Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16

Year A - Pentecost +16 or Community Practice ¹⁶

September 28, 2014

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16

I receive the posting of Jim Taylor every Sunday and Wednesday. I thought his paraphrase was one that leads us to continue connecting various parts of the scriptures together, along with our own lives.

How would you bring this psalm into a world so bound by political rhetoric and advertising slogans?

Where does a central story or two from our past still inform us?

Anyway, here’s Jim’s comment and paraphrase:

We all need family histories. No one is so poor as the person with no roots. I’m sure that’s why Deuteronomy stresses that when children ask about laws and statutes, you should tell them a story. I worked that idea into the Psalm 78 reading for this coming Sunday. 

1   If I say, "Once upon a time," everyone knows a story is starting.
2   I do not know the meanings of my stories;
     I merely pass them on as they were passed to me.
3   Only you can decide what they mean to you.
4   This is our story. This is where we came from.
     When you hear this story, you must also tell it,
     so that others may also know where they came from. 

12  Once upon a time, we were slaves.
      We were exploited for economic growth, and held captive by capital.
13  But God freed us from the prisons of our past.
      God flung open our minds, and let us see new possibilities.
14  By signs and symbols, God led us to new life.
15  In arid canyons of crisis, God showed us how to drink deeply of life.
16  In barren wastelands of despair, God gave us joy. 

For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.