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Psalm 150 Hope Mennonite Church August 25, 2019 God’s Music: #2

***8/31/19 On “tambourine” and “dance,” see also Jeremiah 31:4. Again, the imagery is feminine, “Virgin Israel.”

Praise is Us! (Additional Scriptures referred to: Habakkuk 3:17-19; Isaiah 12:4-5; Exodus 15:20-21; Psalms 131:2, 42:8, 8:1-9, 1:1-6)

In the six verses that make up , the command to praise appears 13 times. It’s not difficult to discern the theme of Psalm 150. Thirteen commands to praise in six verses: I’d say that’s an insistent call to worship! Praise is us!

Equally important are verses 3-5. Now I’m going to get a little grammatical here. In verses 3-

5, there are six occurrences of “praise him with.” Those six prepositions with are followed by nine objects of the preposition. And those nine objects, with which to praise the LORD, are eight different kinds of musical instruments and one mention of dance. So, the worship that Psalm

150 insistently invites us to and commends is a highly musical, instrumental, participatory, and physical activity.

The pre-school version of Psalm 150 would be this: “If you’re happy and you know it strum a harp. If you’re happy and you know it, blow a horn. If you’re happy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you’re happy and you know it, bang a drum.” If you love the LORD, make some noise! Praise is us!

Praise is the exuberant expression of awe and wonder and gratitude to God. Praise comes from focusing on the positive side of life. The positive side is, of course, not all of human experience. That’s why two-thirds of the Psalms are laments. Laments grant us permission to express the negative side of human experience, and to do so as worship. There’s more to life and more to spiritual life than praise. Everybody sings the blues sometimes. Everybody needs to vent sometimes. It’s good to know that the Book of Psalms has the whole range of our spirituality covered. 2

Sometimes our praise expresses more than where we’re at. When my friend John Landes lost his wife of 60 years, he spent an hour every day singing. Often, he was singing through tears.

Praise doesn’t deny grief. Praise does transform it.

Sometimes praise is calling ourselves beyond ourselves … like calling ourselves to remember our belonging to God from which nothing can separate us. That’s worth remembering and praising … that our relationship to God is untouchable, even in the wear and tear of life, even in life’s complexities and irresolutions.

Sometimes praise functions to call ourselves beyond ourselves. Habakkuk 3:17-19 is that kind of text—calling ourselves to praise, even in the most difficult circumstances. Here are the words: Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no fruit on the vines. Even though the produce of the olive tree drops, and the fields yield no food. Even though sheep disappear from the fold, and there are no cattle in the stalls. Yet, I will praise the LORD. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Beyond where we’re at, praise is a resolve that transforms us.

Praise is not denial of life’s challenges. Praise does transform our relationship to life’s challenges.

Praise is also a witness. Praise proclaims God’s power and goodness and wisdom and generosity. Isaiah 12:4-5 say this: Sing praises to the LORD … Make known his wondrous deeds among the nations … Proclaim that his name is exalted … God has done gloriously. Let this be known throughout the earth. Praise is a celebration and a witness … a proclamation of God’s power and goodness and wisdom and generosity.

So, Psalm 150 contains 13 invitations to praise the LORD … a very insistent call to worship!

There’s also something else in Psalm 150 that occurs 13 times. This something else may not be quite as savory for some people: In the Hebrew text, there are 13 occurrences of masculine pronouns referring to God … him him him him his his his his. You don’t have to identify as a feminist to notice that’s an awful lot of “he.” 3

Preference for masculine gender is a conventional feature of biblical Hebrew, just like it is for

English. I have chosen to keep the masculine pronouns in my translation because trying to get around them produces awkward English. I do, however, acknowledge that this high density of male terminology can be off-putting for some people.

Now there’s one detail of Psalm 150 which partly makes up for this patriarchal language. It’s the words tambourine and dance. I believe these terms are a deliberate reference to Exodus 15.

In Exodus 15, God has delivered Israel from the Egyptian army. God’s people have passed safely through the sea. To celebrate their deliverance, the prophet Miriam and all the women take their tambourines and dance and sing, as they lead Israel in worship (Exodus 15:20-21). This allusion to female leadership in worship eases the burden of masculine pronouns a little.

This July we had the MCUSA General Assembly in Kansas City. It was the first time all the worship services had the adults and youth together. The worship was exuberant. Most of the music had lots of energy. There were tambourines. There was dance in the form of conga lines. It was an extroverted worship experience, quite resonant with Psalm 150. Praise is us! If you love the

LORD, make some noise!

Of course, faithful worship can also be quiet, reflective, meditative. And some of us are pretty-well geared that way. That’s O.K.! Psalm 150 simply grants permission at one end of the worship spectrum. It allows for worship that is active and expressive. Well, the major worship occasions for Israel were festivals or feasts. They were large gatherings to remember the great events of God’s deliverance. And those occasions indeed “called for songs of loudest praise.”

At the other end of the spectrum of spirituality, we have worship that is introverted and contemplative. Those styles too are reflected in the Psalms … like Psalm 131:2, I have calmed and composed my inner being like a child in its mother’s embrace … or, like Psalm 42:8, Through the night [that is, when everyone is quiet and sleeping] the LORD’s song is with me—as a prayer to the

God of my life … or, like … a private contemplation of a starry night and wonder at God’s 4 care for us. The Book of Psalms has the whole range of our spirituality covered—from exuberant to contemplative and everything else in-between.

Friends, Psalm 150 concludes the marvelous collection of Psalms. So, the Book of Psalms ends with a call to praise God. begins the collection. It is a call to obey God—an encouragement to choose and follow God’s way. So, the bookends of the whole collection are obedience and praise. According to the Book of Psalms, if we do those two things—obey God and praise God—we experience the good life.

Elements of Worship

Scripture Reading Psalm 150

1Praise the LORD!

Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his mighty heaven! 2Praise him for his powerful deeds! Praise him as befits his abundant greatness!

3Praise him with the blast of the ram’s horn! Praise him with harp and lyre! 4Praise him with tambourine and dance! Praise him with stringed instruments and flute! 5Praise him with loud cymbals! Praise him with loud crashing cymbals!

6Let every creature that has breath praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD!