The Man in the Orange Hat

1 Lord, remember David And all his afflictions; 2 How he swore to the Lord, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed; 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, 5 Until I find a place for the Lord, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; We found it in the fields of the woods. 7 Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool. 8 Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. 9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy. 10 For Your servant David’s sake, Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed. 11 The Lord has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: “I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. 12 If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I shall teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.” 13 For the L...

1 Lord, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. 2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever. Everyone loves a short psalm!  In the short psalm league table, this is not the shortest.  That accolade belongs to Psalm 117 (just 2 verses!)  Psalms 133 and 134 also give it a run for it's money, but this one is certainly up there! I guess there are times on a long pilgrimage when you only have breath for a few words - this one would work! At first sight, verse 1 might look like a prideful boast.  There ARE psalms that give off an "I'm not like those people" vibe.  But I don't think that's the tone. Going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem will have had some of the benefits I have gained from going on sabbatical - and both are part of the central Je...

1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning— Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities. There are psalms of lament in the Bible where the depths are not of my making and I pour out my distress to God about the situation I find myself in - a situation not of my making.  My enemies are gloating, evildoers have ruined my life, I feel forsaken... This psalm doesn't have the feel.  It feels like the psalmist recognised that these depths are at least in some respects self-imposed....

Mud Roof With Grass Growing On It 1 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,” Let Israel now say— 2 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The plowers plowed on my back; They made their furrows long.” 4 The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked. 5 Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back. 6 Let them be as the grass on the housetops, Which withers before it grows up, 7 With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms. 8 Neither let those who pass by them say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord!” We have a trace in here of how these psalms may have been used - the opening two verses are a call and response - the pilgrims would be ready with the response when the priest called out verse 1.  There would have been no giant powerpoint projections or neatly printed service sheets, they would kn...

A Palestinian boy pulls tree branches in the southern Gaza Strip, December 2, 2023. (Photo by Ahmed Zakot / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP Images) 1 Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. 2 When you eat the labour of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. 3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord. 5 The Lord bless you out of Zion, And may you see the good of Jerusalem All the days of your life. 6 Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel! The psalm, if you like, is an attempt to describe the shape of blessing.  Blessing here is not a private windfall or a lucky break, it’s a way of walking — a life oriented toward God’s ways. The psalmist begins with the image of a pilgrim whose daily steps are shaped by reverence for God, not fear as in dread, but a deep awareness of Go...

1. Unless the Lord builds the house, They labour in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. 2. It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep. 3. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. 5. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Isn't that half-verse music to our ears?  "It is vain to rise up early" !  YES!  the Bible says it is vain to get up early! :-)  Amen!  Much of the reading I have been doing over the last weeks, from different perspectives, has been about the importance of Sabbath as a gift of God.  Sabbath is (as Walter Bruegemann puts it) an act of rebellion against the Empire of consumerism - our anxiety and overwork is a s...

 1 When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, And we are glad. 4 Bring back our captivity, O Lord, As the streams in the South. 5 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. 6 He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. The NKJV translation of this is horribly unhelpful!  It reads as "yay! bring back captivity" as in "bring back hanging" or " bring back corporal punishment"!  Bringing back our captivity does not sound like good grounds for celebration! Here, "bring back" is much better translated as "reverse" - " When the Lord reversed the captivity of Zion", i.e. God set his people free. The long history of the ...

1 Those who trust in the Lord Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. 3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest On the land allotted to the righteous, Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity. 4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, And to those who are upright in their hearts. 5 As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, The Lord shall lead them away With the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!   From a human perspective, mountains stand stoic and still, massive symbols of quiet endurance and immovability.  But modern research reveals that mountains are, in fact, moving all the time, swaying gently from the seismic rhythms coursing through the earth upon which they rest. “It’s kind of a true song of the mountain. It’s just humming with this energy, and it’s very low frequency; w...

  If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, Let Israel now say— If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.” Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. So far in my haphazard reflections on the Psalms of Ascent, I have thought about travelling with people on unfinished journeys. Their feet have slipped, their eyes have looked to the hills, their voices have lifted in longing, in protest, in hope. These have been psalms for unfinished journeys—of pilgrims still walking. But Psalm 124 feels different. This is a song sung no...

  Unto You I lift up my eyes, Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He has mercy on us. For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud. O You who dwell in the heavens. As I was reflecting on this psalm, I found myself at Cambridge Pride. I watched my fabulous daughter, Carys, performing on stage with "Sing Out Cambridge" and I joined the parade, walking alongside her and many others through the centre of Cambridge. There were flags and feathers, music and dancing, protest signs and prayerful hearts. And as the crowd surged around me — joyful, defiant, deeply human — I realised that Psalm 123 speaks directly into this moment. It is a psalm of lifting our eyes. Of facing down contempt. Of longing for mercy not just privately, but together — out loud, in colour, in community. This is a re...

Debbi Cooper’s 1988 iconic black and white picture of two young boys, one in a yarmulke and the other with a keffiyeh wrapped around his neck. I knew this one was in the stack somewhere, it has often made me uncomfortable.  But I have been pleased to grapple with it and come to some kind of accomodation with it. I was glad when they said to me,  “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Our feet have been standing  Within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built  As a city that is compact together, Where the tribes go up,  The tribes of the Lord,  To the Testimony of Israel,  To give thanks to the name of the Lord. For thrones are set there for judgment,  The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls,  Prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brethren and companions,  I will now say, “Peace be within you.” Because of the house of the Lord our God  I will seek your good. It is se...