Saturday, April 08, 2006
wedding scripture
I have been asked to choose and read Scripture at a wedding today. What a privilge, to weave a Biblical narrative into a day of joy and celebration. Somewhere in the back of my mind was a thought that I had once read a Psalm that blessed a wedding. So I went digging and adapting and I’m struck again by the way that the Bible so accurately reads our lives.
We gather today and were probably thinking;
Wow, doesnt the bride look beautiful
And perhaps with a touch of surprise; Gee, doesnt the groom scrub up well.
The Bible captures our feelings. In Psalm 45, it brings the beauty of the bride, and the handsomeness of the groom, and our hopes for a great marriage, all into the presence of God.
Listen with me to Psalm 45, slightly adapted. Titled in my Bible, a wedding song.
1My heart bursts its banks, spilling beauty and goodness.
I pour it out in a poem,
To the groom
2″You’re the handsomest of men;
every word from your lips is sheer grace,
and God has blessed you, blessed you so much.
Accept praise! Accept due honor!
4Ride on the side of truth! Ride for the righteous!
6″Make your throne God’s throne, ever, always;
May you love the right and hate the wrong.
And that is why God, your very own God,
poured fragrant oil on your head,
Marking you out as a leader.
To the bride;
10″Now listen, bride, don’t miss a word:
forget your country, put your home behind you.
11Be here–the king is wild for you.
And some good news for bride and groom;
12Wedding gifts pour in from afar;
rich guests shower you with presents.”
13(Your wedding dress is dazzling, lined with gold by the weavers;
You are led to the king,
15A procession of joy and laughter!
a grand entrance to the church building!)
And then the hopes of all of us who gather here today;
17May God make you and your marriage famous for generations; the talk of the town, for a long, long time.”
)
we had ephesians 5:22-33 at ours. we had no idea what scripture was going to be read (i trusted my good friend to pick a suitable one) and i have to say i was stoked !
Comment by andrew brown — April 8, 2006 @ 1:30 pm
Andrew, thanks for sharing. I’m interested in the choice to start at verse 22 and not at verse 21 – Honor Christ and put others first. Submission is problematic in our culture and reading verse 21 allows a starting point in which both human parties practice mutual servanthood, before dealing specifically with marriage. Could verse 21 change the way the whole passage is both heard and understood?
peace, steve
Comment by steve — April 8, 2006 @ 4:11 pm
to be honest, my friend may or may not have actually said that verse, i can’t honestly remember, when he read the line, well, i wasn’t in the calmest of states.
do i think v21 changes the way it’s heard and understood? i guess it does make it more accurate, but in saying that, adding more scripture to a verse ALWAYS makes it better. i learnt the 3 c’s of bible study, context context context, without context, what worth is any scripture apart from a ‘nice’ sounding piece.
i don’t think the passage is lost without that v21 but i agree, v21 is like an awesome foundation for the rest of the verse really.
my wife and i are thinking of coming along to opawa one night, if so i’ll come say hi (if i work out who you are)
Comment by andrew brown — April 9, 2006 @ 1:32 am