Psalm
145 – “I will thank you forever and ever. Every day
I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever” (145:2).
What you have done will be praised throughout
the generations. “The Lord is loving and merciful, show to become angry and
full of constant love” (145:8).
The Lord is faithful to his promises and helps
those in trouble. He “lifts those who have fallen” (145:14).
Psalm
146 – “Don’t put your trust in human leaders”
(146:3). When they die, they are dust.
Happy are those who depend on our God; “he
judges in favor of the oppressed. . .sets prisoners free and gives sight to the
blind” (146:7-8).
Psalm
147 – “It is good to sing praise to our God; it is
pleasant and right to praise him. The Lord is restoring Jerusalem; he is
bringing back the exiles. He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their
wounds” (147:1-3).
“He counts the stars and calls them all by
name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond
comprehension!” (147:4-5). He raises the humble and crushes the wicked.
He does not take pleasure in strong horses or
delight in brave soldiers. He just takes pleasure in those who honor him. The
beauties of nature are celebrated – “He sends the snow like white wool; he
scatters frost upon the ground like ashes. He hurls the hail like stones. Who
can stand against his freezing cold? Then at his command, it all melts. He
sends his winds, and the ice thaws” (147:17-18).
“He has revealed his words to Jacob, his
decrees and regulations to Israel. He has not done this for any other nation;
they do not know his regulations” (147:19-20).
Psalm
148 – The angels of heaven also should praise the
Lord; the sun, the moon, the highest heavens and waters above the sky – all
should praise the name of the Lord. And all people should praise him – kings,
princes, young men and women, old people and children.
Psalm
149 – Another praise psalm: “Praise the Lord from
the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him,
all the armies of heaven!” (149:1-2)
“Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures
of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey
him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all
livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all
people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and
children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord. For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!” (149: 7-13).
Psalm
150 – “Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful. O Israel, rejoice in your
Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King” (150:1-2).
Praise him with dancing and with music, with
harps and lyres.
“Let the praises of God be in their mouths,
and a sharp sword in their hands—to execute vengeance on the nations and
punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with shackles and their leaders
with iron chains, to execute the judgment written against them. This is the
glorious privilege of his faithful ones” (150:6-9). Not the words I would have
ended these beautiful hymns with.
First Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians (96/97
AD)
Section 11
Lot’s hospitality and piety
brought him safely out of Sodom. And the “doubt and distrust of God’s power”
brought Lot’s wife the punishment of being turned into a pillar of salt.
Section 12
Faith and hospitality
continue to be praised. Rahab is praised for hiding the spies sent to Jericho
by Joshua (see Joshua 2) and for, in some way, foreseeing the redemptive death
of Jesus in her use of a “scarlet cord” to mark her dwelling so that the
invading armies under Joshua would not harm her. Clement associates the
“scarlet” marker as a prophesy of Christ’s “saving blood.”
It is so interesting to me the emphasis Clement gives to the virtue
of hospitality. I think we have lost a
sense of the importance of this virtue; we seldom need to call upon it these
days. But in the scriptures and in the classical epics of Greece, The Odyssey, in particular, hospitality
is very central. One never was supposed to ask who it was one offered
hospitality to; it was simply a given that if anyone came by one’s house,
he/she should be invited in and cared for as if they might be a god.
Section 13
“My brothers, do let us
have a little humility; let us forget our self-assertion and braggadocio and
stupid quarrelling, and do what the Bible tells us instead” (28). “The wise man is not to brag of his wisdom,
nor the strong man of his strength, nor the rich man of his wealth”
[Jeremiah 9:23].
“[L]et us remember what the
Lord Jesus Christ said in one of His lessons on mildness and forbearance. Be merciful, He told us, that you may obtain mercy; forgive, that you
may be forgiven” (28).
The “Holy Word says, Whom shall I look upon, but him that is
gentle and peaceable, and trembles at my saying?” (28).
Section 14
It is more appropriate for
us “to obey God than to follow people whose insolent unruliness has made them
the ringleaders of this odious rivalry” (28).
“Rather let us show
kindliness to one another, in the same sweet spirit of tenderness as our Maker”
(28).
Section 15
We should ally ourselves
“with those who work for peace out of genuine devotion, and not with men who
only pay lip service to it” (28).
“May the Lord destroy all lying lips, and the braggart tongue” (29).
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