Rev Chris Roth

Psalm 100 A.J. Jacob’s wrote a book called “A Year of Living Biblically”. The book is about an experiment he did over the course of a year. What he tried to do was to live according the Bible for a year, as literally as possible. Specifically, the Old Testament. He did things like grew a long beard, and refused to wear clothing made of mixed fibers. … He describes some interesting encounters with people. He described what he was doing to one man, who then responded “Well, I’m an adulterer. Are you going to stone me?” to which Jacobs responded, “That would be great!” He then pulled out some small pebbles from his pocket and began throwing them at the man. Apparently, the Bible didn’t say the size of the stones that were to be used. …. He made it very much about following the rules and prohibitions- the 613 mitzvot. Jacobs was an agnostic, though he was Jewish by family background, but he grew up in a very secular family. He says one reason for the project was to poke fun at “fun...

Psalm 137 Today we are looking at Psalm 137. If you were here a few weeks ago, we were dealing with the Imprecatory Psalms and we mentioned the last line of today’s psalm as an example.  “Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!”  For those who weren’t here, it might help to give a brief overview of what we said that day. The Imprecatory Psalms are a group of psalms that invoke judgement, or curses on enemies. They are really uncomfortable parts of the Bible. We have been taught to be polite in our speech. We have been taught to love our enemies. We have been taught to at least not say nasty things about our enemies. We have especially been taught not to threaten our enemies with violence. … We also think as individuals, not in terms of tribes, so we would never threaten the children of an enemy. So, these parts of the Bible are very uncomfortable and difficult to deal with. First, we will look at the historical context that th...

Psalm 91   Psalm 91 is one of the more famous Psalms. It is one of the recommended Psalms to use for the Compline service in the Book of Common Prayer , which is the service prayed just before bed. Going to sleep at night in the Book of Common Prayer is a bit like practicing for death. It is a time to trust yourself to God in the midst of darkness and the loss of consciousness. Psalm 91 is a call to trust in God as your protector- “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’. For he will deliver you…”. The Psalm goes on to describe this protection- “3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence”. These are both hidden dangers. A fowler is someone who catches birds. The fowler’s snare is a trap that is hidden to the birds that are caught by it. Likewise, you don’t see a disease coming until people start getting sick. There are a lot of images used- “4 He will cover you with his pinions, an...

Psalm 79  Bible scholars call Psalm 79 an Imprecatory Psalm. The Imprecatory Psalms are a group of psalms that invoke judgement, or curses on enemies. They are among the more uncomfortable and difficult to process. I’ll read a few examples for you.  From today’s Psalm 79:6-7 - Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. From Psalm 109:8-9, 17-18 - May his days be few may another take his office! May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him! He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body l...

Psalm 14; Luke 15:1-10 Our psalm starts by saying, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’”. We have to look at this a bit closer because on the surface it seems to say that atheists are not intelligent, which we know is not the case. There are many intelligent atheists, just as we know there are many intelligent believers. Richard Dawkins is a brilliant biologist and an atheist. Francis Collins led the human genome project and is a Christian. One such intelligent atheist was the German Fedrick Nietzsche who lived from 1844 to 1900. He was skilled in many areas, but he is primarily remembered as a philosopher. He once wrote a kind of parable called ‘The Madman’ and I would like to read a bit of it for you. “Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: ‘I seek God! I seek God!’--As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. H...

Psalm 139 The Psalm we are looking at today is Psalm 139. This is one of the most loved psalms. We turn to it when we need God’s comfort, and it is often requested for funerals. It is a Psalm that highlights God’s constant attention, and His persistent presence. The Psalm begins, “1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.” The Psalmist (maybe King David) is contemplating God’s attention on his life. His knows if he is sitting, or standing, or laying down. … Not only does God know the physical outward actions of the psalmist, God also knows his inward movements. God is aware of all his thoughts and every word before it is spoken. … It’s hard to imagine being more intimately known than this. This might be comforting, but it migh...

Psalm 81 Our Psalm today is Psalm 81. It begins with an exhortation to sing and shout for joy to God and play musical instruments as a part of a feast day. What the ancient Israelites didn’t seem to forget in their writtings, but we often seem to, is that when we worship, we are doing this for God. We come to God with our voices and instruments and we aren’t singing for our own pleasure, but for God’s. So, when we think, “oh, I like this song” or “oh, I don’t like this song” we should really be asking is, “is this a song appropriate for worshiping God?”. And what is probably even more important is, “is my inner attitude at worship pleasing to God?” The psalmist reminds the people that they have been commanded to joyfully celebrate the feast days. He says it is a “statute”, a “rule”, and a “decree” which was given to them when they were rescued from slavery in Egypt. In Hebrew poetry repetition is a way of giving emphasis. For our psalm to say, “statute”, “rule”, and “decre...