Notes & Reflections for Next Week’s Readings

Bible in Time 2016
Notes & Reflections for Next Week’s Readings
Book of Common Prayer - Daily Office Lectionary

Easter 3: April 10 - 16, 2016

Psalms 148, 25, 26, 38, 37, 105, 30
Literary Types | Click here | Created by Barbara Klugh

Psalm 148 | Hymn
The third of hymns that acts as an ending in praise for the Book of Psalms; “to praise” is said 12 times; “Lord” 4 times; “the name of the Lord” 3 times; God is exalted above the whole earth.

Psalm 25 | Individual Lament
Prayer of guidance and forgiveness; the first section and the third section deals with the individual; the second speaks of God in the third person; seeking divine guidance.

Psalm 26 | Individual Lament
Pleading for salvation and declares righteousness; suggest sacred processions; For your name sake, pardon my guilt; save me.

Psalm 38 | Individual Lament
Confession of sin and seeking forgiveness; the pleader is in anguish; lists many signs of submission and a contrite heart; the individual feels lost without God.

Psalm 37 | Wisdom
Give me courage, give me endurance against the wicked; may the wicked pay and the righteous be rewarded; commit your way to the Lord, trust in God, and the Lord will act.

Psalm 105 | Hymn
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon God’s name; thanks for the guidance; Canaan is a sign of God’s generosity and fidelity; it is an invitation to praise the Lord!; God takes care of everyone’s needs particularly his chosen; the psalmist reviews the salvation history to date.

Psalm 30 | Individual Thanksgiving
I have been delivered!; the language of death and recovery is salvation; interesting dialogue about who will praise the Lord if the psalmist is thrown into the pit or dies; you have turned my mourning into dancing!

First Readings

Exodus 18, 19, 20, 24, 25

We continue on the journey of the wilderness wanderings where the ways of the Lord try to become the ways of the people; the meeting with Jethro continues who solves an organizational crisis; they come to the mountain; the Lord talks with Moses, he tells the people, the people say they are going to obey; the Lord will appear to the people; the Ten Commandments are given;[the skip between chapter 21 - 23 shows a bunch of community laws]; Following that the Sinai story continues; the Lord appears to the 70 elders; instructions on building a tabernacle.

New Oxford Annotated Bible has interesting chart on page 110 on how the faith communities number the commandments

Second Readings

1 John, Colossians

Background on 1 John - click here

Background on Colossians - click here

Gospel

Mark 16, Matthew 3, 4

Mark 16:9-20 according to scholars where two different endings to cleaning the dangling story of the resurrection and are different in style and understanding of Jesus. The great commission and telling the disciples to go are added at a later time maybe as late as the 4th Century a.d.

Matthew 6 -7 continues Matthew’s account of Sermon on the Mountain dealing with lifestyle and how to treat others in the context of forgiveness, prayer, don’t judge, righteousness, walk the way, enter the narrow gate; have your foundation built on the rock that is Jesus Christ in living with God.

Sources

Source | New Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th ed. | Notes in Psalms  by Richard J. Clifford | Oxford Press | © 2010

Source | Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 2nd Ed. | John J. Collins | Fortress | © 2014

Source | Introducing the New Testament | Mark Allen Powell | Baker Books (Pure Michigan) | © 2009

10  April 2016 a.d. - Cornelius, Oregon, USA