Difference between revisions of "Sermon for June 23rd, 2024"

Revision as of 16:56, 22 June 2024

Psalm 144:1-15 (OT p.580)

Of David. 1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 2 my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me.

3 O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them? 4 They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.

5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke. 6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them. 7 Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens, 8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.

9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, 10 the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David. 11 Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.

12 May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. 13 May our barns be filled with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, 14 and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.

15 Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Psummer of Psalms VII - Psalm 144

Psalm 144, in the NRSV translation, mentions aliens in verse 7 and verse 11. So I’m reminded of the story about the time when aliens decided to finally visit planet Earth…They came in peace and surprisingly, they speak English. So, all of world’s leaders set up a meeting with our new visitors. The Pope is at the meeting, representing the world’s Christian religions. When it's the Pope's turn, he asks "Do you know about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?" “Oh, you mean good old JC? Yeah, we know him! He's the best, isn't he? He swings by our planet every year to make sure that we are doing okay. He brings us all sorts of good things, and he always makes sure that we never have any earthquakes, diseases or natural disasters.” Surprised, the pope says, "He visits you every year? It's been over 2,000 years and we're still waiting for his SECOND coming!" The alien gets quiet and says, “Well, maybe he just likes our chocolate better than yours?" The pope retorts "Chocolates? What does that have to do with anything?" The alien says "Well, when he first visited our planet we welcomed him, had a great time, and when it was time for him to go, we gave him a huge box of chocolates! Why? What did you guys do?"

So that joke doesn’t *really* have too much to do with today’s scripture passage…the aliens in verses 7 and 11 are not that kind. The two Hebrew words translated by the NRSV as “aliens” נֵכָֽר בְּנֵ֣י (bene nekar) literally mean “strange children” (which is funny enough on its own) or more likely the “sons of foreigners.” But today’s Psalm does touch on some pretty difficult and sensitive issues, so I wanted to at least start off on a lighter note before we jump into the heavy stuff.

I also need to give some historical context to the Psalm, and so this is a good time to remind us that most psalms are prayers.