John Goldingay
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Appeal of the Lost Sheep
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Appeal of the Lost Sheep
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Appeal of the Lost Sheep Psalm 119:145-176 A Bedouin herdsman tells of how he was tending a flock of goats in the Judean wilderness near the Dead Sea. Before sleeping, the herdsmen would count their flocks, but for some reason this herdsman failed to do the count for two days…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Faithful Master
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Faithful Master
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Faithful Master Psalm 119:121-144 One of my former colleagues used to delight to talk about her first appointment with her boss. His opening words to her were “How can I serve you?” “What can I do for you?” “How can I help you do your job?” In a way the questions seem smarmy …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - I Can Be Wiser Than My Professor
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - I Can Be Wiser Than My Professor
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Can Be Wiser Than My Professor Psalm 119:97-120 After my class on the Prophets last night, we invited the students back to our home for scones and tea, and during the conversation one of them asked what I enjoyed most about teaching. My response was that I love sending people a…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Raising the Ceiling of Our Hope
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Raising the Ceiling of Our Hope
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Teach Me Psalm 119: 49-72 I’m grading student papers, and one effect that has on me (alongside making me want to commit suicide) is to make me puzzle over what it is that enables people to learn. There are people who have read the Scriptures with fresh eyes, seen things they had …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Teach Me
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Teach Me
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Teach Me Psalm 119: 49-72 I’m grading student papers, and one effect that has on me (alongside making me want to commit suicide) is to make me puzzle over what it is that enables people to learn. There are people who have read the Scriptures with fresh eyes, seen things they had …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Standing on the Promises
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Standing on the Promises
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Standing on the Promises Psalm 119: 25-48 Yesterday I got our congregation to write out their thanksgivings, uncertainties, and commitments for the coming year, in line with the plan I mentioned in connection with Psalm 105. Just before doing so, I realized that there was another…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - God’s Laws as the Way to Blessing
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - God’s Laws as the Way to Blessing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God’s Laws as the Way to Blessing Psalm 119: 1-24 After church today, a friend asked me a question that had arisen out of a conversation he’d had with a co-worker. My friend was surprised that the co-worker was willing to work seven days a week—what about the commandment concerni…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Say a Lot in a Few Words
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Say a Lot in a Few Words
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Say a Lot in a Few Words Psalm 117 & 118 I joined the faculty of my seminary in England at the time when it moved to a new campus in a different city, so the beginning of my first year was a big moment for the seminary, not just for me. As I walked onto the campus on that …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Reason to Believe
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Reason to Believe
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Reason to Believe Psalm 116 Last night I had dinner with a young man who is a faithful church worshiper. He has been so for most of his life, but he isn’t sure whether the worship in which he takes part is real in the sense of corresponding to the truth. As he put it, he isn’t su…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Trust or Control
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Trust or Control
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Trust or Control Psalm 115 Today I received a much-forwarded e-mail with a moving story about a woman showing a caring attitude to a homeless guy and his mentally challenged friend who showed up in a fast-food restaurant. The e-mail promised that if in turn I forward the e-mail t…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Being Open to the Unexpected
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Being Open to the Unexpected
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Being Open to the Unexpected Psalm 113-114 In commenting on Psalm 108, I spoke of a friend’s Pentecostal church that seemed to have no more expectation of God’s acting than evangelical or mainline churches do. But yesterday I sat in the ophthalmologist’s waiting room reading a…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Prosperity Gospel Redefined
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Prosperity Gospel Redefined
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Prosperity Gospel Redefined Psalm 112 My wife used to work for one of the most successful and wealthy people in the United States (this did not mean she brought a wonderful dowry into our marriage). Her job was to help him do something with his money, and the projects she was…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Yahweh’s Covenant and Our Covenant
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Yahweh’s Covenant and Our Covenant
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Yahweh’s Covenant and Our Covenant Psalm 111 I noted in connection with Psalm 105 that this Thanksgiving/ Advent we are suggesting to the people in our church that they think about what they have to thank God for over the past year and what they might make a covenant about for th…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Question of Power
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Question of Power
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Question of Power Psalm 110 My wife keeps going on about power. I don’t take it personally. Actually, it works in my favor, because her fixation lies with the way contemporary Western thinking is preoccupied by questions about who has power and about how power features in the r…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Deal with Being Swindled
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Deal with Being Swindled
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Deal with Being Swindled Psalm 109 This weekend we plan to go to a new movie about some of the victims of the financial meltdown in the first decade of this century. They are the staff of a high-end condo block who discover that the occupant of the penthouse has been engag…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - What to Do When God’s Promises Fail
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - What to Do When God’s Promises Fail
by SPCK - John Goldingay
What to Do When God’s Promises Fail Psalm 108 I was talking the other day with a friend who has been an associate pastor in a flourishing Pentecostal church for a year. He did not have a Pentecostal background, but this fact had not seemed to matter, because nothing very Pentecos…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Another Amen
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Another Amen
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Another Amen Psalm 106:48 Whereas the amen at the end of Book Three of the Psalter stands in contrast to Psalm 89 to which it is appended, this amen at the end of Book Four follows nicely on Psalm 106, though perhaps it issues a challenge in that it involves recognizing that our …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How Our Faithlessness Magnifies God’s Faithfulness