September 30, 2023 — Psalm 150

“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!”

We are to give the Lord praise — with worship and with music. The importance of music in the liturgy of the Lutheran church cannot be overstated. Martin Luther wrote hymns — the modern Lutheran church has produced at least five new hymnals since I have been keeping track — trying to modernize and renew the music in our worship lives.

The list in verses 3–5 seems intended to include all the instruments that could be used in the performance of worship. Tambourine and dance are there — as are the trumpet, harp and cymbals. This emphasis on music in the final psalm reminds us that our words in worship are important, but so are our musical performances and the fact that even these psalms were set to music. It is a witness to the power of music, its amazing potential for evoking beauty and feeling and for supporting the idea that words spoken and sung take us into the act of offering up prayer, praise  and thanksgiving to the Lord.

That we sing the praise of G-d is no accidental custom. Music performed, sung, enacted is so much a dimension of praise that words of praise without music often are spoken in rhythm. The very poetry of the psalms is musical in quality and has been easily set to music throughout the ages. Whether we speak the name of the Lord, or set our praise to music — well, we are doing what has been done for thousands of years — we join the great cloud of witnesses giving praise to the Lord.

Let us Pray:

Great and glorious God, unite our praise with the praise of all creation: singing your mighty acts with every breath, playing music to your name with all our instruments, joining the dance of stars and planets with our whole bodies; for you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High—Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

Pastor Dave