Psalms for Today: A Hymn of Praise
Pentecost 3 (Narrative Lectionary 3 – Summer)
Psalm 100
June 9, 2013
Whenever I read Psalm 100 I think of Patricia, a former music director at my last congregation. Patricia is a gifted organist and choir director who did an amazing job with a girl’s youth chorus. She has a wonderful sense of how to accompany the congregation in singing and she is a gifted organist; she would play Widor’s Toccata as a postlude for every service on Easter Sunday. I think of Patricia when I read or hear Psalm 100 because it is her favorite psalm, probably because it is a psalm of worship, a hymn of praise. I think of Psalm 100 as a musician’s psalm.
However, I also think of Psalm 100 as a non-musicians psalm. After all, it says that we are to make a joyful noise to the Lord, and I take that seriously. I love to sing, but I tend to change keys in the middle of songs, sometimes in mid-measure. That’s why I enjoy leading worship services in nursing homes; they think I sound wonderful.
Today is the second in a six-part sermon series on the psalms. Last week Psalm 1 introduced us to the psalms by asserting that the psalms are for today. They not only teach us something, but they are also a resource for life by connecting us to the source of life: God. As today’s scripture introduction suggests, there is a helpful way of categorizing the psalms devised by Walter Brueggemann: there are psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation, and psalms of reorientation. Psalm 100 is considered to be a psalm of orientation. Psalms of orientation literally point us in the right direction, much like a compass or GPS. We need to be properly oriented because there are so many negative influences in our society.
As I listen to the chatter in the media and society, not to mention religious circles, about the value of churches, a lot of it claims that churches are a thing of the past, akin to dinosaurs. Now, I agree that God is continually remaking communities of faith to serve God’s mission to love and bless the world. After all, changing contexts demand fresh approaches to speaking the good news of Jesus Christ. However, what often gets lost in the shuffle is the importance of worship, how praising God and proclaiming his goodness takes us outside of ourselves. Our rituals point us toward the one we can trust.
Did you know that gathering for worship is not just a theological statement but a political one? By political, I don’t mean that worship favors one political party or ideology over another. At the time of the psalmist, the temple and the king’s palace were side by side. Both had gates and courts. The psalmist declares that it is into the temple’s gates and court that we come, praising God as the one who saves. It is God in whom we put our trust, not kings, presidents, or congress. When the early church declared that “Jesus is Lord,” they were saying that Caesar is not. That is as much a political challenge as it is a confession of faith. We put our trust in God because God is the only one that shows faithfulness to all generations.
All of this is summed up in the claim that God’s steadfast love endures forever. “Steadfast love” is a recurring trait of God in the Bible; it occurs 171 times in the Old Testament, 110 of those in the Psalms. Do you think it’s important? Yes! God’s steadfast love means that God is trustworthy, faithful, and reliable all the time. We see this in one of the most pervasive images in the Bible: God shepherds us as we are God’s beloved sheep.
I’ve gotten a glimpse of what God as the Good Shepherd must be like as I have worked with Merlin, our Building and Grounds Supervisor. Merlin is a raiser and tender of sheep. I have learned a lot about sheep from Merlin, but he has also taught me about shepherds. Merlin makes sure he is present whenever lambs are born, helping them and ensuring their survival. I can tell by the softness in his voice how important each and everyone are to him and how devastated he is when he loses one of them. So then, imagine how much greater God’s steadfast love is for us.
I’ll say more about God’s steadfast love next week as we look at Psalm 13, a psalm of disorientation, one that gives expression to the confusion we experience when life throws us for a loop. For now, whether we are a musician or a wannabe musician, we proclaim God’s goodness and steadfast love, orienting our lives to the places where true life can be found. God calls us outside of ourselves to work with God to heal our broken world, bringing hope to those in despair. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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