The Daily Office for August 20, 2012
Scriptures
Psalm 106:1-18
Judges 17:1-13
Acts 7:44-8:1a
John 5:19-29
Reading (Psalm 106:1-18)
Reflection
The psalmist of 106 confesses the sins of a nation. This is the first of the truly Hallelujah psalms or those that begin with the phrase "Praise the LORD (Hallelu-Jah)." The others are 111–113, 135, and 146–150. Eight of these ten psalms (all but 111 and 112) also end with the same phrase. Psalms 104 and 105 end with the phrase, but do not begin with it.
On the authorship of the psalm little is known. The psalm has no title, but it may safely be said that whoever wrote the preceding psalm also wrote this one. Many ascribe the psalm to David; for the first verse and the last two verses, except the Hallelujahs, are taken from I Chronicles 16:34–36, almost certainly penned by David. But the expression, "gather us from among the heathen" (vs. 47), has led many interpreters to believe that this psalm was written during the conditions that prevailed only after the Exile or during it.
The most notable feature of the psalm is the rehearsal of the sins of Israel with intent to make confession for them. The psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah; the verses between are filled with the mournful details of Israel’s sin.
Collect for the Day
Merciful redeemer, who, by the life and preaching of your servant Bernard, rekindled the radiant light of your Church: grant us, in our generation, to be inflamed with the same spirit of discipline and love and ever to walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.