Open-ended, Life-centred,
Gospel-Focussed Explorations of Australian Prayer Book Psalms.
Psalm 67...PENTECOST PLUS 14 (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] Notice how the focus widens from us (Israel) to them (the
nations as a whole) & ends with us again. 4] Next time a PS is used in church,
try (maybe silently?) changing from 3rd person to 1st or 2nd,
impersonal to personal, where appropriate, & note any difference it
makes to our 'talking with God'
.
WARMING UP: How widely are we focussed in what /
whom we think / act about?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1-2 Dowe ever wonder why in our worship, whether in psalms, hymns,
prayers, etc., we usually speak about God (as in
'Let God....") here when we could / (should?) be speaking more directly
to God( "God, be gracious to us....bless
us....") as the PSt does in vv 2-5 [See N.4]? Is there a gap here that
might mean we need to get a bit more directly involved with God? Do
'gracious', 'bless', 'make your face shine upon us' all mean roughly
the same thing? Is the variety used here simply poetic, or perhaps an
invitation to use language with more variety & richness when
speaking with God than we often do? Can we ever know, let alone make
known, God's ways, God's power except as God is gracious to us, blesses us,
etc., & we respond to all that? How widely do we understand these
& other gifts of God applying? As wide as the whole world, or on a
more restricted, defined basis?
3-7 How much does
it matter to us whether 'the peoples' praise God as long as we
ourselves do it? Does our attitude have any implications for
'missionary work'? Are there some 'peoples' we're more concerned about
than other 'peoples'? Do we detect much 'gladness & singing' in
today's world? Is there maybe a lot of singing but not much gladness?
If God 'judges the nations
with integrity & governs the nations' how come the world's in such
a mess? Is this of God's choosing or ours? God's doing or ours? Is it
simply because humans haven't taken up God's integrity, God's capacity
to act with integrity under any & all circumstances? Is it time for
those who govern the nations, including our own, & those of us who
are governed, to seek & apply God's integrity, & expect, even
demand it of each other?
Are any of today's issues
about the fruitfulness of the earth brought about by a lack of
integrity? Lack of good governance? Do we have any responsibility to
God to expect / demand / practise integrity for the earth's sake &
everybody's sake? When the earth isn't yielding its fruitfulness is
that a sign that apart from anything else, we're not being like God in
His integrity & creation's suffering as a result? Is there a 'Green
Gospel' that applies to all this? Can we experience blessing if
we don't include the creation along with all other applications of
Gospel?
Do some of the above issues
stem from the fact that many of us no longer stand in awe of God, let
alone fear God? Is that the real starting point for the issues the PSt
raises? Do we need to take more seriously that everything &
everybody is connected to everything & everybody else....God, us,
each other, the creation...?
PLUS: Does today's Gospel (MT
15: 21-28) connect in any way with the PSt's song?
