Difference between revisions of "Sermon for June 12th, 2022"

Revision as of 16:57, 10 June 2022

Psalm 47:1-9

1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
    shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
    a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us
    and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
    the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

5 God has gone up with a shout,
    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the king of all the earth;
    sing praises with a psalm.

8 God is king over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted.

Psummer of Psalms - Psalm 47

Psalm 47:5 speaks of "going up with a shout." I'm reminded of the story about an airplane that was preparing for takeoff with a full load of passengers when the pilot and copilot came on board--both wearing dark sunglasses and tapping walking sticks for guidance. The passengers are understandably uncomfortable, but assume it must be some sort of practical joke, so they say nothing. As the plane begins to accelerate, the passengers see the end of the runway rapidly approaching, with certain doom awaiting at the end if the pilots really can't see what they're doing. Just before the end of the runway, all the passengers scream together--right before the plane lifts off. They're a little upset, but relieved that the pilots aren't really blind. Meanwhile, in the cockpit, the pilot turned to his copilot and remarked: "you know, Lou, one of these days they're not going to scream in time, and then we're gonna be in big trouble!"

Today is our first sermon in our annual Psummer of Psalms series. Some of you may remember that I like to begin the series with whatever Psalm happens to correspond to my age. A few weeks ago, I turned 47, so today we'll be talking about Psalm 47. By the way--If you've ever wanted to study the psalms more deeply, or even study the Bible more deeply, I highly recommend this practice: Each year, as you turn another year older, find the psalm that matches your age. You won't run out of Psalms until you turn 151. Make that Psalm your personal prayer for the year--read it on your birthday, print it out and tape it to your mirror, keep coming back to it throughout the year, and let God speak to you through the words, the rhythm, the images in the psalm.

Granted, this is a very slow way to study the Bible, but I think too often we rush through the psalms or other scripture passages and miss a lot of the nuance, the poetry that can only be appreciated through repetition and slow digestion. I think sometimes we also make the mistake, when we read the Bible or the Psalms, of sticking to the verses we like, or the ones that resonate with us. But if you pick the Psalm that matches your age--you might get lucky and find that it's an uplifting, inspirational psalm that will carry you through the next 365 days. But then sometimes, you'll get something like I did a few years ago on my 41st birthday:

"My enemies wonder in malice when I will die and my name perish. And when they come to see me, they utter empty words while their hearts gather mischief; when they go out, they tell it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me."

Be careful not to think of your Birthday Psalm as a self-fulfilling prophecy. My 41st year was actually not all that bad.