Psalms 120-122

The first group of three psalms in the Psalms of Ascent look at the problems faced on the journey, the help and protection God gives and the sense of joy on arrival in Jerusalem. Ps 120 is an admission of need, almost a psalm of complaint. It starts in the place of...

The Importance of Place and Song

The Psalms of Ascent remind us of the importance of place and song in worship. For devout Jews, Jerusalem signified the place where God dwelt, with the Temple the visible reminder of God’s presence among them (which is why the destruction of the first temple by...

Holy Days

We are currently entering the holiday season in the UK and June has been unusually warm and sunny here. Holidays are generally associated with rest from work, an opportunity to visit somewhere different and time spent with families and friends. These days, travel is...

The Psalms of Ascent

Pilgrimages featured heavily on the R.S. GCSE papers this year and the Psalms of Ascent (Ps 120-134) were the Jewish songbook for the three annual pilgrimages they took to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles...

First Steps

Every journey begins with a first step. We watch our children learn to smile, sit up, turn over, crawl and stand up, and then comes that first step. Tottering, often needing the ‘prop’ of a hand or the furniture to steady those wobbly legs, we clap in...