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Like many psalms of praise, Psalm 98 begins with an imperative “call to praise” followed by a “reason to praise” introduced by the Hebrew word ki, “for.”1 Here is my translation of 98:1-3: Sing to (...)

If I were tasked with introducing God as our visiting lecturer, I would use this psalm.1 Psalm 111 summarizes God’s “position,” accomplishments, and attributes. It even identifies a personal connection between the one offering the (...)

This Psalm is for the asylum seeker, those who seek refuge from adversaries, those who yearn for security and stability.1 Dare I say that this Psalm is for us all especially now? The Psalmist’s experience (...)

The homiletical possibilities for Psalm 139 are numerous and varied, ranging from satisfying to complex to potentially problematic.1 Satisfying My nephew was born on the day I started working on this commentary. When the picture (...)

The biblical texts for the second week of Advent are Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, 2 Peter 3:8-15a, and Mark 1:1-8.1 The prophetic voice in Isaiah confidently claims an end to exile as the “Lord (...)

Psalm 95 is a bit unusual in that it is a hymn of praise that includes a prophetic warning, as do Psalms 50 and 81.1 The psalm’s combination of a double call to worship (the (...)

“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”—the hymn, which according to Ulrich Leupold, “more than any other epitomizes Luther’s thought and personal experience”—is a rather free paraphrase of Psalm 46.1 For that reason, the psalm is (...)

As the twice-repeated refrain (verses 3, 5) indicates, Psalm 67 is a song meant for public worship.1 We can imagine a worship leader or choir singing the body of the psalm, with the congregation or (...)

Although the central section of this psalm is comprised of hymnic praise of God, the psalm as a whole suggests that the prayer exemplifies what Walter Brueggemann categorized as psalms of reorientation.1 Psalms of reorientation (...)

God’s work is messy business. Perhaps this messiness is part of the appeal of the royal succession narratives in the opening chapters of 2 Samuel. The story reaches a crucial point with the initial establishment (...)