Scripture: Psalm 126
EUMC Sunday Service 12/4 – YouTube
Pastor Ross will continue our Advent series with “Journey to Mental Wellness: Journeying Together in Solidarity.” Scripture will be Psalm 126:1-6. This week, we encounter a different kind of psalm on our Advent journey toward mental wellness. Whereas our text last week was a psalm of lament, today’s reading is a psalm of ascent. But don’t worry — there are still plenty of hard emotions and difficult circumstances for us to unpack! Psalm 126 is part of a collection of psalms encompassing Psalm 120-134 that each include the heading “psalm of ascent.” While scholars identified the structure of the psalm of lament centuries later, the original author or compiler of the book of Psalms lets us know that this collection served a particular function related to “ascent.” Scholars have come up with various possible functions for these psalms. Some think that they were sung by worshippers as they ascended the hill to enter the Temple in Jerusalem. Others think they were traveling songs sung by pilgrims who were journeying to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Thus, Psalm 126 serves as a fitting traveling companion on our Advent journey.
