“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” Psalm 33:1-9

“The 33rd psalm is a psalm of thanks to God in general for His blessings, for helping His faithful people in all kinds of distress, and for not letting them perish. He is able to help because He made all things and still creates all things with a word, so that nothing is impossible with Him. God is also so good and true that He will help and willingly helps, as He has promised in the First Commandment: “I will be your God,” that is, I will be your comfort, help, salvation, life, and all good things, and I will stand against anything that would do you harm. That’s what it means to “be God.” But the psalmist particularly thanks and praises the mighty blessing of God, that He guides the whole world, even the hearts, thoughts, intentions, anger, and fury of the kings and princes, not as they will, but as He wills. And He finally frustrates all their intentions, so that they accomplish nothing as they really want. What they intend to do against the righteous He immediately turns aside and overthrows. This is the particular joy and comfort of His saints against the arrogant and overweening insolence, the thrashing and threats of the raging nobles and the ruthless tyrants, who suppose that they can with threats devour all the saints of God and hurl God Himself down from heaven. But before they have half begun, they lie in the dust. Consider the people of Sodom against Lot, Sennacherib the King, and our tyrants today—how totally countless intentions have been dashed up till now.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

While we are in this period of waiting and sheltering in place, what I miss most about worship is the music. When I do a service that is just the spoken word, there is an element that, as Lutherans we have become so accustomed — and that is the organ and other instruments and voices that join together in praises to G-d. Musical instruments have their place in the place and the manner in which we rejoice in the Lord. The church organ, the church choir, the church bells, the church trumpet, the church flute, etc. are not to be despise. It’s not to be viewed as a distraction to worshipping the Lord. Having instruments accompanying our singing and our worshipping the Lord is appropriate – actually, it’s commanded in this psalm. With hearts and voices and instruments tuned to sing G-d’s praise, we join in a long line of worshippers who have done the same before us.

When the congregation once again gathers to sing and shout praises to G-d, I will appreciate even more the instruments and voices that bless our worship every time we gather.

PRAYER

We thank You, Lord, for all the good that You have shown us from the days of our childhood. Continue to multiply Your mercies upon us, keep us in Your fear and favor, cause us to walk in Your praise, protect us from all enemies, both visible and invisible, and grant us, like Simeon of old, to depart in peace, through Christ, our Savior.

Amen.