God-willing, I’m going to preach Psalm 1 to the good people of Emmanuel, Hastings on Sunday 29th October.
They’ve asked me to choose a NT reading and, although this is forward planning gone mad, I thought I might go for Matthew 7:13-29.
It seemed to me there are some interesting parallels between Matthew 5-7 and Psalm 1:
- Mt 5v3ff – “Blessed…”
- 5v17ff – “the Law” – fulfilment in Jesus
- 7v13ff – 2 ways, righteous and wicked, leading to life or death
- 7v15ff – trees, fruit and judgement
- 7v24ff – Wise and foolish builders (righteous and wicked ways again), ruin or safety – depending on hearing Jesus’ words and putting them into practice
Now maybe this is parallelomania. And I’m not sure what the cash value might be.
Preaching group today seemed to think that Mt 7 would make a suitable reading but that it would be best to let it speak for itself and not try to make any links in the sermon. A bit of a shame?
Suggestions for a different NT reading that I could profitably use would be most welcome. Indeed, please email your talks on Psalm 1! I’ve been asked to produce power point slides, of all things, too. I've never before ventured beyond an OHP or a handout, so if you have any power point presentations on your memorey stick…. Though I think my more highly skilled wife is looking forward to the fun of showing me how to make my points waltz across the screen and so on. Sounds like another first dance embarrassment could ensue.
And wouldn’t it be good if we could find a catchy version of Ps 1 to sing that we might easily meditate on it all week?
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1 comment:
Marc
I like the parallels. WHy can't you use Matt 7 in the talk? And the grey CRC Psalter Hymnal has a decent paraphrase of Ps 1. The tune's not one I know, but the metre is not unusual - your clever musical wife is bound to find something people cd sing.
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