Category: Psalms

Readings for Sunday March 8

 Due to the power outage today’s post is a little later in the day than usual, but the power’s on again (!) and here it is. 

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Exodus 20:1-17

1   Then God spoke all these words:

2   I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.

4   You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7   You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8   Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

12   Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13   You shall not murder.

14   You shall not commit adultery.

15   You shall not steal.

16   You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
17   You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Psalm 19

 To the leader. A Psalm of David.


1 The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.

7    The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.

11    Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

14    Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

John 2:13-22

13   The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

An update, a preview and an invitation…

BirdsFirst, the ‘Update‘:  I’m pretty excited that, as bonus for this blogging project, I’ve added an new bit of hardware— a new ATR2005 USB microphone for voice recording. (Hurray!!)

This device makes a huge difference to the quality of sound, so its something to look forward to if you enjoy listening to the readings. For the readings I posted yesterday, I was using a tiny iPhone microphone, so next week you’ll notice the difference.

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Meanwhile…  here’s a ‘Preview‘ and  an Invitation: The Preview is a reading using the new microphone (below) which also serves as a  preview of something I’m going to invite you to work on with me during the six weeks of Lent— Psalm 145  ( hence ‘The Invitation‘).  This Psalm of thanksgiving offers a way of committing to an additional daily practise as part of Lenten devotions.  I’ll post more about this when Lent begins next week on Ash Wednesday (February 18th). Meanwhile here’s the psalm, and an audio preview using the new microphone. (!)

Psalm 145

A Psalm of Praise: of David

1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.

4    One generation shall laud your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendour of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8    The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.

10    All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The LORD is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.
14 The LORD upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is just in all his ways,
and kind in all his doings.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
he also hears their cry, and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

21    My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Launching out… a first post…

oars dripping patterns on waterHere we are on January 26 when I promised I’d launch this blogsite. Today’s blog is a bit of an experiment and I’m wanting to make sure everything (especially the audio snippets) are working properly. So please let me know (in the comments section — thanks.)

As a first post then, I’m making a suggestion about a portion of the lectionary that is fairly rarely the subject of sermons, in fact in many churches its sung and we might forget the Psalms are actually an integral part of the Scriptures given for our learning and growing in faith.

With that pre-amble, here we go! Watch for further posts as I get things up and running this week.

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A suggestion for this week: The Psalm

Psalm 111 is short which lends itself to daily reflection on the psalm as a whole (rather than just one verse or segment). Reciting it daily,  letting its words really sink in—notice how repetition leads to shifts in emphasis and to ‘hearing’ the words differently each time.

In your journal or notebook, you might find yourself wanting to note some of the things that particularly strike you. Writing things down whether on your computer or on paper helps the thinking process.

You can listen to Psalm 111 here. *Note that this is the NIV version (New International Version). In future I will be reading from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.