WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
Part 4: A Joyful Celebration of God!

Dr. Richard J. Henderson June 12, 2005

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Romans 15:7-13
Psalm 150

Introduction

About 130 years ago, the Northville Presbyterian Church faced a major split. There were angry congregation meetings, with voices raised, and people storming out. We can imagine the people standing outside the church building complaining. Then some decide they can't live with things as they are, they are going to split away.

In those days you didn't leave your denomination and go down the street to the Episcopal or Methodist or Lutheran church, you were a Presbyterian church. These dissident people decided they needed to form another Presbyterian church in the tiny town of Northville, so they could worship the way they wanted to. The old Northville Library - which is now in the Northville Historical Village - is the building which housed these breakaway Presbyterians. The church split; anger flared; families were divided; people stopped talking to each other. Why? Because one group felt it was wrong to sing hymns with music, and the other felt that music was important. One group wanted the piano and the organ, and the other thought they should be banned.

Apparently, none of them ever read Psalm 150. It goes like this:

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
     Praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
     Praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
     Praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
     Praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals;
     Praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

I

Did you notice that Psalm 150 covers all the bases - who, what, where, why, and how?

Each one of those questions gets a one-verse answer. The major part of the Psalm answers the questions how. Six verses list the instruments to use in praising God. I have to think that, even in Old Testament times, some of those instruments were very surprising. The Psalm says, "Praise him with clanging cymbals." Well, OK, maybe cymbals - like for the Youth Service or something. No. Just in case we didn't get his point, the psalmist repeats this one instrument - "Praise him with loud crashing cymbals!"

II

This passage recommends we bring to worship all the musical instruments - and apparently the louder the better! When you're praising God, pull out all the stops! Use trumpets, tambourines, harps, strings and pipes. Lift up the cymbals and let them crash! Use the whole orchestra to praise God.

The picture we have here of worship isn't that solemn, quiet meditative time lots of us would like to have, it's loud, raucous, music that fills the room to overflowing. Those who aren't comfortable with drums in church probably understand pretty well how the first hearers of this Psalm felt. "Are you kidding me? Those instruments in worship?" The Psalmist says yes. Let the worship of God be loud, joyful, praises sung at the top of our voices!

But there is a time for the cymbals and a time to the flute and harp. Some worship should be loud and noisy; some should be quiet, peaceful, and contemplative. If we're going to use all the instruments in the orchestra, there will be different sounds and also different volume to worship.

III

Maybe that is because the different instruments of the orchestra represent the different aspects of our lives. We celebrate loud, joyful times. The family gathers for a reunion. It gets loud with all the laughter, telling old family stories, and kidding each other. Those are wonderful times.

We also have quieter, more thoughtful times. We face sad times of loss and grief. For each of those times there is an instrument. For each of them there is a Psalm.

When John and Charles Wesley's mother was on her deathbed, she called her sons to her and said, "Children, as soon as I am released, sing a Psalm in praise to God." With a mother like that, it is no wonder Charles Wesley wrote so many of our marvelous hymns.

Conclusion

In this brief Psalm the phrase, "Praise the Lord" or a variation of it is said thirteen times. It makes clear that all of our instruments are appropriate for worship. It's OK to be loud in praising God. It's OK to be quiet. Sometimes it's good for the music to be fast paced; sometimes it's best played slowly.

The important thing is that people use what they have to praise God, and that they are moved in their expression of thanks to God. Several years ago, Duke Ellington performed a version of Psalm 150 in the old church of Santa Maria del Mar, in Barcelona. Tourists and locals gathered to hear him, including music critics and those who just love good music.

The Psalm so moved the congregation that they spilled out into the aisles and joined in singing and dancing in that celebration of God. Critic Stanley Dance was there. He wrote, in great understatement, "The music and the message of the concert seemed to transcend language barriers without difficulty."

Praise the Lord!!

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2005