“A woman playing a psalterion,” an instrument used to accompany psalms…
This feature focuses on next Sunday’s psalm, and on highlights from the psalms in the Daily Office Readings (DORs) in the week leading up to that upcoming Sunday. The general plan is to review next Sunday’s readings on the Wednesday before, and to review the psalms from the DORs for the week ending on the Tuesday just before that “prior Wednesday.”
The Lectionary Page psalm for Sunday, October 12, is Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23. The highlighted DOR psalms are from the readings for Wednesday October 1 up to Tuesday October 7.
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 will be discussed below, but here are some highlights from last week.
The DORs for Thursday, October 2 included Psalm 105 – a psalm I covered in On the readings for August 31- Part II. That post in turn covered the so-called Curse of Ham – Wikipedia:
[I]n later centuries, the narrative was interpreted by some Jews, Christians and Muslims as a curse of, and an explanation for, black skin, as well as slavery.
But – as I also noted – a strict interpretation of the plain meaning of the Bible would mean “all those years it should have been Egyptians working in those cotton fields.”
The Daily Office Readings for Tuesday, October 7, included Psalm 127:4-6
Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
This passage from Psalm 127 gave rise to Quiverfull, a movement among some conservative Protestant couples, promoting child-bearing and seeing “children as a blessing from God.” Its followers eschew “all forms of birth control, including natural family planning and sterilization,” and are sometimes known simply as “QF Christians.” See Quiverfull – Wikipedia. That movement in turn came under the heading “of taking the Bible too literally, not to mention ‘out of context,'” in the prior post On snake-handling, Fundamentalism and suicide – Part I, which added this:
Further information on the “Quiverfull Movement” can be found at sites including Quiverfull – Wikipedia[;] What Is Quiverfull? [;] 5 Insane Lessons from My Christian Fundamentalist Childhood …; and/or QuiverFull .com :: Psalm 127:3-5.
The DORs for Saturday, October 4 included Psalm 33:12, as shown in the image below. As to Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23, the one for this upcoming Sunday, here’s what one website said:
This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah – “Praise ye the Lord.” The space between these two descriptions of praise is filled up with the mournful details of Israel’s sin, and the extraordinary patience of God… It is, in fact, a national confession, and includes an acknowledgment of the transgressions of Israel in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan, with devout petitions for forgiveness.
See Psalm 106: Commentary – The Treasury of David. But as always, there is a key point to remember, in this case from verse 1: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever.” Or as noted in the “Commentary” above:
While we are studying this holy Psalm, let us all along see ourselves in the Lord’s ancient people, and bemoan our own provocations of the Most High, at the same time admiring his infinite patience, and adoring him because of it.
The upper image is courtesy of Psaltery – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the full caption: “A woman playing a psalterion. Ancient Greek red-figured pelike from Anzi, Apulia, circa 320–310 BCE.”
The lower image is courtesy of, and/or may be seen at, www.thefellowshipsite.org/psalm-3312.html.
There’s not a whole lot more you can add to that…