Author: Administrador

Once while leading a study tour of the Middle East, my group visited the chapel of the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. The attraction of the chapel was a set of stained-glass windows created by the artist Marc Chegal. The windows are set within a domed ceiling so as to direct the worshipper heavenward. As we … Continue reading “Psalm 130 Commentary by Jerome Creach”

Psalm 130, best known by its Latin incipit De Profundis, “Out of the Depths,” has inspired church musicians for centuries, usually in the context of a Requiem Mass. One need only mention Johan Sebastian Bach’s magnificent cantata Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (BWV 131) inspired by Luther’s 1523 paraphrase, Aus tiefer Not … Continue reading “Psalm 130 Commentary by Mark Throntveit”

In Psalm 130, the writer calls out to God from the depths of human suffering, hoping for, expecting, and insisting on God’s hearing. The psalmist has every confidence that God will hear and respond to every cry of pain, because mercy, the writer insists, is who God is. The lament of Psalm 130 is familiar … Continue reading “Psalm 130 Commentary by Elizabeth Webb”

Psalm 130 is the eleventh of the fifteen Songs of Ascents in Book Five of the Psalter (Psalms 120-134). These psalms are most likely songs that ancient Israelite pilgrims sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate a number of annual religious festivals, including Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of … Continue reading “Psalm 130 Commentary by Nancy deClaissé-Walford”

The psalm selected for the Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost, for those traditions and congregations that do not observe Reformation Sunday, is Psalm 126. Psalm 126 is one of a collection of poems (Psalms 120-14) known as the “Songs of Ascents.” These poems most likely did not all originate from a single source or for … Continue reading “Psalm 126 Commentary by Rolf Jacobson”

Cyrus, a Persian emperor, ruled Babylonia from 538-530 B.C. His military victories put him in control of the largest empire of the world at that time. His policy toward the conquered peoples was one of tolerance. His conquering of Babylonia and authorization of the return of the captive Israelites to rebuild the Jerusalem temple is … Continue reading “Psalm 126 Commentary by Paul S. Berge”

[Adapted from commentary posted for Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 11, 2011] In this psalm, the notion of reversal occupies a central place, inviting the reader to recognize that restoration by God does more than simply restore what was lost. The kind of divine restoration envisioned in this psalm means much more than compensation. Instead, … Continue reading “Psalm 126 Commentary by W. Dennis Tucker, Jr.”

Psalm 126 is a community song of trust or confidence that skillfully employs metaphor to proclaim God as the one who brings joy out of sorrow, laughter out of tears, and good out of evil. To begin with, the opening idiom, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,” has caused problems in interpretation. The … Continue reading “Psalm 126 Commentary by Mark Throntveit”

If you have studied Greek and Hebrew, you know that they differ in more than just the alphabet and which direction you read. Greek requires you to learn a complex host of verbal moods and tenses. Hebrew is much simpler, lacking pluperfects, perfects, participles, all those “p” things that bring clarity to when and how … Continue reading “Psalm 126 Commentary by James Howell”

Psalm 126 is among the relatively small number of psalms for which historical context is both fairly certain and highly useful for interpretation. The psalm’s opening line refers to a time “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,” and verses 1-3 describe the people’s memory and experience of that time. Virtually all interpreters see … Continue reading “Psalm 126 Commentary by Matthew Stith”