Psalms of Ascents
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Psalm Structures Old and New Part 1
Part one of his three-part exploration reflects on the challenge of discerning structure within the Psalter. It then explores the spiritual significance of two very different structures that have been found within the Psalms. For much of Church history various scholars, lay people, clergy, religious, and theologians have been obsessed with the structure of Psalter… Continue reading
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The Seven Penitential Psalms
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the biblical psalms will have wondered at how they might be grouped together. It is a natural desire to organise and describe any collection of things into categories. Even if we ignore this scientific desire, or tendency towards neatness and order, who has not wished for a psalm… Continue reading
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Z is for Zion
Journey’s End Zion is journey’s end. This is true for this A to Z project but also true for pilgrims of old who equated Zion with Jerusalem. It is also true today for pilgrims of a different sort who see life as ‘the life of faith’. For such modern day pilgrims, Zion is where God… Continue reading
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Journeying through the Psalms
This weekend I planned some teaching on The Book of Psalms for a staff and postgraduate Christian fellowship lunchtime meeting at the University of Surrey—this is my place of work. I have realised that the handout I have prepared is self-contained enough to be useful for a wider audience and so have lightly adapted it… Continue reading
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The Journey Motif in Life, Art and Scripture
Introduction Human beings have, since prehistory, attempted to explain life as a journey. In a physical sense life is a journey from the helplessness we display at birth to the lifelessness of death. The physical nature of ‘the end’ is all too tangible. Science can probe it and concludes it is indeed journey’s end. Many… Continue reading
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The Psalms of Ascents: Latest Psalmtweets
These Psalmtweets try and capture something of the essence of the 15 Psalms of Ascents (120-134). The purpose of these tweets is to draw attention to the actual psalms, not to circumvent them. Psalm 120: I sojourn in a strange land. Living, breathing, but not at home. I journey to a new place. Yahweh, you… Continue reading
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A Psalm for the 9th Anniversary of New Life Baptist Church
Today is the 9th anniversary of the constitution of the church where I am a member. The following psalm is a Midrash of parts of the Psalms of Ascent which have had a special significance to us over the past few weeks and months. The psalm was used to close our celebration service this morning.… Continue reading
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My Favourite Psalms of Ascent Tweets
Pause: The Songs of Ascents (psalms 120-134) are pilgrimage songs. Why not make your own 15 day ‘pilgrimage’ with them? Psalm 120: The Life of Faith is often opposed by lying lips. It is the way of peace in the midst of hostility. Psalm 121: Yahweh is with us on our pilgrimage. Look to him… Continue reading
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‘Psalms – New Cambridge Bible Commentary’, by Walter Brueggemann and William H. Bellinger, Jr.
Walter Brueggemann and William H. Bellinger, Psalms, New Cambridge Bible Commentary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2014). Opening Remarks It has seemed like a long wait for this commentary. Both authors have a strong track record with Psalms scholarship. Walter Brueggemann’s contribution to Psalms scholarship, in particular, is immense. He famously initiated little less than a… Continue reading
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Psalms of Ascents as a Devotional Pilgrimage
There are times in the Life of Faith when, for a variety of reasons, our walk with God, and the associated discipline of reading Scripture, becomes a struggle. Once in this situation it can be difficult to find a way out of this bad routine. My personal reading through the Psalms of Ascents recently has… Continue reading
About Me
This blog’s central aim is to explore all aspects of how the Psalter (the biblical psalms) functions as Scripture today.
To this end it will also include book reviews on the Book of Psalms and related topics.
Some posts will reflect more broadly on biblical interpretation or hermeneutics.
If you like what you see here and want to arrange for me to give a lecture, run a teaching event or a short retreat based around The Psalms then contact me so we can discuss how this might work.
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