Mission and Psalms of Lament; children-at-risk in the Pentateuch; and Thank you for doing this research
Welcome to my newsletter, ‘Bible, Mission, and More’, where I share what’s on my mind as I teach, research, and write on the Bible and mission, children-at-risk in the Bible and contemporary society, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and a range of other topics. I teach at All Nations Christian College in the UK, though views are my own. You may also like to check out my Bible and Mission website.
Each Tuesday I’ll share something I’ve read, something I’ve written or recorded, something on learning and teaching, and a quote to reflect on.
Something read – Dwi Handayani on Psalms of lament in God’s mission
Dwi Handayani teaches at Bandung Theological Seminary in Indonesia. In her chapter in the co-authored Breath and Bone: Living Out the Mission of God in the World (Langham, 2017, pp. 151–163) she explores, ‘The Place of Lament Psalms in God’s Mission.’
Although quite brief, the chapter makes some important points connecting lament, justice, and mission. For example,
‘God longs to hear our prayers against violence and injustice. We need to step up in the court of the Lord and bring our case before him. We need to be bold to ask God to execute justice on earth.
We should not do this only when we are the one’s suffering injustice; we should also take a stand on behalf of others. This is what the Old Testament prophets did. They stood up against injustice on behalf of the people of God, sometimes even questioning God’s justice.’ (p. 153)
The psalms, suggests Handayani, ‘speak justice, they sing justice, they shout justice, and they cry for justice.’ (p. 154) She then explores this in more depth by showing how the lament psalms proclaim that the Lord is judge of the whole earth, remind God of his previous acts of judgement, seek a reversal in unjust situations, and – crucially! – are uttered in the context of Israel’s covenant relationship with God.
I like how Handayani links this cry for justice with what could be framed as missional elements, illustrated by the move from God executing justice to a knowledge of his rule (Ps. 59:13; 79:6; 83:17-18). The frequent movement from complaint to praise in psalms of lament also hints at the importance of being in a position to tell of God’s deeds (e.g., 6:5; 30:9).
Prayer should be bold and brave – as Handayani puts it while reflecting on Ps. 109:8-12, ‘With strong emotion the psalmist appeals to the just God. The psalmists refuse to play safe or remain silent.’ (p. 158) And this is possible precisely because of their deep, covenantal relationship with God.
Finally, Handayani reflects on the relevance of these psalms for her own content in Indonesia, offering some reworded Psalms (3, 12, and 35) to address certain societal issues.
Something written – Children-at-risk in the Bible (1) The Pentateuch
In a couple of months I will be teaching an online intensive on Vulnerable Children: Biblical and Theological Perspectives. Each day on the module we focus on a particular section of the Bible, looking at how children feature in it and how this can shape our understanding and practice of ministry to, for, with, and by children-at-risk.
In the run-up to this I want to do a series of posts highlighting some of the ways vulnerable children feature in different parts of Scripture. This week we’ll start with the Pentateuch.
In the module we look at Genesis and Exodus as ‘framing texts’. I see Genesis 1 as a key foundational text, highlighting all people as made in God’s image, but also the idea of God seeing creation and declaring it as ‘good’. Could this idea of being seen and declared ‘good’ be a way into our conversations about and with children; especially those who are unseen and whom society declares unworthy or a problem?
Moving on to Exodus we explore the opening story in chs. 1-2 and think about the theme of children and agency. As I’ve explored before in these posts, Miriam’s actions and speech tell us something about how God sometimes chooses to bring about his purposes: sometimes only a child is ‘qualified’ to get the job done.
Finally, we spend time in Deuteronomy examining the idea of the ‘orphan’ or ‘fatherless’. What was their life like and how does the torah ensure they are to be provided for, protected, and included?
Previous posts relating to these themes can be found at these links:
If you are free in April, why not sign up for the module?
Information on Vulnerable Children: Biblical and Theological Perspectives
Learning and teaching – Thank you for doing this research
Something happened in a class recently that I don’t remember happening before.
This year I am involved in the research proposal stages of our MA students and we are at the point with one cohort where they are far enough along to be able to give a short presentation on their topic, title, proposed methodology, and so on. The idea is that they can hear what each other are doing, practice presenting their emerging research, and learn from the questions and feedback.
This time, though, something new happened. As well as asking sharpening questions a couple of times a student said, ‘Thank you for doing this research,’ and explained why it was important not just for the researcher but for others as well.
‘Thank you for doing this research.’ This has been ringing in my ears ever since. Research is so often seen as a solitary activity, although it might be done as part of an overall learning community. But by saying, ‘Thank you’ the student was saying that not only that they appreciated the research topic but it meant something to them. They were glad it was happening and knew how it would help them and others.
For me it was yet another reminder of the joy, hope, and encouragement researching in community can be. How often do I say thank you to those from whose work I have benefited?
Quote – Sebastian Moore on God in the Psalms
‘God behaves in the psalms in ways he is not allowed to behave in systematic theology.’
Sebastian Moore
Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,
Tim