SPCK
Psalms for Everyone - The Lowly Will Inherit the Land
Psalms for Everyone - The Lowly Will Inherit the Land
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Lowly Will Inherit the Earth Psalm 37: 1-20 The day before yesterday, in a demonstration that turned violent, the police station a quarter of a mile from where I lived as a child in Birmingham, England, and a quarter of a mile from my church there, was set on fire. One has a …
Psalms for Everyone - On Living in Two Different Worlds
Psalms for Everyone - On Living in Two Different Worlds
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Living in Two Different Worlds Psalm 36 The governor of Texas recently held a prayer rally that aroused the ire of people who believed he was transgressing the boundary between church and state, and it also aroused the fascinated incomprehension of commentators. One remarked t…
Psalms for Everyone - They Hated Me without a Reason; They Will Treat You the Same
Psalms for Everyone - They Hated Me without a Reason; They Will Treat You the Same
by SPCK - John Goldingay
They Hated Me Without a Reason; They Will Treat You the Same Psalm 35 It’s amusing that many of the nastier parts of the Old Testament don’t seem to raise a problem for Jesus in the way they raise a problem for Western people; it helps us see that our niceness has nothing to do w…
Psalms for Everyone - I Will Survive
Psalms for Everyone - I Will Survive
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Will Survive Psalm 34 Our preacher yesterday told us how two years ago she had married a man who was soon abusing her. So after a short while she had to decide to leave him, though it was enough time for her to be pregnant. Thus she soon found herself divorced, jobless, and a s…
Psalms for Everyone - God's Commitment Fills the Earth
Psalms for Everyone - God's Commitment Fills the Earth
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God’s Commitment Fills the Earth Psalm 33 Yesterday we went to the beach. It was a foolish venture because it was an August Saturday; I forgot that everyone else would have the same idea and that the parking would be impossible, but in the late afternoon we finally sat on the san…
Psalms for Everyone - Love Covers a Multitude of Sins
Psalms for Everyone - Love Covers a Multitude of Sins
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Love Covers a Multitude of Sins Psalm 32 Yesterday a federal court found six police officers guilty of shooting six citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. My wife and I were reflecting about how the rest of us can’t simply dissociate ourselves from an event such as the s…
Psalms for Everyone - They're Trying to Wash Us Away
Psalms for Everyone - They're Trying to Wash Us Away
by SPCK - John Goldingay
They’re Trying to Wash Us Away Psalm 31 Last night we went to a concert by the great honky-tonk/blues singer Marcia Ball, who grew up in Louisiana. Her closing song was Randy Newman’s unbearably moving “Louisiana.” The song describes how the Mississippi River rose all day and all…
Psalms for Everyone - Answer to Prayer Phase Two
Psalms for Everyone - Answer to Prayer Phase Two
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Answer to Prayer Phase Two Psalm 30 In connection with Psalm 16, I have mentioned how a few months ago I met, fell in love with, and proposed to someone, then discovered I had prostate cancer and arranged to have surgery. We had a very moving prayer time in church, and I knew God…
Psalms for Everyone - Who Is Really God (and Do you Treat Him as Such?)
Psalms for Everyone - Who Is Really God (and Do you Treat Him as Such?)
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Who Is Really God (and Do You Treat Him as Such)? Psalm 29 Without being fully aware of what she was doing, on the eve of her daughter’s wedding my innocent, soon-to-be wife agreed with her prospective son-in-law’s mother (who was the matriarch of a large, Mexican, Roman Catholic…
Psalms for Everyone - Our Handiwork and God's
Psalms for Everyone - Our Handiwork and God's
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Our handiwork and God’s Psalm 28 In the news last weekend was a story about an unemployed and deep-in-debt hairdresser in his forties who went to a “Money Cometh to You” conference at a church in Vermont to listen to a visiting preacher who promised that the Lord could not only s…
Psalms for Everyone - One Thing
Psalms for Everyone - One Thing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
One Thing Psalm 27 Soon after I came to the United States, I attended an inaugural lecture by a man who (we were told) was a full-time pastor and a half-time professor. I laughed because I assumed it was a joke—how could you be a full-time this and a half-time that? (He also told…
Psalms for Everyone - I Wash My Hands in Innocence
Psalms for Everyone - I Wash My Hands in Innocence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Wash My Hands in Innocence Psalm 26 In the Episcopal church, when we move from the first part of a service, which focuses on the reading of Scripture, to the celebration of communion, someone pours a little water over my hands as the priest and I say some words from Psalm 26: “…
Psalms for Everyone - I Can't Wait
Psalms for Everyone - I Can't Wait
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I Can’t Wait Psalm 25 “We can’t wait till you come to see us next year,” a friend in the Philippines said. “I can’t wait till the concert on Saturday,” a singer-songwriter said. “We can’t wait to meet your new wife,” a friend said. “I can’t wait for Christmas,” another friend sai…
Psalms for Everyone - Will God Let You In? Will God Let You In?
Psalms for Everyone - Will God Let You In? Will God Let You In?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Will God Let You In? Will God Let You In? Psalm 24 Five days before the Egyptian army crossed the Suez Canal in September 1973, aiming to recapture Sinai from Israel, I was in Sinai climbing what in Arabic is called “Mount Moses,” the mountain traditionally regarded as Mount Sina…
Psalms for Everyone - In the Dark of the Canyon
Psalms for Everyone - In the Dark of the Canyon
by SPCK - John Goldingay
In the Dark of the Canyon Psalm 23 In the foothills of the mountains near where we live is a retreat center where we have a faculty gathering each fall. Two years ago a new director at the center gave us some advice we had not been given before. If we met a bear on the grounds, w…
Psalms for Everyone - On Facing Two Sets of Facts
Psalms for Everyone - On Facing Two Sets of Facts
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Facing Two Sets of Facts Psalm 22: 19-31 Two friends of ours were giving us an amusing account of a difference they had discerned between the way they approach problems in their relationship and in other aspects of life. It was amusing yet also serious and profound. When there…
Psalms for Everyone - My God, My God, Why?
Psalms for Everyone - My God, My God, Why?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
My God, My God, Why? Psalm 22: 1-18 Each Palm Sunday as part of our church’s worship we read the story of Jesus’ trial and execution, with members of the congregation taking different parts. There are a number of frightening moments in the story. Particularly sickening is the poi…
Psalms for Everyone - Being Blesses and Being a Blessing