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Good Friday
My father, my father, why have you forsaken me? A cry of dereliction from parched lips. Real words unspoken yet perfectly formed, through Knotted stomach and coughed up bile. So can time heal this pain and this fear? Utter rejection—can it found some greater purpose? Entering something new by painful paradigm shift? Not a path… Continue reading
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L is for Lamentations
A reader new to the Hebrew Bible might well be puzzled by just how much of its content seems to rail against God. The prophet Jeremiah and the book of Job are riddled with cries to God from a place of anger. The Book of Psalms which has provided a template for Jewish and Christian… Continue reading
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K is for King David
K is for King David This post will take some lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s legendary song Hallelujah as its framework. The second verse of Hallelujah reflects on an infamous scene of adultery: Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you She… Continue reading
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J is for Judah
We met Judah a few posts ago as the 4th Son of Jacob. The sons of Jacob are the founders of the tribes of Israel. Despite being the 4th son of Jacob, Judah founded the tribe that ultimately gave its name to the people of God at the end of the story of the Hebrew… Continue reading
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I is for Israel
Introducing Israel The use of the word Israel is complicated in the Hebrew Bible because its meaning varies throughout the unfolding story that this collection of texts narrates. This post will briefly consider four key meanings of the term Israel. The next post returns to some specific issues mentioned in this post in a little… Continue reading
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H is for Hebrew Bible
The term Hebrew Bible denotes a collection of texts. These are the same texts that comprise the Old Testament recognised by Protestants as Scripture. The Hebrew Bible is however meaningfully distinct from the Old Testament in two ways. Firstly, the title Hebrew Bible is necessary because the designation Old Testament is unhelpfully loaded for Jews.… Continue reading
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Palm Sunday: selah #2
Psalm 118:20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. (NRSV) This verse referred to the city gate of Jerusalem when this psalm was written and used in festivals. By the time of Jesus such festivals had been taking place for hundreds of years. Jesus was going to Jerusalem… Continue reading
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Palm Sunday: selah #1
Psalm 118:5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. (NRSV) The Bible is all about the relationship between God and people. Each one of us has a relationship with the living God—the one referred to as Yah in this particular verse.… Continue reading
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G is for Genesis 12–50
We have already met the opening three chapters of the book of Genesis in the earlier posts on Creation and Fall. The book of Genesis falls into two unequal halves. Chapter 12 initiates a new turn of events in the book as it follows on from the flood narrative. Up to this point Genesis reads… Continue reading
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F is for Fall
Right on the heels of the two creation accounts in Genesis 1–2 there follows the story of what is often termed ‘The Fall’. This familiar story of the Garden of Eden, Adam, Eve and the serpent poses an interpretive challenge. Just as with the Creation accounts, translating Genesis 3 into straightforward propositional truth tends to… 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.
PsalterMark 