Praise Stands on Its Own
Praise Stands on Its Own Rev. David Baak Psalm 96
The Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time June 2, 2013 Psalm 96 1O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. 5For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. 10Say among the nations, “The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.” 11Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth. * * * This morning, with our recognition of graduates and commissioning of high school and middle school mission trips, is clearly about praise to God. And we use the psalms to focus us. The lectionary reading today is Psalm 96: “O Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” We began the service with the words of Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise…come into the presence of the Lord with singing.” The words from Psalm 47 in the bulletin helped us prepare for worship: “Shout to God with loud songs of joy…sing praises, sing praises.” And that shows up in the anthem the Kirk Singers just sang: “Joyous Alleluias.” Just look through the Kirk Singer program—how often the word, or surely the emotion, of “praise” is used. It’s a wonderful program, and we praise God for your talent and thank you for leading us today in praise. Have you ever been so happy you could hardly contain yourself? Isn’t that close to how you graduates feel about completing school? I was at a high school graduation a week ago where the “senior speeches,” the cheers, and the caps in the air would seem to suggest that those young people were feeling really good about that occasion. That is the emotion that these psalms of praise brought out in the people of Israel. Psalm 96 was probably used to celebrate the coronation anniversary of the king—it is a song of praise, a song simply of honoring the king. But it comes from the period in Israel’s life after the temple was destroyed, after the people were taken into exile, and after the kings were eliminated—really, from a time when all Israel had was memories of their kingdom and faith. It is their faith that helps them to move past a physical kingdom and a king that they no longer could see to a celebration of God, ruler of all creation, who can not be seen, except as a matter of Because sermons are prepared with an emphasis on verbal presentation, the written accounts may occasionally stray from proper grammar and punctuation.
Praise Stands on Its Own faith, by way of such things as worship and praise. Faith is the means by which the joy we share with each other in our relationships can help us understand our relationship with God. Faith is about many things; and surely, that includes that faith is about feeling good—so good that we can hardly contain ourselves. It is the feeling that is expressed by praise. Take a look at the Nativity window or the Good Shepherd window in the sanctuary. I have a really good feeling when I look at each one. What is it you feel when you see the figures or the shapes; what is it that you sense when you look at, or look through, the colors themselves They have a life of their own; the color, itself, creates a sensation in our minds that sometimes we can actually feel. I think it is a “happy” feeling; it is a good feeling, deep inside. We call it beauty. There is something intrinsically beautiful, something beautiful in and of itself, about the colors that doesn’t depend on the picture or the story of the window. Beauty is a quality in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Just as one of these windows makes us feel good, so does praise. In a very real sense, we are in the same situation as were the Israelites. Just as they knew that their ancestors, hundreds of years before had been ruled by kings and had worshiped in a temple, we know about Jesus—God with us—physically one of us, who is here now only in spirit. Their worship, their praise—and ours—is a metaphor for our faith. Praise is not faith. But, praise demonstrates our faith; it points to our faith. And as such, it has intrinsic value—it is valuable in and of itself, just like beauty. Praise stands on its own. We at Westminster spend a lot of energy defining faith in terms of service. And of course, it is that—that’s part of the reason that every other year we commission our young people to go on a service trip to places like Philadelphia or Denver or Benton Harbor. And, how many times have we heard or talked about our emphasis on mission and participation and of establishing relationships that are transforming and improving the physical situations of persons? But we also commission you to go to Montreat—and to Sleeping Bear Dunes—for education, for music, for reflection, for study, for enjoying nature, for recreation. Really, all of these help us understand faith. They, too, are mission. And all of this is praise. So, we commission you this morning to go and experience the beauty of your faith, to go and feel good about your faith as you discover the beauty of God in all those places you will be and as you sing the psalms and the songs. Sing with a feeling that you can’t quite contain—just as you sang in your response to the assurance of God’s grace this morning. Indeed, “How can you keep from singing?” Indeed, how can we all keep from singing? In the name of God: Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen Psalm 100 1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Grand Rapids, MI
Page 2 of 2
June 2, 2013
The Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time June 2, 2013 Psalm 96 1O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. 5For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. 10Say among the nations, “The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.” 11Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth. * * * This morning, with our recognition of graduates and commissioning of high school and middle school mission trips, is clearly about praise to God. And we use the psalms to focus us. The lectionary reading today is Psalm 96: “O Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” We began the service with the words of Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise…come into the presence of the Lord with singing.” The words from Psalm 47 in the bulletin helped us prepare for worship: “Shout to God with loud songs of joy…sing praises, sing praises.” And that shows up in the anthem the Kirk Singers just sang: “Joyous Alleluias.” Just look through the Kirk Singer program—how often the word, or surely the emotion, of “praise” is used. It’s a wonderful program, and we praise God for your talent and thank you for leading us today in praise. Have you ever been so happy you could hardly contain yourself? Isn’t that close to how you graduates feel about completing school? I was at a high school graduation a week ago where the “senior speeches,” the cheers, and the caps in the air would seem to suggest that those young people were feeling really good about that occasion. That is the emotion that these psalms of praise brought out in the people of Israel. Psalm 96 was probably used to celebrate the coronation anniversary of the king—it is a song of praise, a song simply of honoring the king. But it comes from the period in Israel’s life after the temple was destroyed, after the people were taken into exile, and after the kings were eliminated—really, from a time when all Israel had was memories of their kingdom and faith. It is their faith that helps them to move past a physical kingdom and a king that they no longer could see to a celebration of God, ruler of all creation, who can not be seen, except as a matter of Because sermons are prepared with an emphasis on verbal presentation, the written accounts may occasionally stray from proper grammar and punctuation.
Praise Stands on Its Own faith, by way of such things as worship and praise. Faith is the means by which the joy we share with each other in our relationships can help us understand our relationship with God. Faith is about many things; and surely, that includes that faith is about feeling good—so good that we can hardly contain ourselves. It is the feeling that is expressed by praise. Take a look at the Nativity window or the Good Shepherd window in the sanctuary. I have a really good feeling when I look at each one. What is it you feel when you see the figures or the shapes; what is it that you sense when you look at, or look through, the colors themselves They have a life of their own; the color, itself, creates a sensation in our minds that sometimes we can actually feel. I think it is a “happy” feeling; it is a good feeling, deep inside. We call it beauty. There is something intrinsically beautiful, something beautiful in and of itself, about the colors that doesn’t depend on the picture or the story of the window. Beauty is a quality in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Just as one of these windows makes us feel good, so does praise. In a very real sense, we are in the same situation as were the Israelites. Just as they knew that their ancestors, hundreds of years before had been ruled by kings and had worshiped in a temple, we know about Jesus—God with us—physically one of us, who is here now only in spirit. Their worship, their praise—and ours—is a metaphor for our faith. Praise is not faith. But, praise demonstrates our faith; it points to our faith. And as such, it has intrinsic value—it is valuable in and of itself, just like beauty. Praise stands on its own. We at Westminster spend a lot of energy defining faith in terms of service. And of course, it is that—that’s part of the reason that every other year we commission our young people to go on a service trip to places like Philadelphia or Denver or Benton Harbor. And, how many times have we heard or talked about our emphasis on mission and participation and of establishing relationships that are transforming and improving the physical situations of persons? But we also commission you to go to Montreat—and to Sleeping Bear Dunes—for education, for music, for reflection, for study, for enjoying nature, for recreation. Really, all of these help us understand faith. They, too, are mission. And all of this is praise. So, we commission you this morning to go and experience the beauty of your faith, to go and feel good about your faith as you discover the beauty of God in all those places you will be and as you sing the psalms and the songs. Sing with a feeling that you can’t quite contain—just as you sang in your response to the assurance of God’s grace this morning. Indeed, “How can you keep from singing?” Indeed, how can we all keep from singing? In the name of God: Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen Psalm 100 1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Grand Rapids, MI
Page 2 of 2
June 2, 2013
