How shall I use my voice? The opening lines of Psalm 142 are striking, with their repeated “qoli le-Adonai”: “My voice to the Lord . . . my voice to the Lord.” I have a voice too. How will I use mine? To whom will I direct mine? I am not in the situation ofContinue reading “My voice to the Lord (Psalm 142)”
Monthly Archives: April 2021
When the crowds of followers gather, watch for hypocrisy—in our leaders, in ourselves
“While the crowd was gathered together by the thousands, so as to trample upon each other, he began to speak to his disciples first: take heed to yourselves from the leaven, i.e., hypocrisy, of the Pharisees. And nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be made known. So whateverContinue reading “When the crowds of followers gather, watch for hypocrisy—in our leaders, in ourselves”
How to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122)
Zion, Zionism, and Christian interpretation of the Psalms of Ascents.
Whose friend can I be? (Psalm 119:63)
What do we mean when we say, “I am a companion to all them that fear thee”? What are the aims and limits of friendship in Christ?
Divine child abuse, or human God abuse?
You don’t have to be paying excessive attention to theological questions to know that some theologians have denounced certain ways of understanding the atonement (for example) as tantamount to portraying God as an abusive parent, and that some people have reacted—using what I think of as the (non)logic of NYA-nya-nya-NYA-nya, which in the past severalContinue reading “Divine child abuse, or human God abuse?”
How to pray for government leaders: a biblical model (Psalm 72)
Talk to God. Praise God ALONE. Prayer for the leader is focused on the leader’s serving the good of the poor of your people.
Who is the “you” in “fret not yourself” (Psalm 37) ?
To cover complacency, inaction, and complicity in injustice by appropriating to oneself the “Fret not” that was spoken to someone else is bad faith.
You, me, them: the moral mindset of Psalm 26
Worship and prayer depend on a certain self-location vis-à-vis the divine “You” and the profane “they/them.” In the attached display of the ESV text of Psalm 26 I have used blue highlighting for the divine “You,” green for the worshipful and morally resolute “I,” and yellow for the profane “they/them.” It would be a mistakeContinue reading “You, me, them: the moral mindset of Psalm 26”
Orla in 2008
Today, April 3, 2021, our beloved Irish Terrier, Orla, died. I’m consoling myself by digging through old photographs. This post has pics from 2008, the year Orla came to live with us.
Verba Sparsa 