University Presbyterian Church - Chapel Hill, NC

Psalm 148

1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!

4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,

8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!

10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!

12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!

13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.

14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

"There is no other book in which there is to be found more express and magnificent commendations, both of the unparalleled liberality of God towards his Church, and of all his works; there is no other book in which there is recorded so many deliverances, nor one in which the evidences and experiences of the fatherly providence and solicitude which God exercises towards us, are celebrated with such splendour of diction, and yet with the strictest adherence to truth; in short, there is no other book in which we are more perfectly taught the right manner of praising God, or in which we are more powerfully stirred up to the performance of this religious exercise."[1]

So says John Calvin about the Psalms.  The Psalms, a Presbyterian anchor.  When we were at our strictest, they were the only music in our Sunday worship, to today, when they are a daily and weekly part of the lectionary.  From hope to sorrow, anger, desperation, and joy.... the Psalms run the gamut of human emotions and divine imagination. 

It seems appropriate to start 2012 with a Psalm, and specifically the Psalm that is the assigned lectionary reading for this day, the first Sunday of Christmas, when our minds are buzzing over the possibilities of the new year, our hearts still present at the manger, in Bethlehem.

This Psalm, which is a Psalm of praise, of glory, and commanding, to us God's creations.

As it says in the very first question I learned in the catechism that was a part of my confirmation, as it might have been for many of you, too,

Q. What is the chief end of man?[2]

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God,1 and to enjoy him forever.

Of course, Psalm 148 doesn't begin, end, or stop with the direction for us to glorify God, it goes larger, much larger than us.

The direction to glorify God is directed to all of the world.  All of creation.

Nature.  The Elements.  The animals.

It is a Very exhaustive list.  And that is exactly what it is supposed to be.  All inclusive.  From the very chaos that was present before creation and was tamed by God[3] (the sea monsters and deeps), to human beings, and everything in between. 

James Mays writes in commentary on this Psalm[4],

"How are the sun and moon, heavens and waters, storms and mountains, animals and birds to answer the call to praise?  How can they fulfill their obligation?  One might attribute the call to them to poetic license, but that would miss the theological seriousness behind the hymnic joy....  The stormy wind fulfills his command by being a stormy wind.  The creation and the creatures praise in their very being and doing, by existing and filling their assigned place."

In the same ways we can, by being that which we have been created to be. By being the wind.  The snow. Fulfilling their creative potential.  We, living fully into the vocations God has given us.  And, to quote Mays again, "praise is our place and our purpose."

It's not about perfection, it's about honesty and effort.  About looking in all times and all situations and choosing to see God with you, and praising that which should and is to be praised.  Creation.  Redemption.  The Continued presence and promise of God.

And as we greet this new year, it's a good word to hear, and a good goal to set.  To praise God.  To thank God.  To offer glory to God.  Not just as the day begins.  Not just as the day draws to a close.  But in each breath, with each moment of awareness. 

Not because everything is perfect or wonderful, but because gratitude and offering thanks is more about a choice of living than a achieved perfect state of living.

I think we've all known, I hope that we've all known, people who were able to do this.  To glorify God in all times, and the difference that made.

I remember a day many years ago, at a former church, when I happened to visit two church members, one after the other, who had strikingly similar circumstances.  They were both caring for elderly relatives, with some assistance, but not much assistance.  The first visit consisted of a litany of complaints, the airing of grievances.  The home health nurse had changed their schedule again.  The meals-on-wheels couldn't seem to arrive at a consistent time each day.  Legitimate concerns for this caretaker because they truly did affect her day and how she was able to cope. 

The second, though, didn't see things the same way at all.  She had almost the same life, but instead she saw her blessings.  The ways in which she could thank God.  She looked at me and said, "I don't know how I would do this without them.  I am so very thankful for their help, and for all that they do.  I don't know how I would care for my husband without them."

Two individuals coping with almost the same situations.  The same difficulties.  The same joys.  What was different was how they chose to view their situations, how they chose to praise the Lord in the midst of difficult times.

On Christmas Eve, I shared a story I had heard last year on National Public Radio, of significant Christmas memories, shared.  Today, I want to share the second of those stories, this one shared by Don Graves[5]:

It was the early 20s in Seattle.... The family finances had taken a real beating. My father's business had collapsed, jobs were almost non-existent, and the country was in a near depression. We had a tree for Christmas that year, but no presents. We simply couldn't afford them. On Christmas Eve, we all went to bed in pretty low spirits. 

Unbelievably, when we woke up on Christmas morning, there was a mound of presents under the tree. We tried to control ourselves at breakfast, but we rushed through the meal in record time. 

Then the fun began. My mother went first. We surrounded her in anticipation, and when she opened her package, we saw that she had been given an old shawl that she had "misplaced" several months earlier. My father got an old axe with a broken handle. My sister got her old slippers. One of the boys got a pair of patched and wrinkled trousers. I got a hat, the same hat I thought I had left in a restaurant back in November. 

Each old cast-off came as a total surprise. Before long, we were laughing so hard that we could barely pull the strings on the next package. But where had this largesse come from? It was my brother Morris. For several months, he had been secreting away old things that he knew we wouldn't miss. Then, on Christmas Eve, after the rest of us had gone to bed, he had quietly wrapped up the presents and placed them under the tree. 

I remember this as one of the finest Christmases we ever had.

Being thankful, joyful, didn't change this family's circumstances.  New presents didn't magically appear.  But it did change the way they experienced the day.

Praising God.  Finding ways and places, words and actions, to offer thanks to your Creator; a faithful way to see the place where you are already standing.

God invites us to see the places in front of our eyes through God's eyes, full of love and compassion and hope.

I don't know if any of you here today are resolution-making people, but the words of this Psalm for today seem to provide a pretty good topper for any resolution list.  A reminder to let go of the small things.  The things you cannot change.  Hold tight to the important things.  Follow God in all things.  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!

When days are good, the sky is blue, and thanksgivings flow easily, give God your praise.

When the night is long and you aren't sure about the sun coming up, remember the places and ways in which God has been with you, and the promises God has made.  Give God your praise.

And in all the moments in between these two, the same instructions apply.  Give God your praise!

Praise the Lord!  In 2012, let us let God be our guide, in all things. 

May we be the people that Praise the Lord.  Amen.

[1] From the introduction to John Calvin's commentary on the Psalms.

http://books.google.com/books?id=rjjaGSgiHXAC&lpg=PP1&dq=john%20calvin%20psalms&pg=PA22#v=onepage&q&f=false

Retrieved December 31, 2011.           

[2] Question 1 of the Shorter Catechism.

http://oga.pcusa.org/publications/boc.pdf  Page 204.

[3] Endres, John C., "Praising God the Creator: Praying the Psalms during the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius," Ex Auditu, 2002, page 104.

[4] Mays, James Luther, "Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching: Psalms," Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994. page 445.

[5]National Story Project with Paul Auster

December 24, 2000 -- Paul Auster reads two stories of special Christmases past, submitted by Sylvia Seymour Akin of Memphis, Tennessee, and Don Graves of Anchorage, Alaska. 

 http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/storyproject/2000/001203.story.html

Retrieved 12.24.2010.