Backward Mutters

  • What Work?

    What Work?

    Psalm 127 reads like two separate, self-contained words haphazardly spliced together. The psalm is one of two psalms attributed to Solomon, and the themes within the psalm, reflect the concerns of other Solomonic passages. Psalm 127 (ESV) reads, 1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor…

  • What Joy?

    What Joy?

    Psalm 126 is the seventh of a collection of psalms called, Songs of Ascent. This collection of psalms were sung by the people of God as they traveled from their homes to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship during the great festivals of the Jewish calendar. In this psalm we…

  • What Peace?

    What Peace?

    The collection of Psalms 120-134 are titled, “songs of ascent”; that is, they are psalms sung by the people of God as they made the ascent from their hometowns to the great city of Jerusalem where they were to gather three times a year to worship at the Temple. All…

  • What Hope?

    What Hope?

    The Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-135) are the songs of pilgrims on the road to meet with God. They vocalize the reasons for pilgrimage, its benefits, and struggles. Psalm 124 is a song from the vantage point of the finish and of hope realized — the hope which pilgrim’s carry…

  • Look Up?

    Look Up?

    The posture of the Christian’s walk of pilgrimage to God is one of service and humility. It is a posture of pleading for mercy. The mercy we seek and which God offers is not one begrudgingly given by our Father. (Who gives his son a stone?) Rather we best participate…