I wish there were some more verses here - isn't it unusual for a Psalm to leave us in a pit? In a monastery I know, this Psalm is sung early in the morning for a whole week, every other week. Does it keep us vigilant, lest we be locked out of God's rest? Anybody ever preach the Psalms? kbc in sc
KBC: I've occasionally preached a Psalm, but usually use them in conjunction with other readings. I'll be using this one only as a reading, and plan to end the reading with verse 7, a plea for us to listen to God's voice. I'm not sure yet how that will link to the gospel reading in my sermon, which will somehow be placing value on asking questions of our Lord. I suppose if we ask questions, we'd better be ready to listen for an answer!
forgot to sign the above message. Pam in San Bernardino
This week in our "When in our music God is Glorified, the message from 95 will be a homily, as part of the extra music, and the singing of hymns, and living out our faith in communiion. This is an enthronement hymn for the people, with the call to worship, and then some reflection and warning from God not to act as the ancestors did as recorded in our Exodus 17 Scripture. Must of what I will say ties in to our choice of worshipping the one who gives us living water. The Christ, who is the rock of our salvation. This series is turning out to be one that encourages my congregation, to act corageously, with pride of who they are, and with joy of worshipping together. Then there is the exitement of going forth to do the will of the One who has sent us. God's name be praise!
Shalom
Pasthersyl
Greetings All:
Someone asked if the Psalms were ever preached. I often mix the lessons about so that one month will be all first testament, another epistle, another month Psalm and another month Gospel. I find a month of Psalms to be helpful not only in illumination the poet in Christ, but also find it to be a great assistance in developing my personal devotion time. There are a number of good commentaries and books on the Psalms to whet the appetite of preacher and preachee alike. Dave Somewhere in Canada
We've been looking at the lectionary psalms in a Lenten Bible Study, and what struck me about Psalm 95 is the split between verses 7 and 8. If we are simply using the Venite as an invitatory, it is proper to follow Benedictine practice and stop at verse 7. On the other hand, if we want the psalm to speak to us properly as the Word of God, we need to struggle with it's entirety.
Verse 7 tells us to listen to God's voice. In the remaining verses we get a warning:"Don't harden your hearts!" It is probably easier for us to make joyful noises to the Lord than it is to pay heed to this warning. Indeed, our praises are probably empty if our hearts are hard. So how do we repent from our callousness, as individuals, communities, and societies?
Bruce on Pender Island, BC, Canada