Dignoscentia

This psalm is a typical, almost formulaic, prayer for help. These sorts of prayers are a common theme in many of the psalms, and they all follow a sort of pattern. There is praise involved; it could also be called flattery. God is praised for being wonderful, and powerful, and helpful, and everything one would […]

This morning, I discovered a speech given by Barack Obama a couple of years ago. It’s entitled “Call to Renewal“, and was given here in Washington, DC, back on 6/28/06. In the video, Sen. Obama talks about religion and politics, and how to find common ground in a multi-religion society in order to address issues […]

This is one of those psalms where the NJB footnotes prove very useful. From them, we are able to see that it is a pilgrimage song used by those on the way to Jerusalem. Even more, from the reference to “early rain” in verse 6, we can ascertain that it was likely used during the […]

I was struck by the clear message of tolerance espoused in Romans 14 when I read it a few days ago. I can’t quote the entire chapter here, although all of it is relevant, but I do encourage you to read it from your Bibles. Again, I would recommend the New Jerusalem Bible, for its […]

The tone here is more subdued, more humble than in Psalm 79. That’s good. Still, this psalm is short on repentance and big on requests. Give us this, give us that, restore us, why did you leave us — the whole thing goes on like this. The only acknowledgment of guilt is in verse 18: […]

Psalm 78 is one of the longer psalms of the Bible. I waver when I consider its nature. It could be either pompous or poetic. Today, I tend to think it’s a bit on the pompous side. It recounts the history of Israel, and concentrates on the escape from Egypt and the trek to the […]

The author of this psalm remembers the times of God’s tremendous miracles — the times (then) of old, when God had delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, and took them through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. He wonders if God will ever act like that on behalf of Israel.
It’s […]