Wednesday, August 21 Pentecost 13
Psalm 119 Part 7
Psalm 119 is a meditation on responding to God’s call to justice. Each of the 176 verses is a variation on the theme of what it means to follow God’s call to justice, using terms such as “command”,”law”, “word”, “statute”, and the like. The psalm is arranged in 22 groups of eight verses—one group for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Within a group, each of the eight verses starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the groups are in Hebrew alphabetical order. So the first group of eight verses all start with A, the second group all start with B and so on. The first seven verses mirror the seven days of creation, with the eighth sometimes pointing to the next group. This very careful construction mirrors God’s creating the universe by overcoming chaos with order.
In the human world, justice, dignity and fulfilment – the outcomes of justice—are the human expressions of order. Thus the human world and the rest of creation are united in the same foundation. Today’s three sections begin with the letters Q, R, S, and T, the final letters of the Hebrew alphabet. As you read them, imagine the effect of each line in today’s first section beginning with “Q” and so on.
Judges 18.16-31 What’s Judges about?
The owner of the idol objects to the theft of his idol and his priest but is threatened with violence. The tribe of Dan destroy a peaceful and prosperous city and retain the idol and the illegitimate priest until they are much later conquered as punishment. We can see the story-teller explaining the origin of several anomalous situations that were taking place in his own time.
This is the last of the stories of these temporary leaders, each given victory through the spirit of God. Nevertheless, as in this final story, the people abandon God and God’s justice and revert to violence and terrorism and trust gods that are worthless, with predictable consequences.
Tomorrow we start reading Job, a very different kind of book, with a radically different approach to how we experience of God.
John 6.1-15 What’s John about?
Jesus feeds 5,000 people—again the heavenly banquet is coming to pass. Jesus refuses to be made a king.
John is interested in the meanings lying behind the events in Jesus’ life. The other three gospel focus on the events and what “actually” happened, but John’s gospel focuses on the meanings. So most events in this gospel have several levels of meanings which are often described through conversations which Jesus has with various people. Because of these conversations there are fewer events, but they are each of immense significance.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and sent into our hearts the Spirit of your Son.
Give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that all people may know the glorious liberty
of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Click here to share your thoughts on the web site.