You know
sometimes you can get discouraged by numbers in Church… or the lack of them.
You can
become aware of the empty seats about you rather than full lives and full
hearts.
You can feel
like a remnant, the last few
Out of step and
out of time,
Out of
kilter with a world that has other Gods that seem so much more powerful and
persuasive.
It’s easy to
wonder if it is all worthwhile.
In the end
does it make a difference… what good does it do…
If you’ve
ever felt like that then Psalm 148 is for you
Psalm 148
was written to encourage a group who felt just like that. The remnant who had
come back to Jerusalem ‘The politically insignificant people of Israel simply a
vassal state under Persian rule.’ In the book of Ezra it tells us when they
were called to give a festive shout a Hallelujah as they celebrated the
reestablishment of the altar of the temple, they wept instead because it seemed
so small, so unlike it was back in the day… they were aware of the rubble and
the empty places.
This series
is called ‘the last word on Praise and Worship’… not because we are about to
close it all down, box it all up and bury it in some dusty archive… or that we
arrogantly have the definitive word on Worshipping God, but because we are
looking at the last five songs and prayers in the book of Psalms that start and
finish ‘Hallelujah’.. Five Songs that round off the soundtrack for the journey
of the people of Israel from its high point under the reign of David, through
times of trial and trouble, defeat and exile and finally to the restoration of
Jerusalem and the reestablishment of temple worship. Not to an end point but the place where the
Hebrew Scriptures rest and turn and wait for fulfilment with the coming of the
messiah: A soundtrack that acts as a wonderful overture to the good news of
Jesus Christ.
Let’s have a
look at what the roll call has to say to us.
Isaac and I
are off to the second Bledisloe cup match at Eden Park next week, we booked our
tickets about a month ago and even then we had a limited range of seats
available. So we are sitting up the top of the exposed west stand… but we got
tickets. It’s going to be a sell out.
This Psalm
speaks to the remnant in Jerusalem and says that when it comes to worshipping
God, there are no empty seats it’s a sell out from the nose bleed seats at the
top of the stand to those buried at the back on the lowest level. When we
gather to worship God it’s a sell-out. From the highest of heights to the depth
of the sea. From spiritual beings and vast celestial bodies to the
creepy-crawlies all are summons to give praise to their maker.
The Psalm breaks this universal call into two groupings to express this universality of praise. The first six verse focus on the heavens and the second focus on the earth below. I tried to pick that up in the image we used for our service this morning. One of the places I feel closest to God is the wild west coast beaches, I don’t often get out there as much as I’d like, but when I was younger i used to go out in the evenings two or three times a week during summer. You could walk under the stars, and in summer your feet on the wet sand would set off a series of sparks and the crashing waves would glow
with the florescence of the
Phytoplankton that came down from the tropics in the warm
sea currents. Both the vast distant radiating and showing glory to God; In the heavens above
and the earth below from greatest to smallest.
This roll call of worshippers also acts as a polemic a
theological statement about power. Science may have helped us understand the
universe but In the ancient near east the sun and the moon and the stars were
worshipped as deities; it was they who were seen to control the movements and
the fate of humanity, here as in Genesis they are simply seen as objects that
give God glory as they go about the rolls and tasks they were created for. To
use the words of Rudolph Bultmann they are demythologised, stripped of their
narrative power and become simply well-crafted creatures that reflect the power
of their maker. Likewise with the spiritual realm, angels are mentioned by
their roles in creation, simply as God’s messengers and host or army, the means
by which God achieves God’s purposes. It’s interesting that the scientific
amongst us might be concerned at the mention of the waters above because it
reflects the false understanding of Ancient near eastern cosmology that there
was a fresh water sea above the sky where the rain came from, But even in that
we can see that our understanding of the universe is also called to give God
glory and as we understand more and more of how it works we understand the
craftsmanship and glory of the creator. The song of praise is more wonderful
and complex than we had imagined.
The roll call starts in verse one in the highest of
heights and finishes in verse 13 by saying that God’s splendor is above the
earth and the heavens. The whole of the universe is seen as joining us in
worship. Then the psalm takes a surprising direction its second encouragement
comes from the reason it gives for all creation to praise God in its final
verse. That is God’s goodness in saving and restoring his people.
Israel may feel alone may feel small weak vulnerable, but
the whole of creation is called to give God glory for the way he has bought
them back from exile to worship him. The
high point of God’s sovereignty and power in creation is not the vastness of
the universe, or the snowcapped mountain vista, or the rolling waves but God’s
saving grace. All the powers that Israel may have seen arrayed against them are
called to worship God for the fact that despite them God has restored his
people.
To raise up a horn was a way of talking about strengthen
them. But in other places it also has the idea of raising up a savior for them
as well. The NIV uses this wonderful phrase ‘the people close to his heart’ to
finish talking about Israel. What a wonderful image for us…This picks up the
Hebrew which can be interpreted in two ways…either the people who draw near to
God, refereeing to the special relationship that Israel has with God, that they
are invited to lead and to call the whole of creation to worship the God who
loves them, but equally it can mean the people that God draws close to and
talks of the act of God coming near, God coming down to save and to restore.
The thing that is to leave Israel and the whole of creation open mouthed and awestruck is that the mighty sovereign of
all creation would draw near to do such a thing, to use that power to save his
people.
Paul picks this up
in the passage we had read in Romans 8, and sees it fulfilled in what Jesus
Christ has done for us. He tells us that the whole of creation waits holding
its breath or panting in anticipation at God revealing his beloved children.
The completion of God’s saving work shown to us in Jesus Christ. That the whole
of creation joins us in worship and waits to give a special hallelujah because in
Christ for us also God has drawn near and invites us to draw near to his heart.
On Friday I went to lunch with the Maungarei Ministers Association, the gathering of the ministers and pastors from Churches from the area around Mt Wellington, and I heard the story of one of the pastors who had been saved out of a gang background, Battered and bruised fearing for his life he had called out in a hotel room bathroom ‘God if you are real help me’, and his life had turned round. Everyone was amazed and our hearts filled with praise for God. Yesterday I went for a walk … It wasn’t a walk along the iron sands of the west coast but rather down through the hustle and bustle of Newmarket and into the city, then up Queen Street and down again and back home on the train. Not alone in creation but walking amongst the amazing array of people in our city. People that God made, people that God loves, people God wants to come and experience and know his saving grace. In these two events I saw the reason that Psalm 148 gives to our worship and praise of God. It does have a purpose and a reason, not only because God is worthy, but in proclaiming the power of the creator shown in what Jesus has done for us. There is the hope that the empty seats around us maybe filled as people hear of God’s goodness and power and come to know it for themselves. Israel’s story was missional, inspiring creation to praise God, our story is missional as our vision statement puts it “inspiring others” to join us.. in knowing following and worshipping Jesus. To use a very New Zealand metaphor we act called to act like the pointers those two bright stars in our southern sky that point to the cross.
So beloved let us not be discouraged let’s join our voices with all of creation to hallelujah.
Hallelujah to sovereign king of all creation
Hallelujah to the one who in Christ draws near to save
Hallelujah Christ is at work in the world to strengthen his people
Hallelujah…Christ is bringing people to know and worship him,
Hallelujah?... hallelujah
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