Finally! We're Singing

Finally!  We're in Psalms.  The Psalms are Israel's hymnbook, the 150 greatest hits of worship. A good introduction is here.  If you are gifted this way, you will find yourself in familiar territory.  If not, try out listening to some. click to listen.
I remember being fascinated by my grandmothers "Sam" book.  "Sam-singing" was what she did in church when she was a little girl.  She gave me a copy of the tattered book, a paraphrase of all 150 psalms, made into [sometimes forced] English rhymes, so that any psalm could be sung.  These are the 'metrical versions' of the psalms that became the hymnbook of the early Scottish protestants.  Every once in a while in churches, there is a movement to revive psalm singing directly.  You might be surprised to learn how much of modern "praise music" is taken directly from the Psalms.
In the Presbyterian Hymnal, our selection of psalms is between 158 and 258--pretty tame praise music.

Singing is a great aid to memory.  I find it much easier to memorize something by singing it, that by reciting it.  Do you know any Psalms by heart--other than the 23rd Psalm?

From the "it pays to know your Bible" category

Thanks to Jim Hurdle for this item: A quotation from Seasons of War: The Ordeal of the Confederate Community, 1861-1865, by Daniel E. Sutherland, 1995.  In a chapter about Culpepper County during the Civil War, Sutherland recounts the efforts of federal soldiers to gain leave to visit their homes during the most brutal fighting season.  One resourceful fellow from the 16th Maine, "recently engaged to his sweetheart back home, justified his application for leave by citing Deuteronomy 20:7, to wit 'And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her?  Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in battle, and another man take her.'  To his own delighted surprise, his application [was] approved." (p.309)

Who says that knowing the Bible isn't useful!

We will soon be halfway through the Bible in 90 Days.  If you are keeping up, good for you.  We are now entering the territory of less history and more poetry.  The books of the Bible following Chronicles are about times and seasons of the people's life as a nation following the return of the exiles.  You may notice a subtle shift in the tone of the writings, as Israel's faith is changing.  What can you discern about the differences in their faith between the times before the exile to Babylon and after?  What is God saying to us about that?

Ezra-Nehemiah Those weeping exiles...

I am moved by the description of the exiles who returned from Babylon, weeping and rejoicing at the same time, to see their beloved Temple in ruins and then having the courage to rebuild it.  Where did that come from?--the courage? the vision?  Of course their answer was, "God did it!" and they are right.

Those of us working in congregations under "redevelopment" might remember...our people have been here before.  We weren't deported, only deposed from power.  But the culture moved on, and many taunt us "Where is your God, now?"  Are we still a laughingstock?  When I think of the church in North America, I think about the exiles.  God gave them a vision of what could be, and then they found the resources to rebuild.  Of course, it didn't hurt that Cyrus was a 'sugar daddy.'

You/We Are Not Dummies

Many of us, me included, are reading the Bible straight through, from beginning to end, for the first time, in 90 days.  Reading the Bible is for neophytes like us, and for experienced scholars, and for devotional giants--like Thomas Merton--and for new believers, and for born-in-the-church and born-again believers.  It's NOT for dummies, that is, people who are unteachable, and therefore not alive.  Well, maybe it is for them, too... as God can bring life out of what looks like no-life.
Today the.Washington Post reviewed a new book that looks interesting: Bible Babel, by Kristin Swenson.  I have to say that I won't be able to read it until I finish the Bible.  I'll be interested to see if it is kind of a "bible for dummies" or if there are some new observations.
Ezra-Nehemiah...here we come!

Ash Wednesday in Slow Time

Day 33 of the Bible in 90 Days--BIND for us--is also Ash Wednesday.  The Chronicler has made it through King Joash, and we have made it more than a third of the way through the Bible.  Last night we ate pancakes.  Tonight we have ashes put on our heads.  Time is marked and we keep going.

 

Burning last year's palms from Palm Sunday, for today's ashes.

In just such small steps, God's purposes are being worked out in history.  Just like the people of Israel, the people at Church of the Covenant have a history, even though it's a miniscule part of time compared to the time covered by the Old Testament.  A lifetime is such a short time window, through which we can view history.  Without the witness of deep time, recorded in the scriptures, we could barely glimpse the large story that God is painting through time.  90 days, 90 years, 90 centuries...the canvass is very large.  Unless we step back and view the whole, we will miss the big picture.  Thanks be to God, who gives us the witness of deep time, through the faithful attestations of God's people.

A good time to read

The past is a path to where we are now.  If you're reading about the kings of Israel and Judah now, good for you!  Part of the benefits of reading the Bible in 90 Days is that you'll get a clearer big picture of our story as Christians.  We keep and study the Old Testament because it is our key to understanding Jesus.  Without the history of the people, we miss what Jesus was doing and saying, and the significance of his death and resurrection.  

I'm a bit amazed that God sent this snow, just at the time when we needed encouragement to KEEP READING.  So refill that coffee or tea cup, and curl up with the Good Book.

The "blur" of Kings

Date	Day		# of 90	Beginning verse	Ending verse
8-Feb	Mon		25	2 Samuel 20:24	1 Kings 7:2
9-Feb	Tue		26	1 Kings 7:3	1 Kings 14:31
10-Feb	Wed		27	1 Kings 15:1	2 Kings 2:19
11-Feb	Thurs		28	2 Kings 2:20	2 Kings13:24
12-Feb	Fri		29	2 Kings 13:25	2 Kings 23:27
13-Feb	Sat		30	2 Kings 23:28	1 Chronicles 11:14

This is the week that we read the story of all those kings who came after the great King David, a great blur of kings. The history of Israel now falls apart--the kingdom disintegrates into two kingdoms.  David's legacy is ripped apart, and it seems as if God could be finished with this little band of unruly tribes.  But, no!  Throughout the rest of the story, God is working, little-by-little, with the kings who are faithful to the Lord, to give hope to the people.  When the king obeys God, good things happen, by and large.  When the king is unfaithful, suffering ensues.  It seems that we're not supposed to remember much about each king, except whether or not they were faithful to God or not.

By the end of this week, you will be ONE THIRD  finished.  Is God's story coming through?
For those of you having difficulties with the violence of these stories, think on this question:  What might be the difference between how God is portrayed in the text, vs. the God behind and in back of the text?

Keep up the shoveling...(ahem!) I mean, reading. 











Left: King Solomon holding a replica of the temple he built in Jerusalem

Read while you're snowed in

So now you all have time to catch up!  Since many houses of worship have cancelled activities for the weekend, you can shovel snow and read the Bible.  Sometimes snow is just God's way of saying "slow down."  Let's all give thanks.  Stay safe out there.

biblical illiteracy Day 22 of 90--"thus far, the Lord has helped us..."

"Here I raise my 'Ebenezer' ..."

A long time ago, someone told me that they didn't like singing the old hymn with the above line, because nobody really knew what it meant.  I like the hymn because it was one of my grandfather's favorites.  He could pound out a rudimentary accompaniment on the piano, and sing it with gusto.

Those of you who are following the Bible in 90 Days, you know what it means now, don't you?  [See 1 Samuel 7:12]  If you're on schedule, you read this yesterday.  Do you feel like you're pushing back the darkness of ignorance, just a little?  Yea!

Here are some biblical misconceptions, which you can now laugh at:

• Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah’s wife was Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark and the animals came on in pears.
•  Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt during the day, but a ball of fire during the night.
•  The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with unsympathetic genitals.
•  Samson slayed the Philistines with the Axe of the Apostles.
•  The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up to Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments.
•  The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
•  The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
•  The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
•  David was a Hebrew king who was skilled at playing the liar. He fought the Finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in biblical times.