September 23, 2022: Day 206 – Psalms 135-137

Even though it is a fairly short reading each of these Psalms is unique and we have to cover each one of them.  We won’t cover them extensively, but they are really important to cover.  Psalm 135, when you look at the beginning and the end, and some places in the middle, you will find the phrase: Praise the Lord.  I know, no big deal right?  But in the Hebrew it is actually pronounced: Hallelujah.  So that kind of changes things when we see it interspersed throughout the Psalm.  I reminds me a lot of this song originally written by Francis of Assisi.

Psalm 136 is a call and response where we hear the Psalmist say a truth about the nature of God and the people who are gathered respond with the statement: His love endures forever.  Line after line there is a call and a response to the point where you can almost feel like it arrives at a crescendo that asserts and emphasizes that God love endures forever, it does not fade, or disappeap.  It lasts forever.

Finally, Psalm 137 is one of the Psalms that I refer to the most because I am convinced that it is written by a mother who has experienced the ravages of marauding soldiers who have taken over Jerusalem and killed her child by dashing it against the rocks.  This lament is pierced with grief and then takes a vicious turn at vs.8-9 with an imprecation hurled at Babylon for all eternity.  It does remind me of this song by Don McLean.