Psalm 138 - The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Dec 23 Read: 2 Chronicles 27-28 Listen: (6:27) Read: Psalms 137-138 Listen: (2:13)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 138:1-5

1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

2 I will bow down toward your holy temple

and will praise your name

for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,

for you have so exalted your solemn decree

that it surpasses your fame.

3 When I called, you answered me;

you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,

when they hear what you have decreed.

5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,

for the glory of the Lord is great.

Luke 2:13-14

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Reflection: The Sound of Glory — Love of Advent

By Jon Polk

The first piece to feature the chorus in George Frideric Handel’s Messiah is the bold and declarative “And the Glory of the Lord.” Here, as he does nearly twenty times in his masterwork, Handel sets to music words from the prophecy of Isaiah, specifically from chapter 40 verse 5.

And the glory, the glory of the Lord

Shall be revealed

And all flesh shall see it together

What exactly is God’s glory? It is a difficult concept to grasp. C.S. Lewis wrestled with the idea in his book, The Weight of Glory. Lewis attempted to define glory in one of two ways, “Either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity.”

Regarding glory as fame, Lewis initially felt that fame was a shallow, selfish pursuit that seems unbecoming and out of character with the nature of God. However, upon further consideration and reflecting on the work of other theologians, Lewis reframed his understanding of fame as “good report” or “approval,” in the same manner as a parent approves of a child or an artist takes pleasure in her or his work. He writes,

For glory meant good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.

By this definition, glory is to be of “good report” with God, to be accepted and welcomed by God, to be known by God. As Lewis concludes, this is the deepest desire of all our hearts.

Consider the angels appearing in the fields outside Bethlehem proclaiming God’s glory and peace to a handful of ordinary shepherds. Never in their wildest dreams did those herdsmen imagine that the God of their forefathers would look down on their lowly lives and embrace them, delivering to them first the greatest news in human history.

The Christ Child entering into our world is a heavenly proclamation from God, “You are loved. You are welcome. You are accepted by me.”

Isaiah’s prophecy and the rousing choral setting from Handel are truly an anthem, a declaration that God’s glory has been revealed to us and in us. God welcomes us into the family. God smiles on us as an artist admires his creation.

May our response be that of the psalmist: to praise God with our whole heart (138:1), to sing and proclaim the goodness of God (138:5), and to find strength in God’s embrace (138:3).

And about glory as luminosity, imagine having been out in the fields with the shepherds that night…

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. — Psalm 67.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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Scripture Focus: Psalm 137.1
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

Psalm 138.6-8
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

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Reflection: Out of Place Praise
By Rachel Schuck

Have you ever been far away from home, yearning to be surrounded by the familiar people and places you love? Life loses some of its sparkle in the grueling years of waiting to return. Even beloved hobbies and means of expression, such as music, fall out of practice at the seat of dejection. Psalm 137 is a sorrowful hymn that expresses the Jews’ longing for Jerusalem during the Babylonian exile.

Psalm 137 has inspired many songs across genres and cultures that give voice to the sorrow and aching of laboring as strangers in a foreign land. Listen to Marion William’s “Mean Old World” as an example.

As God’s sons and daughters living in a broken world, we experience daily encounters with our out-of-placeness. (Hebrews 13.14-15; 1 Chronicles 29.15; Psalms 119:19; Matthew 5.13-16) However, Jesus’s sacrifice provides a wholeness beyond our grasp. Our yearning for this wholeness comes from an understanding of the complete righteousness of God and the ways our experiences on this earth fall short (Revelation 21.5; Matthew 5.17).

Paul expresses this yearning poignantly at the end of his first letter to the Corinthian church as he signs “Maranatha,” meaning “the Lord comes,” or more imperatively, “Come, Lord!” (1 Corinthians 16.21-24).

From Neo-Babylonian exile, to the early Church, to the trials of today, we are each implicated in the expansive biblical narrative of God’s plan for creation. We are characters in God’s story of salvation that continually points to the cross. It is right to grieve separation from and yearn to be united with God. So how do we respond in a productive way to this grief and yearning?The Lord, through David’s song of praise in Psalm 138, provides an answer: worship and song! David voices the reason for the hope that we have—hope that transcends our status as outsiders in this broken world.

God is unswervingly loving, faithful, and true to his word. He answers our cries for deliverance and empowers us in his name. His glory is worthy of praise from his children and their enemies alike. While it is important to grieve our lostness, it is even more powerful to praise God in the midst of our exile and worship despite it all. How will you turn your cries of out-of-placeness into songs of praise?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
But as for me, I am poor and needy; come to me speedily, O God. — Psalm 70.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 62 (Listen 2:09)
Psalms 137-138 (Listen 2:13)

This Weekend’s Readings
Isaiah 63 (Listen 3:25), Psalms 139 (Listen 2:26)
Isaiah 64 (Listen 2:01), Psalms 140-141 (Listen 2:44)

Read more about An Undefiled Heart
I’ve never heard of an “Ezekiel fast” but “Daniel fasts” have massive popularity…we’d prefer Daniel’s struggle to Ezekiel’s.

An Undefiled Heart

Read more about Resisting in Faith
Whatever we would resist, and whatever we would wish to change in our culture, we cannot do it using the worldly strategies that surround us.

Resisting in Faith

Tag: Psalm 138

The Sound of Glory — Love of Advent