Jeremy Thompson

Tag: Psalms

  • Psalm 98 and Assonance

    I glanced at the lectionary readings earlier in the day, but spent a little more time with them tonight, especially the response, which was Psalm 98.  I wanted to point out one feature of verse 1 in particular that struck me, and this is one of the types of things I think we miss in…

  • Hatin' on Horses

    Just started teaching a study on Psalms today in my parish.  One of the texts we looked at was Psalm 33 and I was reminded from verse 17 that there is a lot of hatin’ on horses in the Old Testament.  Here’s a sampling: Useless is the horse for safety; its great strength, no sure…

  • This Psalmist Must Have Never Had Children

    Today’s responsorial Psalm blew my mind, but not in some super spiritual way.  Psalm 131 reads as follows: 1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted…

  • Listening for Psalm 24

    Here is some listening for today’s responsorial Psalm, which was Psalm 24.  Many people may not realize that the song “Give us Clean Hands” is taken almost entirely from this text:

  • Video Illustration for Psalm 124

    Psalm 124:7 “We escaped with our lives like a bird from the fowler’s snare; the snare was broken and we escaped.” Thought he had one … but it got away.

  • John Hobbins on Prayer According to the Psalms

    Been slacking on my link posts lately.  But, it’s been a busy month at work.  At any rate, HERE is a post worth a link.  John Hobbins offers a few thoughts on prayer according to the Psalms.  In it he notes that God desires both reverence and honesty in prayer.  Many feel like to be…

  • What a Contrast – Malachi 3 and Psalm 1

    The Old Testament lectionary reading today was from Malachi 3 and the responsorial Psalm was Psalm 1.  When you read these two passages together, there is an amazing contrast and I wonder if it was purposeful.  First, read Psalm 1 (NAB): 1 Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go…

  • Psalm 137 – Rivers of Babylon

    Today’s responsorial Psalm is Psalm 137.  Here’s a YouTube video of my favorite version of “Rivers of Babylon,” which was inspired by this Psalm.  It is a cover by Sublime and may not be what some people are accustomed to when thinking about this Psalm.  Enjoy!

  • Synonymous Parallelism – God's Name, God's Power

    One of the primary features of the Hebrew poetry of the Old Testament is parallelism.  One of these types of parallelism is called synonymous, which means that the writer is essentially saying the same thing two different ways.  In today’s responsorial Psalm, there is a potentially helpful example of synonymous parallelism.  It may demonstrate the…

  • Words for Idols

    Words for idols in Hebrew are almost always very interesting.  In the Responsorial Psalm for today, many translations of Psalm 96.6 read: “For all the gods of the people are idols…” (NRSV, NASB, among others).  Yet when one looks at the root idea of the word underlying the translation idols it appears to mean something…