Category: Lenten Psalms

The text: Psalm 115 – NRSV

The Hebrew prophets had two chief concerns: idolatry and social injustice. Idolatry is simply the worship of anything that is not God. As such it is a clear violation of the first two of the Ten Commandments: You shall have no other gods before me, and in case that wasn’t clear, you shall not make for yourself an idol. It should not surprise us that Paul opens the body of his letter to the Romans with this very topic: They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. There is the crux: worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. Setting up anything or anyone as our “god” is one of our greatest failings and most destructive temptations, particularly when one of our “gods” turns out to be ourselves. The question is not whether we do it (because we all have and continue to), but what or who our idols are.

To me Psalm 115 is a wisdom or instructional Psalm. It does not merely identify the problem, but also shows us the way out. Stay a while in verses 3-8, and allow the Psalm to ask you the questions. Who has a mouth but does not speak? Who has eyes but does not see? (Does that remind you of the man born blind and the accusing Pharisees in John 9?) What does this teach us? Watch out for verse 8… Ouch.

Perhaps you have an idol or two to unload this Lent. I know I do. How can you let the second half of the Psalm be your song this season and show you a better way?

Oh, and what about social injustice? Yep. Don’t worry. Stay tuned. 😉

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The text: Psalm 30 – NRSV

At least in my experience, there is no situation—be it a team or group meeting, a performance, or anything else— that is not improved if I enter it with this question: “What about this am I thankful for?” It’s a simple but powerful question. Having this “attitude of gratitude” changes my orientation from an inward one, focused on my own selfish concerns and anxieties, to an outward one, focused on the positive things beyond my control that have allowed me to be there at all. Being thankful is inherently an act of humble curiosity, and requires attentive listening and awareness of capacities outside of my experience.

Considering all of this, it’s pretty obvious that a prayer of thanksgiving to God is one of the easiest and most effective prayers, mainly for what it does to us while we pray it. There are few better examples of such a prayer than Psalm 30, a song of personal thanksgiving from what may have been a terrible illness, but I think you’ll find that the prayer addresses any dark moment of the soul. The psalm is full of gems that are often quoted, easily remembered, and well cherished. Keep it close. Enjoy.

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The text: Psalm 46 – NRSV

Psalm 46 is perhaps most famous for inspiring Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. The hymn is strongly associated with the Protestant Reformation, and according to some observers, Luther took great comfort in the words of this psalm during the dark early days of the Reformation. The psalm is a powerful statement, proclaiming God’s unassailable ability to protect God’s city and God’s people against any assault. Tellingly, the psalm ends with God putting an end to war itself, calling us in the midst of such tumult to “be still, and know that I am God”.

What does it mean for God to be your fortress, unassailable and impregnable? Perhaps it reminds me of Jesus’ real estate advice about where to build your house: either on solid rock or on shifting sands. Perhaps it recalls Paul’s proclamation in the end of Romans 8 that nothing in the universe can separate us from the love of God through Jesus Christ. What does it mean to you?

There are so many recordings of Luther’s hymn, but here’s one as a start:

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Today, while at the gym of all places, the idea came to me to practice a new kind of Lenten discipline. To be honest, I have not often practiced the idea of “giving something up” for Lent. But inspired by recent preaching, I’m proposing instead to do something for Lent: lift up one Psalm each day until Easter, and use it as a focus for prayer. This is an easy thing: the Psalms are prayers, prayers of all kinds. I’ll add a post here for each Psalm with a few brief thoughts along with a link to the NRSV text of the psalm on Bible Gateway. That site has dozens of other English (and Spanish) versions, so you can likely find your favorite version there.

By my reckoning, there are 42 days until Easter, so we should be able to cover about one-third of the psalter. During each week we’ll cover a variety of Psalms, but on Sundays, we’ll honor an ancient tradition of the Church that proclaims each Sunday in Lent to be a “little Easter”. On these days we’ll lift up a song of praise.

So welcome on this journey through Lent! I hope you find it a blessing.

To see all posts in this series, click on “Lenten Psalms” below.