This Sunday's lectionary presented a good example of one of its major flaws, and that is presenting a sanitized version of scripture and thus a sanitized picture of ourselves. Here is the part of Psalm 36 ( also known as Dixit injustus) that most pewsitters heard today,
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep; *
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! *
your people take refuge under the
shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; *
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, *
and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *
and your favor to those who are true of heart.
That sure sounds nice, and it should leave the average pewsitter feeling all warm and fuzzy, but why should we need such a God? If churchgoers had heard the full psalm, they might have learned why. Here is the unabridged Psalm 36 (I have highlighted the missing verses).
1 There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; *
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself in his own eyes *
that his hateful sin will not be found out.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; *
he has left off acting wisely and doing good.
4 He thinks up wickedness upon his bed
and has set himself in no good way; *
he does not abhor that which is evil.
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep; *
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! *
your people take refuge under the
shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; *
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, *
and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *
and your favor to those who are true of heart.
11 Let not the foot of the proud come near me, *
nor the hand of the wicked push me aside.
12 See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness! *
they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.
Adding back the missing verses returns the full power of the psalm to the reader/listener. The strong language in verses 1-4 appear directed at the wicked and that just couldn't apply to those of us sitting in the pews... ;-) and verses 11-12 speak to the consequences of wickedness.
The long term effects of a steady diet of partial teachings may be just as harmful as overt false teaching. In the above example, pewsitters do not hear about evil in the world and thus lose their awareness of our desperate need for a loving God.
What parent would fail to warn their child of the dangers of the world and how best to defend themselves?
It seems that the Church that cuts up the psalms might be that type of parent.
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep; *
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! *
your people take refuge under the
shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; *
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, *
and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *
and your favor to those who are true of heart.
That sure sounds nice, and it should leave the average pewsitter feeling all warm and fuzzy, but why should we need such a God? If churchgoers had heard the full psalm, they might have learned why. Here is the unabridged Psalm 36 (I have highlighted the missing verses).
1 There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; *
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself in his own eyes *
that his hateful sin will not be found out.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; *
he has left off acting wisely and doing good.
4 He thinks up wickedness upon his bed
and has set himself in no good way; *
he does not abhor that which is evil.
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep; *
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! *
your people take refuge under the
shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; *
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, *
and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *
and your favor to those who are true of heart.
11 Let not the foot of the proud come near me, *
nor the hand of the wicked push me aside.
12 See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness! *
they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.
Adding back the missing verses returns the full power of the psalm to the reader/listener. The strong language in verses 1-4 appear directed at the wicked and that just couldn't apply to those of us sitting in the pews... ;-) and verses 11-12 speak to the consequences of wickedness.
The long term effects of a steady diet of partial teachings may be just as harmful as overt false teaching. In the above example, pewsitters do not hear about evil in the world and thus lose their awareness of our desperate need for a loving God.
What parent would fail to warn their child of the dangers of the world and how best to defend themselves?
It seems that the Church that cuts up the psalms might be that type of parent.
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