PSALM 84 |
Going From Strength to Strength |
AUGUST 23, 2009 |
The 84th Psalm is one of my
favorites. When I discovered that it was an option as a reading in the
lectionary for today, I leapt (not literally, of course, as I would be crippled
doing that) at the chance to preach on it. You may want to look at the Psalm,
which was our Call to Worship and Scripture reading at the beginning of this
Worship Service, and follow along as I do an expository sermon.
How lovely is Thy dwelling
place, 0 Lord of hosts! The psalmist
wrote about the temple and how wonderful it was to go there and to be there
worshiping God, Whose dwelling place it was believed to be. Biblical scholars
think this Psalm was used on the occasion of making a pilgrimage for the Feast
of Tabernacles in the fall, when the rain ended the summer drought and grapes
were harvested and booths were made for the celebration and wine was consumed
in great joy. It was not like Greek bacchanalia or Roman orgies; rather,
moderate drinking with a spiritual emphasis was the norm in this Jewish fall
harvest festival.
In the first of the three
parts of the psalm, each of which is centered around a
beatitude, the psalmist speaks of how blessed it is to come or dwell in the
house of the Lord. You can sense his happiness in these words: My soul
longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Indeed, his whole being--his
soul, heart, and flesh--longs and even faints to be in the courts of the
Lord However, it is not the structures
of the Temple than make it so appealing, but it is the living God.
Even sparrows and barn
swallows that build nests, and hatch, and feed their young have a home in the
house of the Lord. I once saw a small bird build a nest and sit on an outside
windowsill of a church, hatch young, not unlike a sparrow or swallow finding a
home for herself and her young in the temple that was so central in Jewish life
in ancient Israel. The psalmist and we can consider this to be symbolic of how
God shelters us under Divine eves.
Not all animals are to be
welcome in churches or synagogues. I am indebted to our daughter Susannah for
the following story. There were five religious congregations in a community in
Texas: a Presbyterian Church, a Baptist Church, a Methodist Church, a Catholic
Church, and a Jewish Synagogue. Each church and the synagogue was overrun with pesky squirrels.
One day, the Presbyterian
Church called a meeting to decide what to do about the squirrels. After much
prayer and consideration, they determined that the squirrels were predestined
to be there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.
In the Baptist Church, the
squirrels had taken up habitation in the baptistery. The deacons met and
decided to put a cover on the baptistery and drown the squirrels in it. The squirrels escaped somehow, and there were
twice as many there the next week.
.
The Methodist Church got
together and decided they were not in a position to harm any of God's creation.
So they humanely trapped the squirrels and set them free a few miles outside of
town. Three days later, the squirrels were back.
The Catholic church came up with a pretty effective solution. They
baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they
only see them on Christmas and Easter.
Not much was heard about the
Jewish Synagogue, but they took one squirrel and had a short ceremony with him
called circumcision, and they haven't seen a squirrel on the property since.
I couldn't resist telling that
joke.
They go from strength to
strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion. In the Bible there are numerous passages which state
or suggest that one whose strength is in the Lord God will grow stronger and
stronger from day to day. For, as the psalmist suggests, in making a pilgrimage
to Zion or Jerusalem or in coming to synagogue or to church, he or she is not
tired but strengthened. We are reminded of the words of the prophet in Isaiah
40:31: but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they
shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they
shall walk and not faint.
Indeed, by waiting for the
Lord we shall find strength and by waiting upon the Lord we will be refreshed.
God was present in the temple and God is present in a church but, of course,
God is Spirit and cannot be contained in a building per se. Yet, this church is
truly an awesome place, a place in which we can be encountered by the living
God and where the God of gods will be seen.
O Lord God of hosts, hear
my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God; look upon the
face of Thine anointed! Here the
psalmist, perhaps as the leader of pilgrims on the way to the Holy City and its
temple, inserts a prayer (verses 8 and 9) first to ask the Lord God to hear him
and then to ask God to look with favor upon an anointed one, probably the king
or maybe the high priest, with whom the life of Israel was intimately bound.
There is another possibility and that is that the psalmist is David, though
there is no indication in the Psalm or in the tradition about it that he had
anything to do with writing Psalm 84.
In any event, the author goes
on to a third section: For a day in
thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the
tents of wickedness. The psalmist
returns to a central theme: his love for the temple or God's house. The word
rendered "doorkeeper" may refer to some kind of servant, or to a
beggar who stands at the entrance to the sanctuary to beg, which was an
acceptable way for some people, including the handicapped, to make a living, or
to some other humble person. But whatever the exact meaning may be, the
psalmist prefers it to a life among those who cut themselves off from God by wickedness.
He considers it a wonderful thing to be in the temple courts to worship and
serve God and proclaims that one day there is better than a thousand elsewhere.
The church is where we can
worship and serve God as Christians. Not unlike old Zechariah, the husband of
Mary's cousin Elizabeth, who took his turn in the temple before the birth of
their son John, we can take a turn in doing what is needed in this sanctuary.
To be a doorkeeper or servant here can help keep one from descending into
wickedness. You may open the doors as a Trustee, or prepare for worship as a
Deacon, or welcome guests as a Greeter or an Evangelism Board member, or
receive the offering to God as an Usher, or in my case be a celebrant in
leading worship. Yes, a day with God and with one's brothers and sisters here
in this church is better than a thousand elsewhere. Like the psalmist
who enjoyed the temple and the spirituality of that place, we can enjoy the
church as a spiritual place or home away from home. For to us as a
congregation, this is a holy place.
Because we believe in the
priesthood of all believers and because we remember that Jesus taught in the
temple, our church is also a place where teachers tell of God and the Divine
love made known through Christ Himself. Because this is a temple of God, we
must make sure that what we do here is acceptable to God. How we deal with
money matters to our Lord and Savior, for example. He watched the giving in the
temple So, we need to take the matter seriously. Most
importantly, we must know that ultimately the Church capital "C" as
an institution and a church small "c" as a building do not belong to us, but rather to God. Therefore, we must
conduct ourselves with dignity before God and with respect for one another.
While the building is important, the body of Christ is more important; yet,
both are to be cared for lovingly as a gift from God and as a gift to God.
For the Lord God is a sun
and shield; He bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from
those who walk uprightly. In other
words, the ethical and the ceremonial are woven together. As a sun and shield,
God gives blessing and protection to those who walk uprightly or with
integrity. When we consider how God cares for us and has compassion toward us,
we are amazed by such concern on the part of our Creator. And when we ponder
the wonder of God coming to us in human form through Jesus Christ, we are
humbled by God's redemption. But, each day we also ought to appreciate that God
sustains us through the Holy Spirit. God is not a disinterested, remote
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. God is not apathetic about Creation and
creatures. No, God watches over us and sees what we do, as children know.
A group of children were lined
up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the
table was a large pile of apples. The
nun made a note and put it on the apple tray: “Take only ONE. God is watching.” Moving further along the lunch line, at the
other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had
written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples." Well, the Lord watches us
and God bestows favor and honor [and] No good thing does the Lord
withhold from those who walk uprightly.
The point that the psalmist
makes in the last verse is that every [one] who trusts in God is blessed. O
Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in Thee! As believers, let us
always trust in God. As we do we will be blessed. Of
this the psalmist is sure, and that has been my experience and maybe yours,
too. I hope so or hope that it will be so for you.
As we trust more in God we
will go from strength to strength. Other than our spouses and perhaps one or two
close friends it is rare and perhaps impossible to find a person in whom we can
place our trust. But no matter what happens in this life and whether or not we
have friends on this earth, we have One in heaven Who
knows us and loves us and we can trust in God always. And acknowledging that we
trust in God both in worship and in service will increase our strength.
Of course, our attitude about
coming to church matters, as does our motivation for doing good deeds. If we
come because we expect to be rewarded instead of to worship the Lord, then we
participate for the wrong reason. If good deeds are done to chalk up points for
heaven, we are wasting time and effort for God decides Who
gets in. Worship and service ought to glorify God and God alone and not for the
purpose of bring attention to ourselves.
Finally, God is trustworthy
and fulfills promises, as we know in Jesus Christ. May God bless and keep us
now and forever. AMEN!
A sermon preached by the Rev. Gary Hauze at
First Congregational Church, United Church
of Christ, Whitman, Massachusetts