SPCK
Psalms for Everyone - Trusting God with Your Anger
Psalms for Everyone - Trusting God with Your Anger
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Trusting God with Your Anger Psalm 68: 19-35 In a day or two I am to lecture on the Psalms and our spirituality, and I shall talk about the way psalms are designed to feed and shape our praise, prayer, and thanksgiving. Last night as I was finalizing the lecture, I realized I had…
Psalms for Everyone - Passion Means Persecution
Psalms for Everyone - Passion Means Persecution
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Passion Means Persecution Psalm 68: 1-18 I dreamed last night that I was being taken to court for preaching. The question “If you were prosecuted for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” is a cliché, but it’s a clever and thought-provoking one. When …
Psalms for Everyone - Neither Militarist nor Pacifist
Psalms for Everyone - Neither Militarist nor Pacifist
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Neither Militarist nor Pacifist Psalm 68: 19-35 On the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I read an article by a Pakistani titled “Why Do They Hate Us So Much?” It picked up a question people in the United States asked after those attacks but reversed it in light of convict…
Psalms for Everyone - Father of the Fatherless, Protector of the Widow
Psalms for Everyone - Father of the Fatherless, Protector of the Widow
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Father of the fatherless, Protector of the Widow Psalm 68: 1-18 In conversations with people who have inquired about getting married or having children baptized in our church, I have been struck anew by how many are children without fathers or mothers without husbands. I think of…
Psalms for Everyone - Bless Us, and Enable Other People to see for Themselves
Psalms for Everyone - Bless Us, and Enable Other People to see for Themselves
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Bless Us, and Enable Other Peoples to See for Themselves Psalm 67 “God bless America.” The fact that this weekend has been characterized by commemorations of September 11 has made that plea once more resound. Now, the Old Testament is inclined to make a distinction between blessi…
Psalms for Everyone - When You Feel Vulnerable and Threatened
Psalms for Everyone - When You Feel Vulnerable and Threatened
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When You Feel Vulnerable and Threatened Psalm 66 Today is the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States. For some reason it has reminded me of the first time I visited the United States, during the first Gulf War in 1990. The plane was half empty, which seemed …
Psalms for Everyone - The God of Atonement and the God of the Harvest
Psalms for Everyone - The God of Atonement and the God of the Harvest
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The God of Atonement and the God of the Harvest Psalm 65 A lively but respectable-looking student was telling me her life story. She had reacted against a Christian upbringing while she was at college and (among other things) had become involved with drugs and with a guy who was …
Psalms for Everyone - When the Knock Comes to Your Door
Psalms for Everyone - When the Knock Comes to Your Door
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When the Knock Comes to Your Door Psalm 64 I was just checking the U.S. State Department’s current travel warnings, a list of places where “long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable lead the State Department to recommend that Americans avoid or co…
Psalms for Everyone - The God Present in Jerusalem Is Also Present in the Wilderness
Psalms for Everyone - The God Present in Jerusalem Is Also Present in the Wilderness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The God Present in Jerusalem Is Also Present in the Wilderness Psalm 63 When I came to the United States, I didn’t know that Jesus is a common Hispanic name, nor did I know that Jesus is pronounced “Heysus” in Spanish, which reduces the confusion. The difference in pronunciation …
Psalms for Everyone - Silence toward God
Psalms for Everyone - Silence toward God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Silence toward God Psalm 62 A friend of mine has gone on a month’s silent retreat (he is answering e-mails, which seems a bit like cheating, but then maybe so is reading or listening to talks). He needs to know what is to be the next stage in his life and his service of God, and …
Psalms for Everyone - How to Pray with Your Leader
Psalms for Everyone - How to Pray with Your Leader
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Pray with Your Leader Psalm 61 During a recent presidential election, a spoof organization called the American Institute of Mentality published the findings of a research project on the question “Why would anyone run for president?” Their conclusion was that presidential c…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Deal with Unfulfilled Promises
Psalms for Everyone - How to Deal with Unfulfilled Promises
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Deal with Unfulfilled Promises Psalm 60 Yesterday in church the Gospel reading from Matthew 18 included Jesus’ promise that where two people agree on anything, our heavenly Father will do it for them. Yet lots of people have the experience of God’s not doing something that…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Be Immoderate
Psalms for Everyone - How to Be Immoderate
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Be Immoderate Psalm 59 People just down our street are incensed. There’s an affordable housing project whose residents are incensed because it has become a base for drug dealers and a locus of conflicts between local gangs. City officials and city police are incensed becau…
Psalms for Everyone - A Challenge to the Principalities and Powers
Psalms for Everyone - A Challenge to the Principalities and Powers
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Challenge to the Principalities and Powers Psalm 58 A New Year event called the Rose Parade passes our house, and this year the organizers were in a state of panic about possible demonstrations designed to disturb it and make waves on TV. Here as in European cities and a number…
Psalms for Everyone - Remembering Makes All the Difference
Psalms for Everyone - Remembering Makes All the Difference
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Remembering Makes All the Difference Psalm 57 I’ve been thinking about memory. As a result of a comment by a student, I found myself reflecting on the fact that we don’t think much about the link between memory and our life with God—our ethics and our spirituality—though there ar…
Psalms for Everyone - I Whistle a Happy Tune
Psalms for Everyone - I Whistle a Happy Tune
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Whistle a Happy Tune Psalm 56 During the past few days people on the East Coast of the United States have been living through Hurricane Irene, which the media report to be among the top ten most costly disasters in U.S. history. As the Rock River rose on Sunday morning in Willi…
Psalms for Everyone - Throwing Things onto God
Psalms for Everyone - Throwing Things onto God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Throwing Things onto God Psalm 55 A therapist friend of mine has described to me the process she goes through after spending a day listening to clients, who unburden themselves of their hurts, sufferings, and sins. It seems that these burdens have to go somewhere, a little like t…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Stand Tall-II