My Whole Heart (Psalm 138:1)

 


Wednesday, February 26, 2025


Psalms 137; 138

Genesis 31:43-32:12

Luke 8:1-8


My Whole Heart (Psalm 138:1)


Something to note about how our readings are set, is that during the week, they simply come one after another. There is no deliberate link between readings; any connection is a happy coincidence (or “God-incidents”). Today’s two Psalms are such an example.


Both of them refer to singing. The first, Psalm 137, is about how difficult it is to sing when times get tough. It refers to the Babylonian Exile, when Jerusalem was besieged, assaulted, sacked and pillaged, and the survivors were carried off to Babylon. They were a people cut out of their homeland; not only that, the Babylonians had committed horrific atrocities; so horrific, in fact, that many people will ignore the final three verses of this Psalm because of the great violence of the act they describe.


Our second Psalm, immediately following in Psalm 138, is about how David is singing God’s praises. It is a sharp turn from the previous psalm; before, everything was empty and in sorrow. Now, everything is full, and in joy: he gives thanks with his whole heart; he sings before the entire spiritual realm; he sings about God’s steadfast love and faithfulness; and he sings about God’s name and God’s word is above all things.


Both of these psalms are great examples of how we ought to use the psalms for ourselves, and use them often. The sorrow of someone who has suffered terrible things needs to be expressed in a holy way, and this is the role of Psalm 137. On the flip side, the joy of someone whose heart is full to brimming with the joy of the Lord receives a holy joy when they use Psalm 138. Whichever state you find yourself in, the Psalms give you a way to describe it perfectly.


Another thing to keep in mind when using the Psalms is to remember that they all point to and are fulfilled in Jesus. Which of us can honestly call for vengeance in the way of Psalm 137? And which of us can honestly say we give the Lord thanks with all of our heart (not just a lot, or just some)? Yet if we hear these words coming out of the second Person of the Trinity, as the words of Jesus our Messiah, who is the word of God made flesh, then everything falls into place. He can call for justice to those who murder babies with no hypocrisy; he can sing the praises of God’s steadfast love from a place none of us will (thankfully) ever know.


Let us take our daily ration of psalms as eager and hungry disciples of Jesus, feeding on them only in Christ, who bought us with the price of his own blood, so that we may take these words as our own, yet only through him.


We give you thanks, O Lord, with our whole heart, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. Answer us on the day we call on you and increase the strength of our soul, that we may give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, enduring forever.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday, July 25, 2022

  Monday, July 25, 2022 Psalm 62; 63 Hosea 1 Romans 4:1-12 He only is my rock and my salvation: my strong tower, so that I shall not be moved. The prophecies of Hosea are rich with vivid imagery. Look at these names: firstly, “Hosea” means “salvation”. So too do the names Joshua and Jesus. Then Hosea has three children: “God scatters”, “Not pitied”, and “Not my people”. This is because the children are part of the marriage between Hosea and Gomer, which is an image God is showing to the nation. It is to our profit that God has used real-life events to communicate spiritual imagery and divine truths. We find it very easy to understand our relationship with God as being a faithful wife to a loving husband. We can reconcile this message with what Paul has to teach us today in Romans. He makes the very important observation that Abraham was given God's righteousness as a result of his faith before, not after, his circumcision. Again, this is God using real-life events...
Read more

The God of Those Who Repent (The Prayer of Manasseh 13)

Image
  Thursday, August 29, 2024 Psalm 145 The Prayer Of Manasseh Romans 15:22-33 Observance: Beheading of John the Baptist The God of Those Who Repent (The Prayer of Manasseh 13) This morning we have a passage from a book that is not inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Prayer of Manasseh is included in what the church calls the “apocrypha”, which is a set of written works that sit alongside the Bible. We read them for example of life and instruction of manners, but do not apply them to establish any doctrine, according to the sixth Article of Religion at the back of our prayer book. Nonetheless, we did just yesterday read about King Manasseh and his wild ride of a life journey. It must have been quite a change of character he went through: first he rebelled both against his father and God, replacing true worship with devil worship. Then he was captured by the Assyrians in a most undignified manner, in chains and with a hook through his nose. During this ...
Read more

Friday, November 4, 2022

  Friday, November 4, 2022 Psalms 11; 12 Nehemiah 13:1-14 Revelation 2:12-17 Observance: Day for Anglicans and Roman Catholics to pray for one another I know where you are living, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me. Today we run into two old friends: the story of Balaam and Balak; and the mysterious Nicolaitans. I wonder what it says about God that 1) the story of Balaam and Balak was important enough for the Holy Spirit to inspire Moses to record; 2) that it was a big enough deal for Nehemiah to expel all the foreigners; 3 ) Peter thinks it is noteworthy enough to use it as a sermon illustration; 4 ) that Jesus in heaven would reference it too. Jesus is the One with the sharp, two-edged sword of His mouth, and in His victory parade on Palm Sunday, He rode a donkey. This paradox perhaps teaches us something about the power of staying true to Jesus: even a silly old donkey can, if speaking the truth...
Read more