Open-ended, Life-centred,
Gospel-Focussed Explorations of Australian Prayer Book Psalms.
Psalm 119:129-136...PENTECOST PLUS 11 (A)
.... (For the
Gospel, please scroll)
INTRODUCTION: 1]The
alternative PSS
set for after
Pentecost are used here. 2]
Psalms
are poetry for singing;
personal, depending not on rhyme, but on developing an idea,
contrasting it, etc. They date from pre-1000 BC (David)
to mid 400s
BC. Being of their day, we may
find attitudes in some PSS abhorrent.
3] PS119, the longest PS, is an acrostic; each 8-line verse
begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The subject is largely the
wisdom of keeping God's Law.
4] In v.136, 'they' refers not
to eyes but to people.
WARMING UP: Whence do we
draw our wisdom?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
129-31 Is 'wonderful' a term that springs to mind
in describing God's commands? If we've ceased to wonder at them, have
we lost something pretty important from the way we understand things?
Is the fact that God's commands are 'wonderful' why we keep them? Do we
keep God's commands more with our soul as the PSt expects of us, or
with our mind? If the latter, is that where things go wrong?
Is God's word still 'unfolding' for us, or did it become fixed long
ago? Or boring, old hat, etc.? Is it our experience that we get more
light in & on our life as God's word unfolds more & more? If it
gives 'understanding' (wisdom?) to the simple & we don't have that,
might we have become too complicated for our own good? And God's? How
does the imagery of breathing in God & what God gives us sit with
us? Do we need more than physical deep-breathing exercises to keep us
fit? Fit for what? Fit for whom? Can we identify any 'spiritual
breathing exercises' we could benefit from?
132-4 Do we ever plead
with God to 'turn to us' in mercy? If we need to do that, might it
really be us who needs to turn? Can only those who 'love God's name'
experience mercy, or can anyone? If it's only the former, who draws
that line, & where? Have we become so used to being in charge of
our own lives that having anyone, even God, 'ordering my steps' is too
unpalatable for me to even contemplate? How, & when does 'evil get
the mastery over me'? Even when God is 'ordering my steps'? Who is it
that oppresses us these days? Is that more obvious in some countries
than others? What about where we live?
How oppressive do we find people & / or things? Has 'keeping God's
precepts' simply become too hard, too unpalatable, too inconvenient for
us?
135-6 Is letting
God's face 'shine upon us' a way of lightening up a bit we could take
to heart? How is it that 'light' crops up so constantly in the
Scriptures as a metaphor for God's relating to us? Why would the PSt
connect light with God's statutes / laws / precepts he keeps on about?
Might we need to make that same connection a bit more - & keep on
about it, too? Are we as deeply saddened by people's neglect of God's
law as the PSt is here? What about our being deeply saddened by our own
neglect? Do we tend more to get cross about others' neglect &
defensive of our own? In a nutshell, what does 'paying heed to God's
law' entail?
PLUS: How closely does
any of this sit with today's Gospel (MT 13:44-58)
