Music for Sunday, 17th June 2018: Third Sunday After Trinity, Year B

The readings for this week are:

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 (Continuous)
Psalm 20 (Continuous)
Ezekiel 17:22-24 (Related)
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 (Related)
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 [11-13] 14-17
Mark 4:26-34

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13: Samuel anoints David, son of Jesse, at God’s instruction.

Psalm 20: A prayer for victory. Some take pride in horses and chariots, but we trust in the Lord.

Ezekiel 17:22-24: The Lord will plant a shoot on top of a high mountain and all the birds and winged creatures will shelter in it. All the other trees will know that the Lord is God.

Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15: A song of thanksgiving for the longevity of the righteous.

2 Corinthians 5:6-17: Christ died for all, so that those who live might live for him; if anyone lives in Christ there is a new creation.

Mark 4:26-34: The Kingdom of God is like the sower, who sows seed, doesn’t really understand how it turns into grain, and eventually goes in with the sickle when it’s time for harvest. Also the Kingdom of God is like the tiny mustard seed that grows into the greatest of all shrubs.

As it is in heaven by Dale Trumbore sets text from Leo Tolstoy’s meditation on the Lord’s Prayer, excerpted from his essay “On Reason, Faith and Prayer.”

Do listen and buy sheet music via her site.

Music for Sunday, 10th June 2018: 2nd after Trinity, Year B

The readings for this Sunday are:


1 Samuel 18:4-11 [12-15] 16-20 [11:14-15] (Continuous)
Psalm 138 (Continuous)
Genesis 3:8-15 (Related)
Psalm 130 (Related)
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Mark 3:20-35
.

http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Pentecost_IV

1 Samuel: Saul is getting pretty jealous of David’s military victories and the resulting praise from the Israelites.

Psalm 138: a song of thanksgiving and praise to God, for preservation from and victory over one’s enemies.

Genesis 3:8-15: The man and the woman (that’s Adam and Eve), having eaten of the tree God told them not to, know that they are naked, and hide from God when he calls them. The man blames “the woman who you gave to me” for tricking him into eating the fruit; the woman blames the snek serpent. God curses the serpent.

Psalm 130: a song of waiting for divine redemption, waiting on God’s word in hope.

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1: waiting in faith for the glory of resurrection — the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus.

Mark 3:20-35: Pharisees saying that Jesus has demons in him and that’s why he can cast them out; Jesus’s denouncement of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; relationship to Jesus through doing the will of God: ‘Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’

The connection is a bit tenous, but Cecilia McDowell’s De Profundis (Night Raid) does draw on Psalm 130. It’s really a commemoration of WWI, though, so probably only suitable if you happen to be looking at that this Sunday.

Also using the Related set of readings, you could go with a Salve Regina — particularly for the reference to humankind as “poor banished children of Eve”, and the sense of waiting for redemption. Here’s one by Jocelyn Hagen.

Another piece which focuses on this faithful waiting for God is As the Pauper Waits for Plenty by Rosalie Bonighton.