A Boxer and a Ballerina Walk Into a Bar…
Dear Savannah and Sutton,
I never want to water down scripture. I also don’t want to take scripture out of its context and think that it is saying something that wasn’t intended. And, maybe most importantly, I don’t want to come across as if my view on a passage of scripture is right, and everyone else just needs to catch up. So call me out if that’s how it comes across.
I feel like scripture is kinetic, in motion. Learning to move with its rhythms is both the challenge and the excitement. Sometimes I feel like interacting with scripture is a cross between boxing and ballet (neither of which I know much about). My comments on today’s Psalm reading may help explain what I mean.
-Dad
Inside Out Lectionary Letters
Year A - 5th Sunday after Epiphany (Texts, Art, Hymns)
Readings for February 8, 2026
Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) / Psalm 112:1-9 (10) / 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) / Matthew 5:13-20
Psalm 112 feels both exhilarating and shaming all at the same time. On first read it seems contains these wonderful consequences for those who honor God’s commands. Those consequences include wealth and riches (v.3), enduring righteousness (v.3), never shaken (v.6), remembered forever (v.6), no fear of bad news (v.7, which sounds glorious by the way), and apparently no fear at all (v.8) except of God (v.1). And maybe best of all, such a person will triumph over their foes (v.8) and make them vexed (v.10, NASB). I don’t really know what vexed is, but I think it just means that those defeated foes are sore losers. And finally, it appears as if a heavenly spotlight follows such a righteous person around, like a broadway superstar (v.4).
This all feels very inspiring. However, it simultaneously feels very shaming, because my efforts at honoring God’s commands have not produced the beautiful pallette of attributes found in this compelling Psalm. Furthermore, I feel like I am more likely to vex the rule-keepers than I am to vex those who the rule-keepers call wicked. However, let me offer two points of context that seem important for this Psalm.
This is an acrostic poem, meaning that each half-line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. That might be interesting, but it probably doesn’t change anything. However, the previous psalm is also an acrostic. Some see significance in the pairing of these two psalms and suggest that they might have been sung in worship together. This would imply that we could consider Psalm 111 as important context for Psalm 112. (Hold that thought.)
Jesus tells us emphatically that the “command” is this, love one another (John 15:12). So the metric by which I live is not in increments of dollars (wealth), or blood pressure readings (no fear or being shaken), or longevity (remembered forever). The metric is simply love.
I still have to admit that my reservoir of love could use some replenishing. That’s where I think the link to Psalm 111 is so important. Psalm 111 describes the great works of God. What God writes into the fabric of the universe is glorious, majestic, faithful, just, and trustworthy. God commanded or spoke these attributes into existence. The invitation is to ponder these things; delight in God’s commands. Do the inner work of reflection, awe, contemplation and gratitude. Find the innumerable ways that God has woven these very things into you. Then Psalm 112 becomes nothing more than allowing the divine Spirit within to find expression in every way that you and I live. I bet you will find that the inner foes of doubt, self-loathing, angst, and fear will be vexed, and eventually waste away to nothing (112:10).
Prayer
Lord, when I have surpassed my emotional capacity for bad news, when I take a punch in the gut by what is supposedly good news, or when I feel like the clumsiest one on the floor because I can’t stick the landing, take me to the place where love begets love, and where the boxer and ballerina within (the masculine and feminine parts of me) learn each other’s rhythms and moves, and drink a toast to the sum being greater than the parts. Amen