with the Word online Bible study: create in me

Psalm 51:1-12

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgement.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Have you ever done anything so wrong, so destructive, so hurtful, that it was impossible to make it right? That’s the kind of prayer this is. Psalm 51 is the prayer of David after the incident known throughout scripture as “the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” You might recall–David saw Bathsheba and thought she was beautiful, he had an affair with her and she became pregnant…in order to hide the matter, he recalled her husband from his army and tried to get him to go home and sleep with his wife. When Uriah’s honor would not permit that (it was forbidden for those on duty to sleep with their wives, or even in beds, while the army was in the field), David had Uriah sent into the thick of the fighting, where the rest of the army pulled back and Uriah was killed. Then David took Bathsheba to be one of his wives. When we ask the confirmation class to count how many of the Ten Commandments David broke in this one affair, they often come up with more than 10!

On being confronted with his sin, David prays this prayer. He knows he’s in the wrong, and that it’s too late to make amends or practice reconciliation with the people he’s hurt. But God is also hurt–God put a lot of trust in David, and gave him a lot of responsibility. It’s never too late to make amends with God–and after this prayer, God does continue to love David, just as God continues to love us even when we hurt others and hurt God.

This is a classic prayer for Lent, a season of repentance. To “repent” means to Turn–to turn around, do a 180, and decide to change. A new translation of the Bible uses the phrase “change your hearts and lives” instead of “repent” because of the connotations that word has in our culture. It’s not only about apologizing, it’s about changing behavior, changing our hearts and lives.

What is something you need to change? What is something you need to put behind you and walk away from, so you can seek God with your whole heart? Can this prayer help?

with the Word online Bible study: heart and seek

Psalm 119:10-16

With my whole heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commandments.
I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth.
I delight in the way of your decrees
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts,
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.

The psalms are often called the prayerbook or the hymnal of the Bible. How often do you use the psalms in your own prayer? How often do you use hymns or songs in your prayer? Saint Augustine said that “the one who sings prays twice”–possibly because melody and words combine in ways beyond our own intellectual capacity, perhaps because God just likes music, perhaps because singing is an embodied experience so we pray with not just our voices but our whole selves…do you agree with his statement? Does singing feel like prayer to you?

What are some ways you seek God? How do you nurture your relationship with God? The psalmist suggests meditating on God’s word and proclaiming God’s goodness as two of the ways he seeks God with his whole heart. Those are certainly good ways! What other ways can you think of, or do you practice?

In ancient culture, the Heart was the seat of reason as well as emotion–it was the place of the spirit, the center of the being, the word you would use to say “with the essence of who I am.” Sometimes we use “mind/body/spirit” as a way to say the same thing the ancient Hebrews said using “heart.” How does knowing that change the way you read this psalm?

Try praying this psalm a few times each day–perhaps in the morning, at lunchtime, and before bed–for the rest of this week. How does that change your outlook on your day, your work, your commute, your family, your leisure? When you’re consciously seeking God, what do you see differently?

with the Word online Bible study: glory and strength

Psalm 29 (NRSV)

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendour.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!

~~~

“Ascribe”…not a word we use every day, is it? The Common English Bible says “Give to the Lord…the glory due his name.” A little more understandable, if slightly less poetic! Another possible meaning is “acknowledge”–even less poetic, but equally understandable. But it does start to make sense, at least–the psalmist calls us to give God what God is due–praise and glory and honor–to acknowledge God’s power and place as sovereign lord of all.

Or does he?

The psalmist initially addresses the “heavenly beings”–not the people gathered for worship, not the people using the psalms for prayer or song, but heavenly beings…who are these heavenly beings?

A little background may help us out.

The majority of this psalm is actually a Canaanite hymn to Baal, the god of storms and thunder and also of destruction/victory. The Canaanites who worshipped Baal believed that if they praised him appropriately, he would bring rain for their crops and would refrain from storms that destroyed them…while visiting those storms on their enemies. In other words, if people just pray right, the god will respond in the desired way.

(sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)

The psalmist has replaced Baal with The Lord (God’s name, Yahweh, is used 18 times in the psalm!), and calls on the heavenly beings to recognize the One God’s sovereignty, power, and glory. The whole psalm places God in the spot formerly occupied by Baal…and the heavenly beings–the deposed gods who are proved impotent–are called upon to recognize the True God in their midst.

Only at the end of the psalm do the people in the Temple also cry “Glory!”

The “heavenly beings” and the people join together in the same realization–that God is Lord above all other gods, that we humans are not in control even through our prayers, and that God is much more powerful and wild than most of us are willing to admit most of the time. We’d like to have a God who does our bidding, who is sweet and tame and comforting…and God does comfort, it’s true, and God is a loving parent and a devoted friend…and is also revealed as powerful and decidedly not “safe” (to borrow a word from the Chronicles of Narnia).

What did you hear in this psalm? 

What stories, songs, music, movies, etc came to mind?

How do you go about ascribing to the Lord the glory due his name? 

When have you experienced God’s power…the unsafe kind?

Have you ever used a non-Christian thing (a movie, a piece of art, a story, etc) as a way to experience or talk about God?

learning to pray

At WEAVE we have been talking about, learning, and practicing prayer. For today’s after-weave…learning from the masters (the psalmists!) and bringing their form into today.

One of the ways we learn to pray is by praying the words that the faithful have prayed for centuries. The Psalms are so wonderful for this, as they encompass the full breadth and depth of human experience, emotion, spirituality, and conversation with God. They offer us words for praising, confessing, thanksgiving, supplication, intercession, dedication…and they have been spoken, sung, set to instrumental music, made into art, etc, for thousands of years.

Today try praying through the words of the psalmist through Psalm 19.1-4 and Psalm 29, both in word and song.

The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

~~

You, divine beings! Give to the LORD—
give to the LORD glory and power!
Give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bow down to the LORD
in holy splendor!
The LORD’s voice is over the waters;
the glorious God thunders;
the LORD is over the mighty waters.
The LORD’s voice is strong;
the LORD’s voice is majestic.
The LORD’s voice breaks cedar trees—
yes, the LORD shatters
the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon jump around
like a young bull,
makes Sirion jump around
like a young wild ox.
The LORD’s voice unleashes fiery flames;
the LORD’s voice shakes the wilderness—
yes, the LORD shakes
the wilderness of Kadesh.
The LORD’s voice convulses the oaks,
strips the forests bare,
but in his temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
The LORD sits enthroned
over the floodwaters;
the LORD sits enthroned—king forever!
Let the LORD give strength to his people!
Let the LORD bless his people
with peace!

“where else am I dwelling?”

A video Bible Study on Psalm 23 by a wonderful rabbi. 6-1/2 minutes of wonder.

 

What do you think when you think of Psalm 23? How do you experience God’s comfort, God’s shepherding, God’s house as a dwelling place?

With The Word online Bible Study: walking the way

Psalm 25.1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
micah 6.6-8

‘With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

~~~~~~~~~

What pops out at you in these texts? Is there anything that makes you go “hmm….” or “huh?” or “hey!!!!” Are you reminded of any other stories–whether in the Bible, in literature/movies/music/TV, or in your own life? As you read, do you hear any music in your head?

The psalms are both a prayer book and a hymnal. Does it seem like this particular psalm is more like a prayer or more like a song? What’s the difference between a prayer and a song? Do you ever pray through music? What is that like for you?

Why do you think these two texts are paired together? What might one help us to understand about the other?

Have you ever prayed to be shown God’s way? How is this similar to (or different from) the Lord’s Prayer? Have you ever received an answer?

Have you ever gotten guidance from God that seems nebulous, or too difficult, or so broad as to be unclear how you can actually apply it? What do you do then?

We often seek God’s path through means other than listening for God’s word and direction. What are some other places you have sought God’s wisdom and direction? How did that work? What helped you ultimately get onto God’s path?

What do you hear as the good news in this text? What do you hear as a challenge? What might this passage have to say to our community today?

With the Word online Bible study–magnificat

Psalm 146.5-10

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!

~~~~~~

What pops out at you in this psalm? Is there anything that makes you go “hmm….” or “huh?” or “hey!!!!” Are you reminded of any other stories–whether in the Bible, in literature/movies/music/TV, or in your own life? As you read, do you hear any music in your head?

The psalms are both a prayer book and a hymnal. Does it seem like this particular psalm is more like a prayer or more like a song? What’s the difference between a prayer and a song? Do you ever pray through music? What is that like for you?

This particular psalm is echoed (or is an echo of!) both Hannah’s song (1 Samuel 2) and Mary’s song (Luke 1). Why do you think these themes are so prevalent in our faith story? And why does it so often appear as a song?  (Remember that women were property, not individuals…and remember that both Hannah and Mary were in pretty precarious positions when they sang this song…)  Why is THIS the song of people in those precarious positions? Is this the kind of song you sing at difficult times?

Is this how you experience the work of God? If not, how would you describe what God does and who God is?

If this is truly what God is like, then what does that mean for how we (the people of God, the Body of Christ) are to be?

The word “Magnificat” means “magnified”–it comes from Mary’s song in Luke 1 where she says “My soul magnifies the Lord”, meaning that she is glorifying God even in the midst of her distress. Do you ever have that kind of experience, a time when “magnificat” is appropriate to your spiritual life?

What do you hear as the good news in this text? What do you hear as a challenge? What might this passage have to say to our community today?

With the Word online Bible study–praying for justice

Psalm 72.1-7, 18-19

Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.
May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.

~~~~~~~

What pops out at you in this psalm? Is there anything that makes you go “hmm….” or “huh?” or “hey!!!!” Are you reminded of any other stories–whether in the Bible, in literature/movies/music/TV, or in your own life? As you read, do you hear any music in your head?

The psalms are both a prayer book and a hymnal. Does it seem like this particular psalm is more like a prayer or more like a song? What’s the difference between a prayer and a song? Do you ever pray through music? What is that like for you?

Why does the psalmist choose to pray that the King would know God’s justice and righteousness? Who might the King be?

This prayer asks for a lot of things…do your prayers ever end up seeming like lists of requests? Are these the kinds of requests you’re praying for too?

If we imagine “the King” as anyone with power (political, economic, social, moral, etc) in our society, what would it look like for those people to act in ways this psalm suggests? What would it mean for our world if those with power lived as an answer to this prayer? And then what if we are the ones with power?

Is this a description of “justice” as you think of it? If not, what is justice?

The psalm ends with praise to God–not with an assurance that this prayer will be answered, or with praise because God has already done these things, but praise because God is glory and does wondrous things. How do we too praise when our prayer has not yet been answered but we still live and work in hope?

What do you hear as the good news in this text? What do you hear as a challenge? What might this passage have to say to our community today?

With the Word–online Bible Study…praying for peace

Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.”
For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

~~~~~~~~~

What pops out at you in this psalm? Is there anything that makes you go “hmm….” or “huh?” or “hey!!!!” Are you reminded of any other stories–whether in the Bible, in literature/movies/music/TV, or in your own life? As you read, do you hear any music in your head?

The psalms are both a prayer book and a hymnal. Does it seem like this particular psalm is more like a prayer or more like a song? What’s the difference between a prayer and a song? Do you ever pray through music? What is that like for you?

What does it mean to you to “go to the house of the Lord”? Where does God live? The ancient Israelites believed that God literally lived in the Temple in Jerusalem. That Temple no longer stands (it was destroyed in 587 BCE, rebuilt, and destroyed again in 70CE). So where does God live now? Is the church building the house of God? If so, what is the purpose of the building?

The psalmist reminds us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is still a very troubled city, and prayers for peace seem sometimes to fall on deaf ears. What might peace in Jerusalem look like? What would peace in our own “holy city” look like? In our own church community? In “God’s house” wherever that might be?

The psalm ends with “for the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” The reference is, of course, to a Jerusalem that contains The Temple. If we can imagine that all of creation is God’s house, or that the people of God are God’s house (like Peter says in 1 Peter 2, we are a temple made of living stones), then whose good are we to seek?

What do you hear as the good news in this text? What do you hear as a challenge? What might this prayer/song have to say to our community today?

with the word online Bible Study: humility and prayer

Psalm 65

Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come.
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions.
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

~~~~~~~~

As you pray this psalm, what do you notice? How is it like (or different from) prayers you would normally pray? How is it like (or different from) hymns or songs you like to sing? How do you feel praying in this way, using words people have been using for prayer for thousands of years?  What about the prayers of the men in the story–do either of those sound like your prayers or songs?

What do you think prayer is for–what’s it’s purpose?  How does prayer (like any of these three prayers) play a part in your everyday life and in your faith journey?

What pops out at you in this story about Jesus? Is there anything that makes you go “hmm….” or “huh?” or “hey!!!!” Are you reminded of any other stories–whether in the Bible, in literature/movies/music/TV, or in your own life? As you read, do you hear any music in your head?

Can you see how or why this story and this prayer might be related, why they would be paired in our Bible Study today? Is there anything that becomes clearer when we read the two together, or a message we might miss if we read just one of them?

What character do you most identify with? Who do you think these characters might represent?

If you were telling one of these stories in 21st century language, how might you get a similar idea across? (what kind of images would you use, what kind of metaphor, who would be the characters, etc.)

What do you hear as the good news in these stories? What do you hear as a challenge? What might these texts have to say to our community today?