Shout praises to the LORD!
Praise God in the temple.
Praise God in heaven, a mighty fortress.
Praise our God!
God's deeds are wonderful, too marvelous to describe.
Praise God with trumpets and all kinds of harps.
Praise God with tambourines and dancing,
with stringed instruments and woodwinds.
Praise God with cymbals, with clashing cymbals.
Let every living creature praise the LORD.
Shout praises to the LORD!
Context: Psalm 150 is the glorious end … the hallelujah chorus! It is the last psalm in the great prayer-book of the Bible. As twilight fades into night … we clap and “shout praises to the Lord!” As we examine the bookend phrases, “Shout praises to the LORD!” we find the Hebrew words halal {haw-lal'} and Yahh {yaw} which can be “literally” translated “hallelujah.” Halel (or hallel or hallelu in plural form) means “to praise” and Yahh (or Jah) is the shortened form of “Jehovah” or “Yahweh.” Hallelujah! Praise God! Shout praises to the Lord!
Psalm 150 contains 4 parts:
- Verse 1 declares WHO (God) and WHERE God is to be praised
- Verse 2 proclaims WHY God is to be praised
- Verses 3-5 describe HOW God is to be praised
- Verse 6 announces WHO (everyone/everything) is to praise God
The psalmist extends an invitation to each one of us to breathe deeply … praising God at the end of a very long journey (not our journey for we still have 8 weeks left!) through the Psalms … Reading through the Psalms one a day or one a week from beginning to end takes one on a journey filled with all kinds of strong emotions, joyous song and despondent lament. Up and Down ... Up and Down ... Perhaps that journey to the top of the mountain and into the depths of the valley is what makes psalm 105 so powerful for it reminds us that at the end of our travels through life … God remains!
Going Deeper: As you consider your life journey, why should you praise God? Where have you seen the footprints of God? Have there been any sorrows or surprises along the way? Where was God in your sorrow? Where was God in your surprises? How do you normally experience God? Be specific when you consider God’s presence. When you reflect on the blessings (even the blessings that didn't seem like blessings at the time) that God has brought into your life, how are you invited to praise God? How far out of your comfort zone would you be willing to go to praise God? Would you sing? Would you dance? Would you make music? Would you make noise?
Using these reflections on your life journey … create a paraphrase of Psalm 150:
Shout praises to the LORD!
_____________________________________________________________________________
Praise God in the temple. Praise God in heaven, a mighty fortress.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Praise our God! God’s deeds are wonderful, too marvelous to describe.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Praise God with trumpets and all kinds of harps.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Praise God with tambourines and dancing, with stringed instruments and woodwinds.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Praise God with cymbals, with clashing cymbals.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Let every living creature praise the LORD.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Shout praises to the LORD!
_____________________________________________________________________________
Pondering: Read the verses of Psalm 150 aloud again and again as you engage in the art of Lectio Divina, which means divine reading. *Try Lectio Divina using your own paraphrase instead of the Contemporary English Version which is supplied here or your own bible that you are so used to. It would be a unique way to ponder and pray ... for your paraphrase emerges from your own life experiences and your prayer emerges from where your soul is reaching out to God!
Shout praises to the LORD!
Praise God in the temple. Praise God in heaven, a mighty fortress.
Praise our God! God’s deeds are wonderful, too marvelous to describe.
Praise God with trumpets and all kinds of harps.
Praise God with tambourines and dancing, with stringed instruments and woodwinds.
Praise God with cymbals, with clashing cymbals.
Let every living creature praise the LORD.
Shout praises to the LORD!
Lectio=Listen to the words. Read the words slowly, repeating them again and again, allowing them to linger on the tongue, savoring their beauty ...
Meditatio=Prayerfully listen as you read until a small portion of the psalm (a word or a thought or a phrase) begins to draw you deep within. Turn your “portion” over and over in your mind and consider what God may be inviting you to think or feel or do or be … Write down what Spirit has given you.
Stay with the “portion” you have written down and commit it to memory as your thought for the day … Praying:
Oratio=Spend some time in prayer responding to God’s invitation … allow prayers of confession, petition,
intercession, thanksgiving, praise, or ... to emerge in this time you are spending with God.
Contemplatio=When you runs out of words to say, simply rest in the presence of God, lingering with God in loving companionship …
Amen!
Watch this very lovely version filled with nature photos of a song inspired by this Psalm on YouTube ...
Here is a wonderfully different version filled with photos of culturally-diverse people
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment