“Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever. ² Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord, or declare all his praise? ³ Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times. ⁴ Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you deliver them; ⁵ that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory in your heritage. Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.⁷ Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wonderful works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. ⁸ Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, so that he might make known his mighty power.⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert.¹⁰ So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.¹² Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.” Psalm 106:1-12

The early church’s use of the psalms was in keeping with what we might expect from the early church: the church used the Psalms both as liturgical materials in early Christian worship, and as a theological resource. Evidence for the first use is found in Paul’s advice to the Colossians, that they were to “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”  The book of Psalms is quoted and alluded to in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book. (The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IV) I think it is difficult for us to look at the Psalms as exclusively liturgical material for several reasons including the fact that there is often a reference to the traditional author of the Psalm and our attempts to place the words into context. Does it really matter, after all, if the psalm in question was written by David, or some other Old Testament character? I do not think it does. Whatever is determined by scholars about the authorship of the material, the psalms are a great source of liturgical poetry and words of meditation, and we should study them as often as possible.

Pastor Dave

“The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. ⁸ The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. ¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” ¹⁶ Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, “Tell this to James and to the believers.” Then he left and went to another place.” Acts 12:6-17

I love the response of Rhoda – she hears Peter’s voice and is so overjoyed to hear him that she runs to tell the others forgetting to open the door for Peter. Did you ever get so surprised by something or someone you just forgot how to react?   Sometimes we have a reaction to an experience, or a person, or an encounter, or even the Word of G-d made manifest in our lives through Jesus Christ where we lose ourselves in sheer joy. We often get to experience the sheer joy of a child who, without any hint of what is to come, gets surprised by their parent who is returning from a deployment overseas in one of our branches of the military. The sheer joy of seeing their parent after such a long period of separation is almost hard to endure for us, let alone for the child.

What has given you great joy this week?  How has G-d touched you or surprised you or come to you in the most unexpected way this week? We must always be aware of the presence of G-d, for G-d will surprise us as well – often when we least expect it.

Pastor Dave