Praying with the Psalms in Pentecost: 9 June 2022 (Psalm 106)

‘Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach …’ (Psalm 106: 23) … a statue of Moses in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Before today begins, I am taking some time this morning to continue my reflections from the seasons of Lent and Easter, including my morning reflections drawing on the Psalms.

In my blog, I am reflecting each morning in this Prayer Diary in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 106:

Psalm 106 is the final psalm in Book 4 (Psalms 90-106) of the Hebrew psalter. This is one of the longer psalms, and has 48 verses. It is sometimes known by its Latin name Confitemini. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this psalm is counted as Psalm 105.

Psalms 105 and 106, the two psalms that end Book 4 of the Hebrew psalms, are closely related. Psalm 105 gives thanks for God’s faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham; Psalm 106 is a psalm of penitence, reciting the history of Israel’s faithlessness and disobedience.

This psalm and Psalm 107 are closely connected together, and the division of the fourth and fifth books does not correspond to any difference of source or character, as is the case in the other books.

Psalm 106 continue the themes Exodus themes in the previous Psalm, Psalm 105.

The first portion of this Psalm moves from praise and thanksgiving to petition and confession, through the full range of human emotion and the complexities of our relationship with God, relying on God’s continuing faithfulness.

The second portion of this Psalm moves to a confessional tone.

The closing words in verse 48 correspond to the concluding verses of Psalms 41 and 89, that end Books 1 and 3 of the psalter. The liturgical direction ‘let all the people say, ‘Amen.’ Praise the Lord!’ seems to imply that the doxology here is not a mere mark of the end of the Fourth Book, but was actually sung at the close of the Psalm.

In some Jewish traditions, this psalm is recited on the second day of Passover.

Arthur Szyk’s illuminated ‘Haggadah’ retells the Jewish liberation from Pharaoh’s repression as a cry for European Jews in the 1930s

Psalm 106 (NRSVA):

1 Praise the Lord!
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
2 Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.

4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favour to your people;
help me when you deliver them;
5 that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory in your heritage.

6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.
7 Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wonderful works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
so that he might make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry;
he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe,
and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.

13 But they soon forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and put God to the test in the desert;
15 he gave them what they asked,
but sent a wasting disease among them.

16 They were jealous of Moses in the camp,
and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the faction of Abiram.
18 Fire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.

19 They made a calf at Horeb
and worshipped a cast image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Saviour,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

24 Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would disperse their descendants among the nations,
scattering them over the lands.

28 Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
and the plague was stopped.
31 And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness
from generation to generation for ever.

32 They angered the Lord at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account;
33 for they made his spirit bitter,
and he spoke words that were rash.

34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and prostituted themselves in their doings.

40 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he abhorred his heritage;
41 he gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes,
and were brought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he regarded their distress
when he heard their cry.
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.

47 Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.

48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, ‘Amen.’
Praise the Lord!

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘The Time to Act is Now!’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by Linet Musasa, of the Anglican Council of Zimbabwe.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (Thursday 9 June 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for climate activists and the climate movement. May we lend our voices to this movement, helping them to bring about positive change where possible.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

A manor house, a twisted chimney and the influential Prebendaries of Buckingham

The Manor House on Church Street, Buckingham and the adjoining and curiously named Twisted Chimney House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Three houses near the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Buckingham show the extensive power, prestige, influence and wealth of the church in the 16th century: the Manor House on Church Street, the adjoining and curiously named Twisted Chimney House, and Prebend House on Hunter Street.

The Manor House on Church Street was built in the early 16th century. The house has been altered from the 17th to the 20th century and is now divided into two houses, the Manor House and Twisted Chimney House.

The building was the manor house of the Prebendal Manor of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, one of the best-endowed prebends in Lincoln Cathedral, and with the largest corps of any prebend in pre-Reformation in England, including properties across Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.

The manor was held by successive Prebendaries of Sutton-cum-Buckingham. In the Middle Ages they included at least five cardinals, including: Neapoli Sancti Adriani (1303-1314); John de Albanum (1378-1381), later Dean of York; Perun de Sancti Georgii (1388); Cardinal Henry Beaufort (1389), grandson of Edward III and later Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor of England; and Henry (1389), a cardinal of Naples and Archdeacon of Canterbury.

Later prebendaries included Robert Gilbert (1420-1436), later Bishop of London, and William Ascough (1436-1438), later Bishop of Salisbury.

Evidence for dating this house is found in the large original stone fireplace, with its deep hollow-chamfered Tudor-arched opening with foliage to the spandrels, and a frieze above with Tudor roses in quatrefoils alternating with heraldic shields. One of these shield bears three rings, believed to be the coat of arms of Richard Lavender, Prebendary of Buckingham in 1481-1507 and Archdeacon of Leicester.

The house remained the manor house of these prebendaries until the Dissolution, when Richard Cox (1542-1547), the last Prebendary of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, surrendered the prebend and manor in 1547 to the crown. Cox was also Dean of Christ Church Oxford (1543-1553), Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1547–1552), Dean of Westminster Abbey (1549-1553), and Bishop of Ely (1559-1583).

After the Tudor Reformation, the house passed into private hands and local lore says Queen Elizabeth I dined here in August 1568 when she was visiting Buckingham.

The house was used as a school at some time in the 18th century.

Manor House was at the centre of the Prebendal Manor of Sutton-cum-Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Manor House is a timber-framed house with brick infill, a plain-tile roof and brick lateral stacks. The hall range is flanked by two cross wings, and the left cross wing has been separated from the main house and is now known as Twisted Chimney House, noted for its distinctive red-brick chimney, artfully crafted into a wonderful helix shape.

The interesting architectural features of this house include a six-panel door with a moulded wood surround and straight hood on scrolled brackets; leaded casement windows; leaded wood mullion and transom windows; a cat-slide roof; and large brick stacks. The first floor was probably originally jettied.

Inside, the ground floor hall has been divided in two, with a stone-flagged floor and chamfered cross beam ceiling with broach stops. The large, early mid-18th century wood chimneypiece in the inner room has egg-and-dart ornament on the fireplace surround, a central lion’s mask and foliage sprays on the frieze.

The drawing room has a Tudor-arched oak doorway to the hall with quatrefoil and foliage to the spandrels in a square panelled timber-framed partition wall. The dog-leg stair has widely spaced turned balusters and the first floor has struts from the posts to tie beams.

On the façade of the Manor House, a plaque showing a cherubic-like infant recalls the legend that has survived of Saint Rumbold.

Twisted Chimney House has a distinctive red-brick chimney, crafted into a helix shape (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Twisted Chimney House or the left cross wing projects considerably at the front and has large arch braces from the end posts to a cambered tie beam, and sash windows, and a two-storey, possible former stair turret at the back of this wing. The large projecting stone lateral stack has a fine original barley-sugar twist brick flue, with an additional 18th century square brick flue behind.

Inside, Twisted Chimney House has a chamfered cross beam ceiling on the ground floor, stone-flagged floors in the hall and kitchen and a rebuilt stair with turned balusters. The three-bay roof has curved braces to the tie beams, queen posts to the collars and one tier of wind-braced purlins. The rear first first-floor room has part of original Tudor-arched fireplace with hollow-chamfer innermost and wave-moulding outermost.

The twisted chimney looks for all the world like a red-brick corkscrew.

The large projecting stone lateral stack has a fine original barley-sugar twist brick flue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Prebendaries of Sutton-cum-Buckingham in Lincoln Cathedral also gave their name to Prebend House on Hunter Street, although the first clear evidence of Prebend House is in John Speed’s map of Buckingham in 1610.

The name Prebend or Prebendary is given to many buildings in this part of Buckinghamshire and John Speed’s map shows a large house, Prebend End Manor, on the site of the Island Car Park.

Like other houses on Hunter Street in the 17th century, Prebend House was probably occupied by a tanner and Speed’s map shows tanning pits in the gardens between the house and the river. The preparation of leather was then an important industry in Buckingham and much of it was sent to Northampton, which became the most important centre for boot and shoe making in England.

Prebend House was remodelled in the early 19th century to give it a more modern and fashionable exterior. Some elegant panelling was installed in ground floor and first floor rooms, although vandals have destroyed this in recent years.

AC Rogers, a prominent figure in the town and several times mayor, lived at Prebend House in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was an agricultural merchant and a breeder of champion shire horses, and his business took up many of the buildings on Hunter Street.

Rogers was a supporter of the Temperance Movement and welcomed the Salvation Army of Buckingham. The founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, a regular guest of Rogers at Prebend House.

The University of Buckingham commissioned the restoration of Prebend House in 2010. Removing single- and two-storey additions to the south and north, highlighting the original proportions of this listed building with its imposing stucco classical façade, and stabilising the building.

As for Bishop Richard Cox, the last Prebendary of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, one of his grandsons, Richard Cox, moved to Ireland ca 1600, and was the ancestor of the Cox baronets of Dunmanway, Co Cork.

The Prebendaries of Sutton-cum-Buckingham gave their name to Prebend House on Hunter Street, although the house first appears in 1610 on John Speed’s map of Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)