Category Archives: Psalms During Lent

During the season of Lent I’ll be taking time to write a short reflection on the Psalms suggested for the evening in the Daily Office Lectionary. I have a love for the Psalms that can’t quite be explained. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are often heard, but rarely reflected on in sermons. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a tradition in which singing was a vital part of our faith. Maybe it’s because the whole scope of human experience can be found within the 150 chapters of the Psalms. There is something to the Psalter that intrigues and embraces me, and everyday during the season of Lent, I’ll write a reflection on them as we walk this Lenten journey.

Psalm 138: You Increased my Strength of Soul

The psalm set for this evening’s prayers is a psalm of thanksgiving; it is an individual psalmist who offers her thanks before God for all the ways in which God has been continually present throughout her life. Psalm 138 is an individual song of praise and thanksgiving; in this psalm, the psalmist recalls times inContinue reading “Psalm 138: You Increased my Strength of Soul”

Psalm 51: You Desire Truth

Throughout the our lives, people of faith pray a variety of prayers; some are big, some are small, some are easy, some are difficult, and some ask things of God or of ourselves that if we fully understood, we wouldn’t dare ask because there is no way to be unchanged by them. This evening’s psalm,Continue reading “Psalm 51: You Desire Truth”

Psalm 46: Be Still and Know

As I write this, I am sipping dye in wait for a large machine to tell me to be still and to hold my breath while I get yet another CT scan. It’s time, of course. Even though Not Cancer was not cancer, it still has to be watched so to make sure it doesn’tContinue reading “Psalm 46: Be Still and Know”

Psalm 49: The Fate of the Foolhardy

After last’s night celebration and praise break, this evening’s psalm, Psalm 49 brings us back to face the complexity of the issue of death in the face of power and wealth. In the middle of this psalm is a riddle. In verses 5 and 6 we are presented with a riddle that can be summedContinue reading “Psalm 49: The Fate of the Foolhardy”

Psalm 48: The Joy of All the Earth

In the midst of the communal lament that extends past last night’s psalm, today’s psalm gives rise to a break in the lament. It is a pause in a series of laments individual and communal to give a praise break. The Psalter, it is important to remember was not always bound together this way. ItContinue reading “Psalm 48: The Joy of All the Earth”

Psalm 44: We Sink Down to the Dust

Having not grown up in a liturgical tradition, I was shocked when I first experienced it at the way the rhythm of liturgy and litany resonates deep within my soul. “Don’t the words feel artificial if they are not from your heart and brain?” I was once asked about worshiping in a liturgical tradition. IContinue reading “Psalm 44: We Sink Down to the Dust”

Psalm 42: Deep Calls to Deep

One of the best things about the psalms and how they speak to us today is how to lament. A lament holds us in the uncomfortable space of disappointment and frustration, and most Christians aren’t too good at staying in this space. The way in which our church calendar moves we have time build inContinue reading “Psalm 42: Deep Calls to Deep”

Psalm 35: O Lord, do not be silent!

Many times bravery and danger are two sides of the coin. This evening’s psalm is both. Psalm 35 is a desperate plea from someone so excluded that he, in a prayer to God, paints the scenario with war-like imagery. At first it could be tempting to see this as actual war, as a psalm fromContinue reading “Psalm 35: O Lord, do not be silent!”

Psalm 37:19-40: Their Steps Do Not Slip

One of the more helpful ways to understand trauma is to acknowledge that experiencing a trauma is not the end of its effect. Those who undergo traumatic events cannot fully process the happening in the moment, and perhaps not even until much later in their life, depending on the trauma. Shelley Rambo puts this beautifullyContinue reading “Psalm 37:19-40: Their Steps Do Not Slip”