Lectionary Year A
July 7, 2002
Psalm 45:10-17

Step II: Disposition
A. Genre

(JFC) These lines seem to be an advice column to a bride of a monarch whom she will worship if she obeys the advice and customs of the counsel here. If the imperatives are followed, rewards are sure to follow, material rewards in the way of elaborate gifts. Then the bride/princess and her entourage are described in detail, their costumes and emotions. Finally, the good/excellent/praiseworthy reputation of the King is assured.

B. Personal Interaction

(JFC) As a mostly modernist, I have to wonder how this pericope can be preached with any degree of relevant integrity! How far may we carry the metaphorical truths here? The extravagance of the royalty might appeal immediately to people in the pews, to say nothing of those of us in the pulpits, but, how do we adjust the images to be responsible to today's economy and the text's intentions? How do we move from the material, the ceremonial and the concrete to the spiritual ideas presented in this text?

C. Organization

(JFC) The royalty's extravagant materialism is in the 12th through the 14th verses.



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