance that the LORD will vindicate his people quotes the climax of Moses’ song, where he speaks of how the LORD will maintain his relation to Israel in the midst of the nations and their gods (Deut. 32:36).” Mays p. 416
“In the center of the hymn is a statement about the present and the future. “The LORD will vindicate his people” (v. 14). The statement admits that the people of the LORD still worship in the midst of powerful government and in contradiction to gods that are the product of human capacities. Not only their past but their future must be the LORD’s work.” Mays p. 417
“Psalm 135 a hymn o praise to God sung by a gathered community of worshipers, echoes other words in the Old Testament: Exodus 18:11 and Psalm 115:3-11, as discussed above, as well as Deuteronomy 7:6 in verse 4; Jeremiah 10:13 in verse 7; and Deuteronomy 32:36 in verse 14.” W p. 236
“Why a mosaic, a gathering together of other traditional texts to speak to the reader of hearer of Psalm 135? According to the storyline of the book of Psalms, book 5 relates the story of the post exilic community’s quest for identity and survival as a part of a number of vast world empires: the Persians, the Greeks, and then the Romans. The people were once again living in their own land; the temple was rebuilt and worship had resumed; they were free but not free.” W p. 237
“In times of transition, i those times when we wonder what our next step in faith should be, it is often helpful to look back over our past. What words have sustained us in the past? On whose shoulders are we standing? What are the very foundations of our faith? The singers of Psalm 135 employed familiar words and ideas to express their faith in God, for indeed sometimes “only the old, tried, and true” has any real meaning.” W p. 237
“Additionally, in the global world in which we live in the twenty-first century the words of Psalm 135 can act as a caution to faith communities to be weary of self-entrenchment, of coming to believe that “their idea of God” is above all others ideas of God.” W p. 237
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.
Period Pastor Pad 