Following the first reading is the responsorial psalm 128, which is taken from the fifth book of the psalms. Titled “The Happy Home of the Faithful,” psalm 128 is a prayer for God’s blessing and is one of the songs of ascents. Its verses describe how God shall bless all those “who fear[] the Lord” and “walk[] in his ways” (Ps 128:1). By being devoted to God and following His laws and commandments faithfully, one is able to live a good life as “the good in life comes from God” (Schaefer, 308). God’s blessings are seen in the physical benefits in one’s daily life from fruitful labor, happiness, prosperity, a fertile wife, and a plenitude of lively children. The last verses of the psalm describes how God’s blessings are also passed on to the …show more content…
The reading consists of verses 9-11 and describes the incarnation and glorification of Jesus. The Son of God, Jesus, was temporarily made by God “lower than the angels” in order to share in our human nature so that he may “taste death for every one” (Heb 2:9). In doing so, he became the “pioneer of [our] salvation” as he endured suffering and death and from it was made perfect (Heb 2:10). The last verse of the reading conveys the message of solidarity between Jesus and those who believe and follow God as we share an unique origin; thus, Jesus is “not ashamed to call [us] brethren” (Heb 2:11). When taking the entire chapter into context, the reading conveys the true significance of our solidarity with Christ. By being made “like his brethren in every respect,” including sharing in suffering and death, Christ was able to destroy the devil’s power over death. Therefore, freeing us from “lifelong bondage” due to our fear of death (Heb 2:15, 17). Now, death is no longer viewed as the end of a person’s communion with God, instead it is a way “ leading to final communion with Christ and with God” (Vanhoye, 79). Taking this all into consideration, the second reading’s significance lies in its emphasis on our relation with Christ and God and the communion we partake in both during life and after
St. Albans Psalter Psalm 68 is not long, but it does have lots of detailed material to study the author’s choice of language, and the power of the images that are being conveyed to the readers through an emotional and sentimental way. The simplicity of this psalm’s gives it power, since it expresses an emotional despair in a careful shaped prayer, which comes from a human being in what seems to be a life-threatening situation. In the image and the content, the psalmist’s travels an arc of desperation to salvation, in a vivid personal plea to Christ to save him from what seems to be a swirling vortex of hopelessness that threatens to pull him under forever.
Earlier approaches focus on Christ death and resurrection as his victory over all forces of evil and sin, including the earthly and spiritual powers that oppress.
N. T. Wright’s The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential reminds us of the differences found within the importance of God’s time, space, and matter in comparison to our time, space and matter perspectives. In our limited human capacity we as human kind take our miscues from the human perspective when chasing after the material gains of this world as we put our prayerful meditations and relationships to God on the back burner of our lives while redirecting our energies toward the relationships we cultivate with our wealth. If we as Christian cultivate our relationship with God we will be recognize the wealth we seek can only be found in our relationship with Our Father and Our Savior Jesus Christ as He is the provider of our wealth. He sees clearly our needs providing for them daily. If we could see the realities of our time, spac...
There is no doubt that the psalms are key to spirituality and take on a journey to true intimacy with God. In the book of psalms, the movement of the psalms portrays a life that is symmetrical and full of happiness to a life that has somehow ran itself into the ground. However, through God’s grace life is healed to a state of renewal where praises and thanksgiving are lifted up. These themes are common all throughout the Psalter. It is these themes that Walter Brueggemann refers to as periods of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation referred to above. It is these three themes that we must take in as one to fully experience the Psalter. For “the Psalms are not only addressed to God. They are a voice of the gospel, God’s good word for God’s faithful people” (pp. 2). Without the entire Psalter how can one manage to get the full aspect of the gospel. This is how the psalms become truly spiritual: orientation, disorientation, and new
The communication principle that is outlined in this paper is about communicating lies and what the outcome of lying is. In the book of Psalm, it explains very clear about the bibles stance on lying. Psalm 59:12-13:12 reads, “For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter, 13 consume them in your wrath; consume them till they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.”
Psalm 89 of the Book of Psalms, advocates the message of consequentialism, foreground by man’s relationship with God, with direct lin...
The Psalms were written by several Authors under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The Oldest psalm preserved for us is Psalm Ninety. Other Authors of the Psalms include: David, who is attributed to writing Seventy Three of the Psalms. Asaph was the music director during the reigns of David and Solomon. He wrote twelve psalms. They wrote twelve psalms. Solomon is the Author of two of the Psalms. He composed Psalm Seventy-two and Psalm One Hundred and Twenty-Seven. Heman a singer in the time of Asaph and David wrote the Eighty-Eighth Psalm. Ethan was a companion of Asaph and Heman in the worship at the temple. He wrote the Eighty-Ninth Psalm. Fourty-Eight of the Psalms are written anonymously.
Psalm 113 reads like a 1st century pep talk for those with spiritual burnout. The writer makes his case for the Lord by pointing to the many ways that God earns our praise. These nine verses of scripture are saturated with three specific reasons to praise the Lord – He is Su...
Psalm 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest
Today’s culture is one where people like to do as little work as possible. Even when it comes to reading our own scripture, The Holy Words of God, a lot of people like to look up one verse and reference it to something without knowing what the rest of the passage says. Psalms 109 is no exception, it is one the more widely misused passages as of late. A popular verse from Psalms 109 is verse 8 which reads “Let his days be few; and let another take his office”, this is seen in reference to our current president, but what people fail to realize is what else David is actually praying. This paper is going to go through Psalms 109 and unpack it verse by verse to show the true meaning of what David was praying and to give us a new look at how to pray.
The following essay will evaluate the importance of the journey that takes place from Systematic to Practical theology; this view will be explored through Ronelle Sonnenberg’s research done regarding ‘being together’ in a youth setting. This essay will first build on the basis of Practical Theology; furthermore addressing the importance of the community aspect within a youth setting; this will lead to the process that takes place between a Systematic stance, leading to a Practical theological stance.
Introduction: Psalm 1. The destination of the righteous and the finish of those that are ungodly through proper counseling. A. Receiving the right counsel is important if one wants to walk right with God. People that walk right with God will receive the blessings from Him. Walking with Him brings about unity and God says in Psalm 133, where there is unity, God commands His blessings.
When deciphering what Psalm 1 is teaching about blessing, one will notice first that the chapter has three main segments. Verses 1-3 describe a blessed person,
A pastor has a great responsibility to minister the Word of God and to be a shepherd to his people. The pastor must be committed to biblical truths when he engages the work of the ministry. Some of these truths include: The Bible is the infallible Word of God, his preaching must be from the Word of God, and he must do proper exegesis to get to the authorial intent and proclaim that to his congregation.