By Mary Abrahamson O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his soul to the Lord. The previous psalms in this series have focused on the particular sins and also, more generally, upon the sinful nature of the psalmist. This psalm, however, takes a different approach. Here we meditate upon the brokenness of the world. In this life there will be troubles. Natural disasters, broken relationships, societal demise, evil governments and regimes, terror of all varieties. All these can wear on the faithful, can sow seeds of doubt and despair, and can tax the emotional stamina…

By Mary Abrahamsson Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. In this well known and well loved Psalm God gives us some wonderfully clear expressions of original sin, guilt over specific sins, and repentance for forgiveness of sins through His great mercy in Jesus.  David references cleansing with hyssop, bulls, burnt offerings, and sacrifices, all part of the ceremonial cleansing rites God commanded in the Old Testament. Many of the refrains are familiar from our liturgies.  The liturgies of both the Old and New Testament church consistently proclaim sin and the need for…

By Mary Abrahamson O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, for a remembrance of the Sabbath, A Psalm of David Oh, this is vivid! Right from the beginning, David gives us a searing image of God’s anger, …. hot displeasure, arrows piercing, hand pressing. God’s righteous wrath over our sin isacutely portrayed in these two short verses.  Again we see God pressing on David to show David his sin. O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. The following verses remind us of the physical and emotional burden of our sin. We may think…

By Mary Abrahamson In the Christian church, seven Psalms have historically been classified as the Penitential Psalms.  These psalms focus on our sin and our need for a Savior.  Some show how a particular sin or sinful lifestyle can eat at us.  Others meditate more generally on sinful nature or sin in the world.  On repentance and salvation, too, some are more specific and others more general. These Psalms have been used in a variety of liturgical devotional ways throughout the history of Christianity.  Some traditions use them during all of Lent; others use one Psalm a day during Holy week.  The Eastern church uses them in specific liturgical rites…