What The Year B Lenten Psalms Have in Store For Us

I came into this Year’s Lenten Season hoping for a new, different, and inspiring experience of this observance. At the time of penning this, we are way into the second week of Lent. To be honest, I feel that I am yet to get rolling with this plan.

C.S. Lewis’s Reflections on the Psalms

So, I searched far and wide, and then I found the Reflections on the Psalms by CS Lewis. I am nothing close to what the classic scholar managed in this work, but I desire to benefit from his approach as a worshiper and admirer of the difficulties he met and the insights he gained in reading the Psalms.

C.S. Lewis came up with 12 Chapters of personal reflections on the Psalms, looking first at the viewpoint of the Jewish writers’ and readers’ perspectives, and secondly from the Christian reader’s perspective. It is the latter approach that interests me at this point.

Given that Lewis struggled with the idea that the Psalter might have a second meaning that is seemingly unbeknownst to the Psalmist, I do not claim to be any knowledge of this second meaning. I am no CS Lewis either, but I hope to find out like him how this season’s chosen psalms point me to a deeper relationship with the Lord and Messiah. So, I am taking my stroll through these Psalms and hope to experience their beauty and form… as CS Lewis did.

Sunday 1 Psalm 25:4-9

We recognize in this psalm the Covenant that the Lord God has, and which He offers us. We, on our part, must be keen to accept it and promise to follow it.  As we read the psalm, it might sound quite familiar because of its regular use in Mass readings (though each time with a different response). This time, our response is,

All your paths, O Lord, are mercy and faithfulness, for those who keep your covenant (cf. Psalm 25:10).

Each time we say with conviction the words of this response eulogizing God’s ways (that is His rules, ideas, patterns, habits, character, and so forth.  Then we (silently) pledge to be included amongst those who keep the Covenant.

First, we make our request, that the Lord God makes us know His ways and teaches us His paths. We ask Him to guide us in His truth and teach us because He is the God of our salvation. We, like David, know that God’s ways are the right way to do anything because they are founded in His goodness and love for us. Once we know what they are, all we need is to obey.

Next, we implore God to consider His merciful nature, which has been granted to us (miserable sinners) from the very beginning of the world. We acknowledge His goodness to us and beg Him not to desert us in this time. For being sinners, we have nothing to plead for ourselves except His free mercy and goodness which we now implore.

Finally, we acknowledge that the Lord is good and morally correct. When we trust in Him, He never does anything eternally hurtful. Instead, He always does that which is in our best interest and guides sinners to a life of righteousness and salvation. But we must be humble to trust God at all times and in every situation.

Sunday 2  Psalm 116:10, 15-19

This time we make an expression of absolute confidence in our response:

I will walk in the presence of the Lord / in the land of the living (cf. Psalm 116:9).

We use acutely pointed words to explain why. We trust even when we are sorely afflicted. We see the death of God’s faithful ones as precious in the eyes of the Lord. We think of heaven as the land of the living, and so we have confidence that we will someday walk in this presence of the Lord.

We confirm our stewardship and reveal our zealous attachment to him. We do it cheerfully and willingly, in righteousness and true holiness. We show heartiness in the Lord’s service and indicate the obligation we have to serve the Lord, and only Him. This we learned not of our effort, but from the training that we got from our mother (the Church), who is also a servant of the Lord. The bonds of affliction and death in which we were held were loosed, and we have been delivered from them. We have been freed from the servitude and dominion of sin. We have been freed from the captivity of Satan, and the bondage of the law. Therefore, even though we be a servant, yet we glory in being the Lord’s free man.

For this reason, we cannot easily depart from it. Instead, we will make a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. This will increase our confidence to continue walking in His ways. And we guarantee to fulfill the vows we made to the Lord before all His people. We will do it in the courts of the house of the Lord; yes, even right in the middle of Jerusalem.

Sunday 3  Psalm 19:8-11

This week we begin by praising the law of the Lord. We list its perfections, extol its beauty, and simply celebrate it. We understand that whatever the Lord commissions His people to do is right. That which He charges us with reflects His righteous character and brings joy when we obey them (cf. John 15:10-11).

The divine law is spotless and harmless, absolutely well-meaning, and altogether directed towards our well-being. His commandments are the prescription for doing His will. The Word of God is undefiled; it produces a pure life in those who obey it. The Word of God is sacred; it makes a person “wise for salvation” and capable of leading a life that honors God. Thus, we credit God’s Word with enlightening our dimmed minds so that we understand His will. And so, we distinguish that God’s Law is a far greater good to man, and to be desired far more than any amount of riches. It is much more preferable than honey and even than the honeycomb itself.

In our response to the Psalm, we borrow from the words of St. Peter:

Lord, you have the words of eternal life (cf. John 6:68c).

We make this confession together with him, and with a deep and conscious resolution. Despite the impulsiveness with which we do it, our conviction must be firm. We recognize that there is no one else to whom we can go. We concede that the Lord Jesus has all that we need – the sayings of eternal life. We acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the Messiah.

Sunday 4  Psalm 137:1-6

It is granted that we are currently in a mournful posture as concerns our affairs and our spirits. However, during leisure hours, we will choose to sit down in the most pleasant and attractive places. In these times we will bring along our musical instruments to play out some melancholic melodies.

But our imagination of Zion should be overpowering, to the extent that our grief causes us to weep. The reason is that our harps must remain silent; we have joined the Lord in the wilderness of our hearts.

We shall not commit the grossest of profanations and sing gloriously to the amazement of the world and all that is within it. This is not to say that we forget to praise and worship the Lord. No; but our singing will not be for worldly pleasures. This is why our response laments the possibility that we might forget our previous deplorable state and do the unthinkable.

O Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember you not (Psalm 137:6ab, ASV).

Should we somehow forget, may we have no further use of either the tongue or our skills? May we instead remain dumb and speechless, and never sing a song or speak a word more…lest we enter into a celebration with the enemy!

Sunday 5 Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15

We open the psalm with a plea to God that He shows us mercy. We will make no excuses for our sins. We do not perceive sin as merely a mistake. We are fully aware of what we have done. We have committed offenses against God, and these sins are ever before us. We make this confession with our hearts inclined towards God. Like David, we must be strongly convicted about our wrongdoing, and this conviction must tear at us at all times. Then we ask God to blot out our transgressions, wash our iniquities completely and cleanse us from sin.

We long for joy to return in our hearts, knowing that we suffer because of our separation from God (sin). So, we plead for a clean heart and a renewed steadfast spirit within. We do not want to be cast aside from God or removed within from His Holy Spirit. We long for that restoration in the joy of our salvation. We understand that when cleansing from sin occurs and joy is returned to us, we will become witnesses. Then we will be able to teach transgressors God’s ways and sinners will be converted. We need the pure heart so that we can offer a pleasing sacrifice to God, so we pray:

Create a pure heart for me, O God (Psalm 51:12a).

Here we acknowledge that a pure heart does not happen naturally. The Lord God has to bring it into existence. Even more, He must continually recreate it. In our own power, we can do nothing to either create it or maintain it. However, with a broken and contrite heart, we can ask Him for that clean heart; and so, we do!

Sunday 6 (Palm Sunday) Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24

We have come this far. We cannot help but think about many who did not make it easy for us during this Lenten observance.  Some derided us scorned us or treated us with open contempt or disdain. They looked upon our trust in the Lord as a falsity, but our confidence is well-grounded. We bemoan the wickedness that surrounds us and the maltreatment that we suffer. Our response to the Psalm is in the words that the Lord Jesus uttered while hanging on the Cross:

 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (Psalm 22:2a, NASB)

Yes, we may utter these words in anguish. Nonetheless, we are confident that the Lord remains near to us. He is our strength, whom we call upon to make haste and help us in our time of need.  And He does not disappoint. That is why we end the psalm on a positive note. Just as He did for the crucified Jesus, the Lord God will deliver us from all our enemies and troubles in His own time and way. Then we will publicly tell of His name to our brethren. We will praise Him amid the congregation.

And we shall call on all who fear the Lord to give Him praise. Them that walk in the steps of faith are exhorted to glorify the Lord with their bodies and spirits. We know that we are His. And we know that we are being redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ by believing in Him, glorying in Him, and offering praise unto Him.

So it is that we shall end this Lenten season on a hopeful note and with an expression of accomplishment and finality. We shall announce these things to even younger generations, and declare that God has fulfilled His promise (cf. Psalm 22:31). This is the message to be forever propagated on earth. That He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom, there will be no end (Luke 1:33 NABRE).