OT Notes first sunday Advent 2012 Jer. 33:14-16, Ps. 25:1-10

Jer.33:14-16
this section is not in the Septuagint, so it may be earlier. Would need to check if it is in the DSS, so it could be some sort of addition, or LXX could be edited I suppose, but we usually think shorter material  is closer.to original, this closes the little book of consolation, and that in itself could be a good entry point for Advent.
1) we pick up on Jer. 23:5-6 as an extension of hope.
2) righteous Branch shares  first sounds (ts) with sprout-are we correct in assuming that the sprout comes from something cut off or even chopped down? What are some good images or vignettes that would make clear a sprout emerging from the ashes, such as the phoenix?
3) Please notice the new name of Judah: God is our righteousness-to me righteousness in the OT is relational, but that includes our relations with the least of these: the traditional concern of Jewish ethics, the widow, the alien, the orphan.(A good example of this reading of righteousness is the book Mighty from their Thrones by Walsh).
4) Since 9/11 we read the hope for safety more directly. Of course, crime’s evil power makes us aware of personal safety, as well as the media reports of disasters of all types.
5) The image here obviously is reworked over time. How do Christians cleave to the same image and how have we changed it? We still do not see its promise fulfilled. How do you handle that in Advent? Can we, should we, spiritualize it?
Ps. 25:1-10
We live in a great period of Psalms study with names such as James Limburg, james Mays, our own Giddings-Lovejoy member Clinton McCann, Patrick Miller, William Holladay, and many others who may be connected to the Psalms group meeting in SBL. (I wonder if it says anything about my spirit that I mistype Psalms so frequently? for that matter, I mistype spiritual all the time too)For this psalm, it is an acrostic, so it has a device for easier recognition and recall. Also, it is very much concerned with learning. So, we could use some time to discuss Christian education and learning in differing venues. I was going through some CIFs (church information forms/want ads, in Presbyterian jargon) and noted the small percentage of active CE involvement v. the number of worshippers.
1) This is a plea against real enemies. i tend to read them as internal or external. I tend to include the enemy of cancer as well. At the same time one lifts up soul/nephesh/whole self to god.
2)put to shame is mentioned twice quickly. shame is a sense that we oftne repress or ignore, and it may do us well to reflect on it and its cure in salvation
3) 3-4 have the image of God as teacher, of torah as instruction/teaching more than law
4) 5-6 touch on the divine memory what should god be mindful of in hesed/steadfast love and what God should forget, sins.   
5) v. 10 tells us of the paths of v. 3-6) who are the humble do you think? Is this a virtue we honor in 2012? Do we see humility as a virtue any longer? Can we dare to call most American Christians to be of the humble?7) in v. 8 how does god instruct sinners? In your experience how does god instruct sinners?8) We only have to extend a bit the reading and we get the big three Hebrew words for sin. hata=hamartia =to miss the target-pata=transgressions/rebellion, and guilty -awon- has a sense of being twisted/bent out of shape/pushed down.this is a welcome antidote to our current view of sin as mistake. These views are all much deeper and less cognitive than our current way of speaking of sin.