A few years ago, a sad and hungry woman was in the parking lot of the church where I worked in Dallas.
I did a quick Google search for things that people say they waste money on.
The list of Bible characters in the first of this passage is sometimes called the Faith Hall of Fame.
The people of God are in trouble; they have been nearly destroyed at the hands of their enemies.
When we read the Psalms, some background history of the Bible stories about Israel are important.
The prophet Jeremiah delivered angry messages to God’s people who had ignored their agreement with God.
The gospels don’t elaborate on it, but scholars have uncovered the history of conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews.
This psalm follows the familiar pattern of praising God from one end of the universe to the other (from here to there, from there to here, to borrow from the ideas of Dr. Suess).