Greetings!

Welcome to Chelsey D. Hillyer's Psalm Journal for the Fall 2013 Book of Psalms class at Eden Theological Seminary! If you are visiting this page, you are likely one of three people: Chelsey, checking up on her work; Dr. Clint McCann, also checking up on her work; or a random person who has stumbled upon this psalmy goodness. In any case, I hope you enjoy.

The site may be navigated in three ways:
1) Simply continue to scroll down to read the posts in reverse-chronological order of their posting. When you get to the end of this page, click Older Posts to keep reaching back.

2) You can use the Blog Archive navigation on the right. Posts will be ordered by month they were published. Just click on a particular month to see a drop-down of the posts for that month.

3) Below, you will find an index with links to all the posts. This allows you to use this post as a main navigation.

There are two posts per psalm--one with exegetical thoughts and collected images, and one that is more focused on worship planning. In the worship planning posts, I particularly focused on finding appropriate music for a worship service that would include the given psalm.

If you would like to leave feedback in the comments section of the site, please feel free to do so (especially you, Dr. McCann).

Index:
Psalm 1: 
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 13: 
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources and Small Group Exercise
Psalm 69:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 82:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 32:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 100:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 104:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 24:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources
Psalm 133:
Exegetical Thoughts and Worship Resources

Works Referenced

Works Referenced

Works Referenced

UMH = United Methodist Hymnal, The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville: 1989.

FWS = Faith We Sing, Abingdon Press, Nashville: 2000.

BOW = Book of Worship, United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville: 1992.

W&S = Worship and Song, Abindgon Press, Nashville: 2011.

Brueggemann, Walter. "The Costly Loss of Lament," JSOT 36 (1986): 57-71.

Limburg, James. “Psalms.” Westminster Bible Companion. Series Editors: Patrick D. Miller & David. L. Bartlett. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville: 2000.

Mays, James L. Preaching and Teaching the Psalms. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, 2006.

Mays, James L. “Psalms.” Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Eds. James Luther Mays & Patrick D. Miller, Jr. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville: 1989.

McCann, J. Clinton, Jr. A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms. Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1993.

McCann, J. Clinton, Jr. “Psalms.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. IV. Ed. Leander E. Keck. Abingdon Press, Nashville: 1996.

McCann, J. Clinton, Jr. "The Single Most Important Text in the Entire Bile: Toward a Theology of the Psalms," in Soundings in the Theology of the Psalms, Ed. Rolf Jacobson, pp. 63-75.

McCann, J. Clinton, Jr. "Lament in the Psalter: Losing Friends and Alienating People" (e-reserve)

Psalm 133--Worship Resources

Music:
UMH: Psalter Setting, #850
UMH: Blest Be the Tie That Binds, #557
FWS: Bind us Together, #2226
FWS: Make us One, #2224
I Need You to Survive--Hezekiah Walker
Sharing the Road--Richard Bruxvoort Colligon

Call to Worship:We gather as the people of God,
united through God’s mercy.
We gather as one people,
to worship and praise our God.

We gather, joyfully celebrating
the oneness of our purpose.
We gather, as people blessed by God:
to worship and honour our God.

We gather, renewed and refreshed by
the ever-flowing stream of God’s mercy.
We gather as people wholly dedicated
to the worship and glory of God. Amen.

Sermon Illustrations:
See Mays

Psalm 133--Exegetical Thoughts

Psalm 33 is short and sweet, and so, I feel this exegetical sketch will be, as well!

Psalm 133 is a part of the collection of the Songs of Ascents (Ps. 120-134), which share a theme of Zion as a place of blessing (Mays 412). McCann points out that the "Songs of Ascents were used as a sort of hymnal as families made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and returned home" (Psalms for Preaching and Worship 344). Thus, it is easy to imagine the setting for this Psalm as a gathering of faithful pilgrims, brought together by their common destination and bound by their experiences of God in their midst. Indeed, Psalm 133 could actually function as a comment on the Songs of Ascents--a momentary aside of a pilgrim to his neighbor about how wonderful it is to be singing with others.

McCann (343-345) and Mays (412-414) do a good job of explaining the references and allusions present in this short poem, so I will not reiterate those. However, I do want to propose an alternate reading of vs. 3b: "For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life evermore." Though based on its context as a Psalm of Ascents and on the logic of the poem, "there" most likely refers to the actual place of Zion, I wonder how the interpretation shifts if we assume the "there" to be family instead. What if God ordains God's blessing within the family of God?

This would beg the question--who is the family of God? The Psalms themselves provide answers enough--all creation is the family of God, and it is in our relationships with our fellow human and creation that we do justice and act righteously. If, as McCann said during class, that God's intent for the world is justice and righteousness, then wouldn't it make sense that when that work is being done--work that binds strangers together as family--God annoints those present?

Psalm 133 makes me consider what experiences are like "pilgrim" experiences for us? When might it be appropriate to utilize this Psalm? Limburg tells the story of teaching it at youth camps and retreats. Indeed, these are liminal experiences. I also could see utilizing them during a mission trip, or even as a greeting during weekly worship. Further, it could be a prayer of stretching into new places to meet new people as a reminder of the scope of God's kingdom.

Psalm 24--Worship Resources

Music:
UMH: Psalter Setting, #755
UMH: Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates, #213
FWS: Holy Ground, #2272
FWS: Hosanna, #3188
Give Us Clean Hands--Chris Tomlin

Call to Worship:
We come, praying for clean hearts and hands that we may worship God.
Our God has promised that all faithful people will receive God’s blessings.

We come, praying that through God’s grace we may stand before God.
Grace-giving God, through you alone we are able to come to worship you.

We come today, praying that we may receive blessings from our God.
Trustworthy God, you have always fulfilled your promises, and we
joyfully celebrate and give thanks for the mercies of our Gracious God. Amen.

Sermon Illustrations:
Jesus sculpture finds a home: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/good-news/ontario-man-jesus-sculpture-gets-big-fan-pope-175159441.html
Sculpture of Jesus as a homeless man sleeping on a bench was rejected from a number of sites, but has finally found a home. Could provide for an interesting point about how Jesus would have clearly walked the path that lead to the hill of God. But, when our priorities are not righteousness, the hill of God cannot be found.

Psalm 24--Exegetical Thoughts

The strong liturgical feel of Psalm 24 paints a vivid picture not only of past contexts of use, but also of present contexts of use. I'd like to touch on those, but first, I would like to to explore the theology of Psalm 24. It is a culmination of many of the themes we have already explored--that all the earth belongs to the Creator God; themes of righteousness; and liturgy for the people of God. This is liturgy that interprets and instructs (Mays Preaching 155). In this way, it is torah.

Though McCann discusses the recent shift to discussing Psalm 24 in its unity (72), I do find Mays' (120-122) and Limburg's treatment of the three sections of the Psalm to be helpful in orienting ourselves (76-78). The first section affirms God's sovereign reign over the Earth. And where does this power originate from? Well, from God's creative works. Again, saying that God is the owner of the Earth is a countercultural statement for us today, when humanity certainly acts as if it owns the place. 

The second section identifies exactly where God is in the world and how one might get there oneself. God isn't a long-distance landlord, who owns property in one place, and dwells in another. No, this Psalm asserts that is present in the earth at the hill of the Lord. It is the righteous who find God there. It's important to note that approaching the hill has less to do with ritual cleanliness than it does with ethical living--with doing justice and righteousness in the world (Mays 121). Here, I am particularly attracted to Mays' understanding of the transaction that happens on the hill: "The creator gives life and relationship in the first place, but it is those who respond by practicing rightness in living who receive a renewal and confirmation by God. They keep the circular movement initiated by God unbroken" (122). It is the righteous who gain access to the hill, and they are blessed with righteousness by God upon arrival. To me, this seems to be a description of God's gracious action in action, and corresponds with a Wesleyan understanding of grace: God's prevenient grace is available to all (as God is the creator), God invites all to journey in a path of sanctifying grace ("the way of the righteous" Ps. 1), and God's justifying grace further blesses those who do travel that path. 

In this way, I see these first two movements of Psalm 24 as deeply connected to Psalm 1. They describe where that path of the righteous leads--to the hill of God, for further encounter with God. But it is not for the sole purpose of staying up on the hill with God, but rather is for the purpose of being able to continue in the path of the righteous. In this way, encounters with God are not a one-time event, but are rather a regular pilgrimage those wanderers in the way make through the course of their lives.

By Daniel Dew

The third section of the Psalm reiterates the first two sections of Psalm 24 through a "demand for admission, a question about who is admitted, a proclamation of the name of the entrant" (Mays 122). The repetition of the liturgy affirms God's reign on earth, thus enveloping the psalm in the sovereignty of the Creator God.

LeMon helps us to imagine Psalm 24 as the liturgy for "the procession of the ark of the covenant into Israel's central shirine" (105). McCann helps us to see the theological procession that takes place as one proceeds on the path of righteousness to ascend God's hill. And Mays helps us to see the procession as an Advent event, as our pilgrimage is a personal one to the meet Christ (Preaching 154). Each interpretation helps us to understand that this is not a one-time, ancient-world procession. Rather, it is an ongoing procession that we can take part in as we strive to walk in the way of the righteous.