St. John’s United Church Service – January 31, 2021

Scripture: Psalm 111

Reader: Jane Wynne Reflection: Rev. Karen Verveda

SCRIPTURE READING:

Psalm 111 Alleluia! I will thank you, O God, with all my heart in the meeting of the just and their assembly. Great are your works, to be pondered by all who love them. Majestic and glorious are your works, and your justice stands firm forever. You make us remember your wonders— you are compassion and love. You give food to those who revere you, keeping your Covenant ever in mind. You reveal to your people the power of your actions by giving them the lands of the nations as their inheritance. The works of your hands are truth and justice, and all your precepts are sure, standing firm forever and ever, and carried out uprightly and faithfully. You have sent deliverance to your people and established your Covenant forever. Your Name is holy and awe-inspiring! Reverence for you, O God, is the beginning of wisdom— those who have it prove themselves wise. Your praise will last forever!

REFLECTION: In addition to being an poem Psalm 111 is one of several so named because they begin with the Hebrew words, Hallel – praise

1

and Yah – a shortened version of Yahweh, one of the Hebrew names for God. Which also tells us a little bit more about the origins of the word – ! And as Richard mentioned, this psalm calls us to a whole-hearted hallelujah. And yet, I was reminded this week, in a few different ways, that there are times in our lives when Hallel gets stuck in our throat and we can’t even call God’s name. One person I read reflecting on today’s psalm described going through such a time. One of his grandchildren, Molly, whom he describes as a sweet, super athletic 14 year old has just been told that she needs a pacemaker. A pacemaker!?! It seems that her heart has an electrical problem that will need constant regulation for the rest of her life! She is, understandably, sad and frightened and confused. And in spite of her strong adolescent faith, she is not exactly shouting, “Hallelujah.” these days. Neither is her grandfather. In fact, he has another reason that Hallelujah has been sticking in his throat. He is also concerned about learned that Owen a brilliant, sports loving 12 year old who currently plays 7th grade basketball. During or after his game last week, some prankster stole his team warm up jacket. This 12 year old is devastated, thinking that someone hates him enough to do a mean thing like that, that maybe even the whole team secretly hates him. He is, understandably, sad and angry and feeling desperately alone. The thought of praising God hasn’t even crossed his mind this week. As we listen to Psalm 111 today, and as we’re invited to sing along with Richard, it is good to remember that we or those around us

2

may be going through a time where the are stuck in our throats. In the midst of the everyday struggles of life it can become almost impossible to “extol the Lord with all our heart,” when we find ourselves not in “the council of the upright and in the assembly,” but in the sterile coldness of an operating room or the sweat soaked chaos of a locker room or other difficult circumstances. But the truth is that Psalm 111 is designed to help “tune our hearts to sing God’s praise,” as the old hymn, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing puts it. It is carefully constructed to help us find our way to singing God’s praise again. This is true of its form as well as its content. In terms of form, this psalm is an acrostic, as Richard mentioned, a poem organized by the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each half line begins with the successive letter of the alphabet. Using the alphabet in this way was a tool … to help with learning or memorization. Content-wise, this Psalm proclaims that the world is governed by a gracious, faithful and merciful God whose righteousness ‘endures forever’ That God is the ultimate reality, and that God is altogether righteous. Walter Brueggemann says that this Psalm is one of the Psalms of Orientation one of the Psalms designed to help re-orient us, to brings us back to what is truly important. We may be going through a time where it seems as though everything is all wrong, Psalm 111 is there to assure us that such appearances are not reality. Psalm 111’s message of a moral balance and symmetry to the world is mirrored in the symmetry and the disciplined acrostic structure of the Psalm. Of course ‘simple assertion’ about a righteous God is not going to help the Mollys and Owens of the world,

3

so Psalm 111 goes to great lengths to open our eyes to expand our vision of God. It reminds us that God is not only righteous, but also “gracious and compassionate” “faithful and just” “trustworthy” “holy and awesome”. And it reminds us that we know this because of how God acts in the world, providing food, and land, liberating people from slavery and oppression, and teaching them how to live in right relationship with God and with their neighbour. This was true for Israel; this is true for us and for all people. And here is where today’s psalm connects with the question we have been asking this season: How have we felt held and supported by God? in the midst of hard times … in the midst of this pandemic? Psalm 111 invites us to pay close attention to our lives. How have we been fed? How have we been supported by the land on which we live? How have we been liberated from oppression and injustice? How have we been learning to live in right relationship with God and our neighbour? The psalmist says that this awareness of being held by God is the beginning of wisdom. And not only that, this awareness of being held by God which is as true and probably even more important on the hard days as it is on the good days is what makes our wholehearted hallelujah’s possible.

4

Good days come and go. Life is not always rosy or easy. But if our hallelujah’s grow out of the knowledge or awareness of being held by God out of the awareness that nothing can separate us from God’s love and care, the awareness that, as St. Paul puts it, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God then we can sing hallelujah— wholeheartedly! – in the midst of pacemakers, pranksters, and pandemics. Sometimes we need each other, need to hear each other’s stories so that we can remember this deepest truth about life— to remember and rest in the truth of being held and loved by God. So thank you to everyone who has shared their response to our Epiphany question and thank you to all who will be sharing your response. You are helping us remember you are helping us to join in with the psalmist in singing wholehearted hallelujahs. Thanks be! Amen.

5