Will you join the symphony of praise with your unique voice?
We have a wonderful calling: to know God, glorify him, even enjoy him. This is worship. By our words and works, we live with him and for him, give thanks to him, and praise him.
May I speak in the name of the living God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
In the children's talk, we heard how birds give us joy through their songs. And by faith, we believe they are also worshipping God in their unique way. The universe also paints pictures for us daily as it displays God's majesty and creativity. Likewise, we also make music to offer our praises to God. But there is a significant difference between the animal kingdom, the material kingdom, and us. They don't choose to praise God, they just display it naturally, instinctively. We, however, choose to worship God or not. We choose to give him glory or not when he helps us to achieve something. We choose to sing to him or not.
We choose... Other creatures and things, as powerful and beautiful as they may be, do not choose. Interestingly, this points to our highest calling, which we can accept and put into practice or not. Various passages in the Bible explain this calling
and Christian thinkers have tried to capture this in words. One formulation that seems very good to me is found in the Westminster Catechism, which begins with this question (and I've made it more contemporary): What is the main purpose of humanity? The answer: Humanity's main purpose is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever [b].
This is a beautiful expression of our purpose, and it can shape our whole worldview, that is, how we view God, how we view the world, how we view others, and how we understand ourselves and our purpose and existence. One author writes, 'Worship is therefore a defining human activity. It's as basic to our being as thinking and working, reading and singing, laughing and playing. I worship, therefore I am'. Sometimes our worship, through words and works, flows quite nicely. We feel inspired to live closely to God, to say thanks to God for good health, good friends, good food, success at work, and so on. We may even feel inspired to say a prayer of thanks or sing a familiar hymn.
But sometimes we may find it difficult to pray to God, to thank him, let alone praise him, with our words and with our works. All this is what worship means. So, it's not just a Sunday morning activity, but a daily and lifelong walk with the living God. We may feel stuck or even unwilling to worship. It can happen that we choose not to worship, neither on Sundays, nor the rest of the week. How do we get 'unstuck', get out of the rut when we don't feel like living with and for God?
Psalm 111 can help us to look upward to God and remember who he is and what he has done and still does. It is like we need a little jump start or need to prime the pump, to get the motor started until our thoughts and wills are back in sync with our creator. Let's have a look at what the psalmist says in this moving praise to God.
Like many psalms, this psalm begins with one of the most famous words in Hebrew: Halleluia, which literally means: 'Praise Jah' that is, 'praise Yahvé', the God of Israel. This psalm is a praise psalm from beginning to end. That is its scope. It invites us to direct our attention to the Creator of the entire universe, for there is no other. Next, the psalmist encourages us to think about our disposition: 'I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the faithful and in the congregation.'
So, we pray by remembering to be thankful for who God is and for what he does for us. We are encouraged to do this with our whole heart. This is a basic summary of the whole psalm, because the following verses do mainly two things. First, they recall God's qualities. He is righteous, gracious, compassionate, mindful or faithful, holy, and awesome. These qualities may seem 'normal'; that is indeed who God is. But Israel's God was very different from the gods of the other peoples. He is qualitatively different, and he has shown this in creation and in history. This leads to the second point. God's works display his character in creation and for his people. The psalmist names a few of God's works: majesty, splendour, faithfulness, justice, sure, truth, and equity.
Another point in the psalm that helps us to worship God is to remember that when God does something, it has eternal value. It is placed within the greater picture of his plan to bring reconciliation to the world through Jesus and through his covenant with the Jewish people. We see that God has time, space, and our very existence in his hands. Verse 3 says 'his righteousness endures forever', verse 8 'all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever', verse 9 'he commanded his covenant for ever', and, finally, the last verse 'his praise endures for ever'.
The psalm then concludes with the 'punchline' where wisdom and praise are connected: 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have those who live by it; his praise endures for ever.' It makes sense: based on God's character and deeds which are eternal, wisdom means that we would do well to join all of creation in praising him, because 'his praise endures for ever.' Wisdom can be understood as knowing something that is good and healthy for us and living accordingly. Ignoring it is unwise. Worshipping God is a good thing!
Now, Psalm 111 is only one of 150 psalms to choose from. The psalms display a good variety. For example, some psalms address very difficult questions like the sense of abandonment, persecution, and moral failure. Various psalms can help us in difficult situations. They offer us examples of honest prayers when we are perplexed and discouraged. What is helpful about Psalm 111 is that it is positive, reminding us to remember God's qualities and deeds for us. It is an encouraging psalm to pray when we want to praise God or when we are struggling to worship God.
But the psalms are not the only 'helps' we have at our disposition when we struggle with our worship. In our reading from Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives us an idea of what it means to worship God. He expresses this very concisely, 'be filled with the Spirit'. Then he gives us an idea what it means to be filled with the Spirit: 'as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' (vv. 19-20)
Paul also mentions three types of praise: 'psalms', then 'hymns' and 'spiritual songs'. The psalms are the poetic compositions passed down in the Jewish tradition. The hymns may be understood as the earliest compositions by Christians (cf. Acts 16:25), which were used during public worship. The spiritual songs may be those spontaneous expressions of praise that were inspired by the presence of the Holy Spirit (e.g. 1 Cor 14:15). In any case, all three show that the earliest Christians were equipped to worship God when they were together and when they were alone.
So, how does all this translate into practice? It is good to equip ourselves with a variety of psalms, hymns, and, through God's help, also spiritual songs. Psalm 23 is a prime example of an ancient psalm that continues to encourage and comfort believers throughout the world. And you probably have a few favourite hymns that help you to regain a worshipful attitude. For example, if you're Welsh, and I do think we have some Welsh among us, the opening bars and verses of 'Guide me, O thou great Redeemer' are enough to get you started…
Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven
Feed me till I want no more.
Feed me till I want no more.
You don't have to be Welsh to be caught up in this worship! And many other hymns can transport us in mind and spirit.
Now, for the expression 'spiritual songs', we may ask God to give us a song, a poem, a phrase to encourage us to stay connected with him throughout the day. Today's Collect recognizes this: 'Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray and to give more than either we desire or deserve.' The Holy Spirit can help us to have a worshipful attitude or regain it if we've lost it.
Some final thoughts to take home with us. God's praise endures forever. The entire universe is caught up in his praise, from the vast galaxies above, to the wonders of the earth, and to the mysterious depths of the sea. Will we join this symphony of praise that all creation raises to God? What parts will we play in the symphony? How will your unique 'voice' sound? That is, your manner of worship through words and works. It's not about how well we can sing, but about whom we worship and how we worship, with our words and works, because 'God's praise endures forever.' Amen