Let's begin our worship. We're singing firstly today in Psalm 66. Psalm 66, that's in the
Sing Psalms. That's on page 83 of the Psalm books. We're singing to a tune, Golden Hill,
verses 1 to 6.
Shout loud with joy to God, all earth your chorus raise. Sing loud the honor of his name,
and glorious make his praise. Speak thus to God the Lord, how great your works of power.
For so overwhelming is your might, that foes before you cower. You can see from the bulletin
sheet that the focus of our study this morning of God's Word is on praise. The church gathered
together for praise, to praise the Lord. So the Psalms reflect that in the references to praise
as we sing them today. So Psalm 66, if you're able to stand, please stand to sing.
Sing loud the honor of his name, and glorious name.
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Sing outputs, ring办agle hog
Pray to stand, but seldomodiver give such broken heart.
Our greater works of power, so overwhelming is your might
That goes before you can
Alert, God's hand to you
This signal of your pain
They never cease to celebrate
The glory of your name
Come see what God has done
This mighty works of power
His deeds to watch the human race
Have lost unto the old
To let his people pass
On blue blue waters cross
He turned the sea into my land
Let us rejoice in God
Now let's pray briefly before the children go through to their Sunday school
Our gracious God
As we give thanks today
That you have gathered us together
In your name that is our desire
And our delight to be here
We thank you for the privilege of being able to do so
We ask Lord again your blessing for our children today
In each and every one of them
In all their classes
And all the things that they learned today about
You help them we pray
To apply this to their own young lives
And once again we pray
That their spiritual and moral development
Will continue under the teaching of your word
And we ask that all those who teach them
And give of their time
Will be rewarded by your own blessing
And not that we seek Lord to be rewarded
For the work that we do for you
But nevertheless you promise
That you will bless those who serve you
And seek to make your word known
Even to all ages
So bless the children today we pray
And give them today
To know your own spirit working in their young lives
Hear us we pray
In Jesus name
Amen
I'm going to read a couple of verses
From Judges
The book of Judges chapter 6
And this is about Gideon
Gideon
Because I know that Sunday school
Today are beginning Gideon
In their lessons
For a number of weeks
At least I've looked at the schedule
And that's what's down
I'm sure that they're keeping to that
If possible
So I'm going to read from Judges chapter 6
Just two or three verses
The Lord saying to Gideon
The Lord turned to him and said
Go in this might of yours
And save Israel
From the hand of Midian
Do not I send you
And he said to him
Please Lord
How can I save Israel?
Behold my clan is the weakest in Manasseh
And I am the least in my father's house
And the Lord said to him
But I will be with you
And you shall strike the Midianites
As one man
Now as you come to learn about Gideon
And various things that happened in his life
It's such an important part of the book of Judges
Because in a sense it summarizes what the book of Judges is about
And I want the young folks today just to think of two things
In relation to Gideon
I'm sure you'll learn a lot more as you go through the lessons
From Gideon's life
But here is the Lord saying to Gideon
To go and save Israel from the Midianites
The Midianites
The Midianites were people who had been attacking Israel
And had come because they had great numbers
And were attacking them and destroying their crops
Or taking their crops
All sorts of things that really provided so many difficulties for the people of Israel
It really was the people's own fault in a sense
Because God was annoyed with them
Because they had really gone after other gods
And stopped saving the Lord the way they should
But here the Lord is saying to Gideon
Go and save Israel
Now the Lord's calling
That's what we usually say
The Lord's calling of Gideon
Is something that applies to all our lives
Even our young people today
I mean you young folks and all of us too
Are being called by God through the Bible to serve Him
Not necessarily to be great leaders in the church
But everybody has the opportunity and the responsibility to do something for the Lord
The Lord is calling us all to be His servants
To serve Him in some way or other
And you young folk today
In your young days
That's your privilege too
To serve the Lord in whatever way you can
To do things for Jesus
So I want you to pray this prayer
Not just today
But throughout your whole life really
It's a prayer that goes something like this
Lord, please help me to be obedient to your call
It's a prayer everybody, adults as well, needs to pray
But for young folks today
Pray this prayer for yourselves
Lord, help me to be obedient
So whatever the Lord calls us to do
We should always pray
Lord, help me to be obedient to that
And then Gideon said
That he was too small
That he was not really strong enough to do this
And he said
How can I save Israel?
My clan is the weakest in Manasseh
And I am the least in my father's house
You see what they're saying
I just don't feel I can do this
It's too big for me
It's too big a task
I am the smallest in my father's house
And my clan is the smallest in Manasseh
You're asking me to do such a great thing
I don't think I can do it
What did the Lord say to him?
He said
The Lord said
But I will be with you
In other words
Gideon was to think
Not about his own ability
But God's strength
That's the second prayer
I want you to pray for yourselves as well
As your young lives go on
Lord, make me strong to be your servant
Make me strong to be your servant
So these are the two prayers
Help me to be obedient
So that I can serve you
And make me strong to be your servant
These are two very simple but important prayers
That you learn from the life of Gideon
So pray these prayers for yourselves
And do what you can to serve Jesus
As your lives go on
Now we're going to say the Lord's Prayer again together
Let's say the Lord's Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom
And the power and the glory forever
Amen
It's great to hear all you young folks saying that
Prayer and reciting it like that
But you can pray it for yourselves of course as well
Let's sing again to God's Praise
Psalm 135 this time
Page 425
Singing to a tune Gainsborough
Verses 1-6
Praise ye the Lord
The Lord's name praise
His servants praise ye God
Who stand in God's house
In the courts of our God
Make abode
Psalm 135 and verses 1-6
To his praise
Praise ye the Lord
The Lord's name praise
His servants praise ye God
His servants praise
Praise ye the Lord
His servants praise ye God
Who stand in God's
His servants praise ye God
Who stand in God's
The servant's praise ye God
Who stand in God's
Our sing the courts
God, our God, make a word.
Praise ye the Lord, for he is good,
and to him praises sing.
Sing praises to this King,
because it is a pleasant thing.
For take up to himself the Lord,
take truth of his good pleasure,
and he hath chosen Israel
for his peculiar treasure.
Because I know assuredly the Lord is very great,
and that our Lord, above all gods,
in glory hath his seed.
What things so ever pleased the Lord,
but in the heavenly King,
and in the earth, the seas and all,
the places deep at thee.
Let's read God's Word together now
from Paul's letter to the Colossians.
Paul's letter to the Colossians, chapter 3,
and we're going to read the first 17 verses.
Colossians, chapter 3, from the beginning.
If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on the things that are above,
not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden
with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears,
then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you,
sexual immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and covetousness,
which is idolatry.
On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.
In these you too once walked
when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away,
anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and obscene talk from your mouth.
Do not lie one to another,
seeing that you have put off the old self
with its practices,
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge
after the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free,
but Christ is all and in all.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
compassion, kindness,
humility, meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another,
and if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other.
As the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.
And above all these, put on love,
which binds everything together
in perfect harmony.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you are called in one body,
and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing one another
in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs
with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do,
in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
And so on,
may the Lord bless to us
that reading of his own word.
We're singing once again,
this time in Psalm 104,
on page 374,
singing to the tune Kilmarnock
from verse 31
down to the end of the psalm.
The glory of the mighty Lord
continues shall forever.
The Lord Jehovah shall rejoice
in all his works together.
Earth, as affrightened,
trembleth all if he on it but look.
And if the mountains he but touch,
they presently do smoke.
I will sing to the Lord Most High
so long as I shall live.
And while I being have,
I shall to my God praises give.
Of him my meditation shall
sweet thoughts to me afford.
And as for me,
I will rejoice in God,
my only Lord.
From earth let sinners be consumed,
let ill men no more be.
O thou my soul,
bless thou the Lord.
Praise to the Lord,
give ye.
These verses,
the glory of the mighty Lord.
The glory of the mighty Lord,
continue shall forever.
The Lord Jehovah shall rejoice in all his works together.
earth,
earth as affrighted,
trembleth all,
if he on it but look.
and if the mountains he but touch,
they presently do so.
I will sing to the Lord Most High
so long as I shall live.
And while I be in half,
I shall to my God praises give.
Up in my meditation shall
sweet thoughts to me afford.
And as for me,
I will rejoice in God,
my only Lord.
from earth let sinners be consumed,
let ill men no more be.
O thou my soul,
bless thou the Lord.
Praise to the Lord,
give me.
Now please turn with me to Colossians chapter 3,
passage we read a short time ago.
Colossians chapter 3.
And today we're looking mainly at verse 16.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Obviously that's a text that stands in a run of verses
that focus on certain things to do with our service for God.
And the focus especially here is on the word of Jesus dwelling in his people richly,
but that's combined with singing praises to God,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness.
Now as we've been looking for a few weeks at the topic of the gathered church,
we're thinking especially of the church as gathered as we are today,
and some of the features of the gatherings of the church,
and what is important for us to bear in mind and to practice
in the gatherings of the church as we form part of that.
Last week, for example, we looked at being gathered for prayer
and how important it is for the church not only to pray,
but to be gathered for prayer,
to have gatherings where prayer features strongly in them,
and even gatherings for prayer and not much else but prayer.
And today we're looking at the church gathered for praise,
which is particularly an emphasis here on singing.
The church gathered for praise.
This evening, God willing, we'll look at the church gathered for growth from Ephesians.
So the focus really is on singing,
but it runs right through here from verse 16.
As we've said, it's a run of verses from there down through to verse 17 especially.
And it's important to notice the connection,
the very close connection in this verse itself,
because there's no full stop.
It's just a series of commas.
Notice the connection, therefore close connection,
between teaching and singing.
Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.
And then immediately it says singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
with thankfulness in your heart to God.
So there's a very close connection there between the church gathered together,
as we've seen before,
to listen to God,
to listen to God's word being proclaimed,
and for prayer as well.
A close connection here as well with the teaching that we receive from God's word
and the singing of praise to God,
because they very much are dovetailed together
and should be so in our thoughts as well.
Singing does not replace preaching.
But nevertheless,
even in the singing of the praise of God,
there is a very strong didactic or teaching element to it,
because you're learning things as you're singing.
We're learning things together as we're singing together.
And as we'll see,
the importance of singing together
carries with it so many benefits for us individually,
which come from being together to sing the praises of God.
Of course,
singing is one main feature of the gathered church for worship,
but it's a very important aspect of the church's gathering for worship,
along with reading the word,
and the word being expounded in preaching,
and prayer to God,
that is the element of singing together the praise of God.
And basically,
that is what comprises our worship services,
our public worship.
And it's important that we think of participation
and not performance.
I don't mean by that,
that our singing should be anything but of good quality.
But the singing is not a performance.
We don't have a choir.
Not that there's anything wrong with a choir in itself in certain contexts.
But we don't have a choir.
We have a presenter to lead the singing rather than a choir,
and there's good reason for that.
And when you go to a concert, for example,
or nowadays what's called a gig,
you go there basically as observers of the main item,
which is whether it's a band or whether it's an individual, whatever.
But you're going there as observers.
And even if you're participating in the sense of singing in with some of what's being performed on stage,
you're basically there to observe them.
They're the main feature of the gathering.
But in the gathered church,
gathering for praise means we are all collectively and equally involved,
participating in that praise of God.
We don't come to church to sing the praises of God
by just listening to others sing the praise.
It's a participation.
It's congregational praise.
The whole congregation participates in it.
It's a feature of many congregations now that they have a praise band.
I'm not necessarily saying I disagree with that entirely,
but the congregation's praise is important as congregational praise.
And if there is to be a praise band, and I'm not saying by any means that there should be or is to be,
it must never be a performance by the band performing to the congregation.
Because we come together to congregate as those who wish to praise God collectively.
And whatever else we say as features of sung praise to God,
and there is a place outside of congregational worship,
public worship, for many of these other things,
even what I've mentioned there.
But coming together today is for congregational praise.
And what a brilliant privilege it is to hear good congregational praise
as we sing that praise together.
We come together to praise the Lord congregationally.
And you notice the plurals here in this passage,
showing that it's together that these things are done.
Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.
Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts, plural, to God.
They are all features of the gathered church,
gathered to praise the Lord.
And that means everybody should sing.
Does it mean singing even if you or I are saying,
well, I don't really have much of a voice,
so I don't think I should participate in the singing?
There is no reason at all, biblically,
why anybody should feel themselves left out of joining in
and participating in the praise, in the singing of praise to God.
Your voice may not be the best voice in the congregation.
It may be something even of a croak, as far as you're concerned.
But still the Lord is calling upon us to sing His praises.
And we sing together the praises of God.
I've heard some people even saying,
none of the congregation here,
but I've heard some people suggesting that
if you're not converted,
you shouldn't be singing the praises of God.
That is only for the Lord's converted people.
Where do you find that in the Bible?
We gather together today to praise the Lord.
That means each and every one of us contributes
and participates in the praise of God.
Even if we're saying today,
but I'm not yet a professing Christian,
even though I'd like to be,
I'm still not there.
You might even be saying to yourself,
I'm not even yet saved,
I'm not converted.
Well, I hope that's something you attend to soon,
because you should.
But the one thing you must never say is,
I'm not a professing Christian,
or I'm not converted,
so I don't really think I should take part
in the singing of praise.
There is nothing in any part of the Bible
that I know of
where the Bible says,
let's come together and sing the praises of God,
but you who are not yet professing Christians
are not involved in that.
It's congregational, friends.
It's congregational praise to God.
And as we meet together here today,
all our voices should be together raised
in the praise of God.
Now here we have in this verse
another feature that we sometimes find
difference of opinion on,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
And some people take that to be
a reference to the church
being at liberty to compose
songs other than you find in the psalms.
And that, of course, is true
and has been true for generations.
But it's also true that these words,
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
are features of the book of psalms,
because all of these titles
are used in the book of psalms
to describe different categories of psalms.
And that's why some people prefer
that this verse is taken as referring
to psalms, the book of psalms,
the psalms put into meter
as we sing them together.
And that's what it's meant.
So there is that difference of opinion
over how we should take the verse.
We're taking it at the moment
that we are singing psalms
of different catechises of psalms
in praise to God.
But irrespective of what our view is of that,
it's saying,
sing with thankfulness in your hearts to God
and sing together.
That's really the main feature
that we want to focus on this morning.
Sing together the praises of God
in congregational singing.
So what do we take from that?
And if we want to take out a few points,
these are just by way of introduction,
a bit longer than usual.
But what do we take from that
as we're looking at congregational singing
and the churches gather to sing
the praises of God?
Well, first of all,
our singing together
is actually commanded by God.
It's not something that we choose
to do or not to do.
Our singing together,
our congregational singing,
and our individual contribution to that
is commanded by God.
All you've got to do
is look through the book of psalms.
And as you look through the book of psalms,
you'll find so many psalms
in which God is purposefully commanding
or instructing His people to sing,
to glorify His name with singing,
to be together involved
in the singing of His praise.
Many, many times you'll find that
in the book of psalms.
Not only that,
but you'll find the likes of Psalm 792,
verse 1, Psalm 147.
Not only does it say
that it's something we must do
as commanded by God,
as instructed by God,
but that it is good for us to do so.
You see, some people think,
when you think of,
when we actually look at the fact
that the Bible is instructing us
to do many things,
in other words,
God is commanding us,
a lot of people think,
well, commanding things,
that's not really how it should,
it should be voluntary, shouldn't it?
It should be something
that we're willing to do of ourselves.
Well, that's all very well,
but sometimes we need God's command.
We need God's command
to actually make us think about
what we should be doing
and our responsibilities.
But when you come to Psalm 92,
for example,
it is a good thing
to sing the praises of God.
It's good for us
and it brings good to us.
And it's good in the sense
that God Himself
is being praised,
something which He regards as good.
It's a good thing
to praise the Lord
every morning,
every evening,
as that psalm says.
In other words,
the Bible doesn't just say
God requires us
to sing His praises,
but God emphasizes
what a good thing it is,
what a beneficial thing it is.
Not just good emotionally,
but it brings benefit.
We'll deal with that point in a minute.
It is good for us
to sing the praises of God
as instructed by God.
And in fact,
you come to this passage
and the corresponding passage
in Ephesians chapter 5.
You'll find in Ephesians
that that's the same
kind of emphasis there
where singing praises to God
is something
that's actually required
or commanded by God
as an aspect of the new life
that we've come to have
through faith in Christ.
But here is Colossians here
in chapter 3 saying,
let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing
one another.
That's an instruction from God.
You go back even to
verse 6 of the chapter there
and you'll find
the command is there as well
on account of where you find,
sorry, not verse 6,
you have to put away
all these things he's saying,
the things that now
characterize the life
that you actually once lived.
And then he moves on through
from there,
right through to this command
as instruction
to praise the Lord
and to do so with singing
as well as also
with thankfulness
in our hearts.
Singing praise
is not an optional aspect
of worship.
It's something that's required
by God
as an essential part
of how we worship Him
together
as well as worshiping Him
individually.
And as we've said,
even if we're not,
wouldn't class ourselves
as singers,
wouldn't class ourselves
as having a good voice.
It's not really
the important thing.
You see what I was saying there?
With thankfulness
in your hearts
to God.
It's not primarily
a matter of our quality
of voice,
though that is good,
is gifted by God.
It's the heart really,
as we'll see,
that the inward soul
from which our singing emanates.
But it's important
to realize that singing,
singing praise to God
is commanded by God,
required by God.
It's an instruction
from God.
Secondly,
our singing together
expresses
important realities.
Through singing
the praise of God,
we express things,
especially as they're revealed
to us in the Bible,
we express things
that are important realities,
I've called it,
to ourselves.
And I'm going to focus
on two things,
especially in that.
The important realities,
first of all,
God's character
and His works.
And then secondly,
our own experiences.
Because we sing
about God's character,
we sing to Him
in praise of His character
and His works,
but we also sing out
our experiences.
And again,
we'll see that
from the book of Psalms.
God's character
and God's work
frequently
in the book of Psalms.
Let me just pick
on a couple,
just as,
I'm sure you're
very well aware
of these,
I know.
Like, for example,
Psalm 100.
Make a joyful noise
to the Lord.
See, there's the instruction
again,
it's a commandment.
Serve the Lord
with gladness.
Come into His presence
with singing.
Why?
For,
know that He is God.
He made us.
We are His people.
We are the sheep
of His pasture.
For the Lord is good.
His steadfast love
endured forever.
His faithfulness
to all generations.
What is that saying to us?
Saying to us,
here are features
of God's character
and of God's work
and of God's relationship
with His people.
So you sing praise
in relation to that.
You take these great truths,
these great realities,
you build them into your praise
as the psalmist is saying,
and Lord,
we know that you
are a shepherd
to your people.
We know that you're
our Savior.
We know that you've done
all these and you continue
to do all these things.
So I sing praises
because of that.
Or you go to Psalm 136,
the only other one
I'm going to mention
just now.
Psalm 136 is
quite a remarkable psalm
for the way that it repeats
certain things
all the way through.
Give thanks to the Lord
for He is good
for His steadfast love
endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods
for His steadfast love
endures forever.
And that's the refrain
throughout the psalm,
for His steadfast love
endures forever,
repeated again and again
just as a prominent note
in the teaching of the psalm.
But as you go through,
you can see all the things
that are related to that.
God, the creator
of the universe,
God who dealt
with the enemies of Israel,
God who divided the Red Sea
miraculously for them,
God who overthrew Pharaoh,
God led His people,
and so on all the way down.
You see these great realities
that are mentioned
as God's character
and God's work is revealed.
What is our response
to God's character
and to God's work?
Praise.
Singing is praise.
Singing is praise together.
Singing is praise congregationally.
And when you go to Exodus chapter 15,
there are the people
just newly out of Egypt
and having gone through the Red Sea
and seen the Egyptians
pursuing them
and God in His judgment
bringing the sea
over the Egyptians
to destroy them in the Red Sea.
And what did Israel do?
What did Moses do?
Well, you read there
the beginning of chapter 15
of Exodus.
Then Moses and Israel
sang this song.
And the rest of the chapter
is the song that they sang.
They sang praise to God
as they looked at
what had happened
and what they were singing about.
They were celebrating victory,
but they were celebrating
God's victory.
They were celebrating
God's actions.
They were celebrating
God's greatness.
Yes, He had preserved them.
He had led them.
He had kept them safe.
But He's the one to be praised.
And they're singing
the praises of God
as they sang this song
described in Exodus 15.
And you know, remarkably,
you can take that
right through the whole Bible
on into the book of Revelation
and chapter 15.
And you read there
something remarkable
that the singing in heaven
is the song of Moses
and of the Lamb.
The song of Moses
and of the Lamb.
In other words,
the same celebratory,
triumphant note
in singing
from Exodus
through to Revelation,
from this world
right through to heaven.
It's the praise of God.
Isn't it
precious
that eternity
is going to be spent
for God's people?
Singing praise to God.
Yes, there'll be other things,
but that's a prominent feature
of what heaven
is going to be about.
Singing the praises of God.
Singing the song of Moses
and of the Lamb of Jesus.
Celebrating
God's triumphant victory
over sin,
over Satan,
over death
by the cross
and the resurrection of Christ.
That's the song of heaven.
But it's sung song.
It's congregational song.
It's everybody
participating
in the praise of God.
And what we're doing here
on earth
in this world
as we sing
of the character
and the works of God
is anticipating
the glorious singing
of heaven.
What a privilege.
What a privilege
to be a participant
in a congregation
that sings
the praise of God.
God.
And the praise this morning,
the singing this morning,
I have to say,
was, as it usually,
very good.
And it's especially so
when certain harmonies
come through
in the singing.
And there's that
quality of sung praise
which reflects
our gratitude,
our thankfulness
to God.
God.
So, you see,
our present praise
of God
is actually linked
to the past,
to God's great works
of redemption
in the past,
but it also links us
to the future,
to what's going to be
true in heaven.
So, here you are today,
a congregation
of people
who sing
the praise of God,
and you're conscious
that you're connected
to the praises of God
in the past
for His character
and for His works,
and you're also conscious
you're connected
to the future
for God's people,
the singing of heaven.
It's the same praise,
the same God,
the same privilege,
singing with thankfulness
in your hearts
to God.
Now, what does that give us
when we do that together?
What does that do
more so than when we sing
by ourselves,
good though that is?
Well, doesn't it convey
together,
because it's being done together,
doesn't it really convey
a great sense of wonder
that God should be
this God to us,
that God should have done
all these things for us?
And doesn't it convey
as well as this sense
of wonder
as we sing together,
doesn't it convey
a sense of belonging?
Isn't it as you come together
to praise the Lord
more so than when you sing
on your own,
that you have that sense
of belonging to this people
who praise the Lord,
belonging to this people
whose privilege it is
to sing the praises
of God together?
Our singing together
expresses the important realities
of God's character
and God's works,
but secondly,
it also expresses
the reality of our experiences.
as you go to the book
of Psalms again,
you find sadness
and joy side by side.
So many of the Psalms
express the joy
of David and the other
psalmists
as they collectively,
as they sang the praises
of God with the people
of God,
the joy,
I joyed when to the house
of God,
go up,
they said to me.
And so many of the Psalms
have those wonderful features
of praise and thankfulness
and joy in their praise.
Psalm 27,
the Lord is my light
and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength
of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Triumph!
Joy!
And all the way
through the Psalms,
you have that note
of joy prominently displayed.
The reality
of joy
in our experience.
But there's the other side.
You don't just sing
the praises of God
when you're joyous,
when your heart is glad,
when you feel lifted up.
You sing the praises of God
when you're sad,
when your heart is heavy,
when you have something
to be grieved about.
That's what the Psalms teach us.
Psalm 38, for example.
You see how that,
all the way through
that Psalm, really,
it's pretty much
a note of sadness.
Lord, rebuke me not
in your anger,
not discipline me
in your wrath.
He's talking there,
of course,
of his sins
as the Psalm goes on
to speak about
his own personal sense
of sinfulness and guilt.
There is no soundness
in my flesh.
My iniquities have gone
over my head
like a heavy burden.
They are too heavy for me.
My sighing is not hidden
from you.
My friends and companions
stand aloof
from my plague.
My nearest kin
stand afar off.
All the way through the Psalm,
you've got these notes
again and again
of sadness,
of despondency,
and of grief
in his heart.
But then you stop,
you see,
and you say,
well,
that's a Psalm
that God has given us
to sing together.
You don't just confine
your singings
to the Psalms
of exuberance
and of joy.
It's a privilege
to sing them,
but it's equally
a privilege
to be able to sing
together
from sad hearts,
from hearts
that experience
the pains
of this life,
the challenges
of this life,
the struggles
of this life,
the losses
of this life
as well as the gains.
But you see,
here's a great privilege.
We can sing
these out
to God
and we can sing
them out together
to God.
We share together
in the singing
of our sorrows
as well as the singing
of our joys.
And what a difference
that makes to you
as an individual
that you're singing
together with other people
who together
as you sing
the praises of God,
whether in sadness
or in joy,
we're all together
in the singing.
We're all together
in the praise.
We're saying
to one another
as we sing
our praises to God,
Lord,
collectively,
hear us today
because our heart
is going out
to you.
I think
the more I've gone on
in my Christian experience,
the more I've come
to value
and to appreciate
the benefit
we receive
from singing together
even when it's times
of singing out
our pains.
Just to know
that someone else
is singing with you
and wanting to participate
with you
and to share with you
in the sorrow
of your heart
as well as the joys
of your heart,
isn't that therapeutic?
Isn't that really
in a sense
strengthening
and confirmatory?
And doesn't it
give you again
that sense
of great privilege
and wonder
and thankfulness
to God
that you belong
to that kind
of body
of people
who share together
in their experiences
and whose experiences
are shared out
together in song,
in singing
the praises
of God?
You see,
that goes back
to what we said
at the very beginning,
the importance
of actually being
together,
gathering together
instead of just being
as we are able
to at times
join in with services
online,
but that should be
a secondary issue.
It should be for those
who can't be together
and it's a great facility
to have
and I keep saying this,
it's a wonderful facility
to have
and I hear more
and more of people
in different parts
of the world
who actually come
to join in
with the services
here of this congregation
who are maybe
not able to go
to a service
elsewhere themselves
or even our own
local people
who can't
because of illness
or whatever
cannot actually
physically be there
but when we can
then we should.
When we can,
here's one of the benefits
that we are able
to join together
in the praise of God,
that our voices
come to be
joined together
as we share
the experiences
of this life.
Singing
with thankfulness
in your heart
to God.
So our singing together
is commanded by God.
Our singing together
expresses important realities,
God's character and work,
our own experiences.
Thirdly, finally,
our singing together
contributes to our encouragement.
It's obvious
that we are able
to encourage one another
as we meet physically
rather than at other times.
Yes, you can encourage
many people
with a phone call,
with a WhatsApp
or whatever,
but it doesn't actually
replace the physical connection
as we share together
to encourage one another
in relation to the things
of life.
So as we reflect
on the goodness of God,
the gifts of God,
the mercy of God,
the salvation of God,
again you go back
to the Psalms
and this is what you find
frequently,
that as they shared together
in the experiences of life
and their knowledge of God,
so they were encouraged
and encouraged one another
as they actually traveled
together on the issues,
through the issues of life.
Psalm 103,
what does the psalmist do?
He's doing something
which some people
might think is a sign
of beginning to lose yourself.
He's talking to himself.
O thou my soul,
bless God the Lord.
He's talking into his soul.
He's speaking to his soul.
He's speaking to himself
and he's saying,
bless the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
And then he goes on
to express why
he's praising God.
Don't be forgetful
of all his gracious benefits
that he has bestowed upon you.
Who forgives all your sins.
Who heals you
from all your diseases.
By that he means,
of course,
ultimately spiritually.
And so the psalm goes on.
But as the psalmist
speaking into his soul,
so that out from his soul
will come the praises of God.
And as we reflect on
all of what God has done
and is doing for us,
as together we're sharing
in our knowledge of God
and the experiences
in his providence
that we come to share in.
Well, he's saying here,
sing from your hearts
with thankfulness
in your hearts
to God.
Our singing is not
just a formalized
following of
a certain score of music.
Nothing wrong with that
in itself at all.
But you see,
he's reminding us
that our singing
begins here
in the heart
and our soul.
That the soul
is the source
of our sound praise
to God.
That as each of us
looks into our soul
and finds reasons
to praise the Lord,
whether in sadness
or in gladness,
God is still the same.
And as we find
these reasons
and as we find
these experiences
and as we see
in the Bible
all that's true
about God himself
and what he means to us,
well, you see,
our heart is moved.
Our soul is stirred
and out from our soul
comes praise
in the worship of God
together,
collectively.
So we draw
from our experiences.
And as we draw
from our experiences,
we channel that
into our praise.
And something else
that just in passing
is important,
but it is important,
that means we think
about the words
of what we sing.
That we don't just,
and because we're
so used to the Psalms,
it is a danger
for us always,
of course,
that we get so used
to things
that we fail to
then just think
properly and deeply
about them.
But we should always
begin saying
to ourselves,
before we ever
come to start
the singing
as the Psalm
is set before us,
sometimes we read
the verses all together,
sometimes not.
But in any case,
as we're singing it,
our prayer should be,
Lord,
help me to think
about what I'm singing.
Help me to think
so that my heart
will truly be stirred,
so that I will have
from my soul
meaningfully
the praise
that has thought
about these great words
that you have given me
to sing,
so that they are
meaningful to me,
so that they
increasingly come
to be important
to me
in singing
your praises.
And so,
we can finish
with
Psalm 59,
not to sing it,
but just to quote
from it just now.
And the context,
of course,
is important.
It's a context
of severe difficulty
for the psalmist.
But then he goes on
to say in
verses 16 and 17
in the book of Psalms,
verse 16.
But I will sing
of your strength.
I will sing aloud
of your steadfast love
in the morning,
for you have been
to me a fortress
and a refuge
in the day
of my distress.
O my strength,
I will sing
praises to you,
for you,
O God,
are my fortress,
the God
who shows me
steadfast love.
sing.
Sing praise.
Sing together.
Sing to God's glory.
Sing in reflection
of what God has done,
of who God is.
Sing out your experiences.
Sing together
the praises
of God.
Let us pray.
Lord, we give thanks
as we sing
your praises,
that we sing
words that are
meaningful to us,
words that fit in
with our experiences,
words that convey
to us
something of
your own greatness,
your might,
your power,
words that we use,
O Lord,
to express
our thanks
and our dependence
upon you.
We thank you
that we can sing
our joys to you,
that we can sing
our sorrows to you.
We thank you
for the privilege,
Lord,
of singing together,
of praising the Lord
as a congregation,
and we pray
that that may be
reflected more and more
as time goes by.
We receive our thanks
be with us
throughout the remainder
of the day
and pardon our sin
for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Well, we're going to sing
again to God's praise
in conclusion
from Psalm 67.
Psalm 67
on page 84.
And we're singing
to the tune,
Sussex,
Psalm 67.
God, be merciful
and bless us,
shine upon us
with your face,
that the earth
may know your actions
and all lands
your saving grace.
O God,
may the peoples
praise you,
may all peoples
sing your praise,
for you judge
the nations justly,
ruling over
every race.
May they sing
with joy and gladness,
may they all rejoice
as one.
O God,
may the peoples
praise you
as they all unite
in song.
Then the land
will yield its harvest,
God will pour
his gifts abroad.
God,
our God,
will surely bless us,
all the earth
will fear
our God.
These verses,
God,
be merciful
and bless us.
God,
be merciful
and bless us,
shine upon us
with your face,
that the earth
may know your actions
and the lands
your saving grace.
O God,
may the peoples
praise you,
may all blem
us sing your praise,
for you judge
the nations justly,
ruling over
every race.
May they sing
with joy and gladness,
may they all rejoice
as one.
O God,
may the peoples
praise you,
may the peoples
praise you,
may they all unite
in song.
May they all unite
in song.
Then the land
will yield its harvest,
God will pour
his gifts abroad.
God,
our God,
will surely
bless us,
all the earth
will fear
our God.
I'll go to the main door again
after the benediction.
Now may the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father,
and the communion
of the Holy Spirit
be with you now
and always.
Amen.