Sunday
10/08/17 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Psalm 19:14”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 19
New Testament
Scripture: Philippians 3:4b-14
Gospel Lesson:
Matthew 21:33-46
Welcome again my friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ
on this the Eighteen Sunday after Pentecost.
In an effort to try to preach more out of the Old
Testament, this morning I decided to tackle our reading that is Psalm 19. Psalm
19, historically speaking, is a hymn, and it is a hymn that is singing the
glory of God and God’s creation. What I wanted to focus on specifically this
morning though, is the last verse of Psalm 19, which is 19:14.
In my years in various churches, I have heard different
pastors recite this verse of scripture prior to giving there sermons, in there
worship services. One of my friends, Pastor John Aukema, who is now retired,
seems to recite this verse before every sermon that he gives. I suppose then,
that Pastor John and others inspired me, when I saw that we had Psalm 19 as one
of our readings for this morning. So this is why I decided to preach on Psalm
19:14.
Now once again, what does Psalm 19:14 say? Again, it says
this:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps.
19:14, NRSV).
Once again, Psalm 19, historically speaking, is a hymn, as
many of the Psalms have historically been so. In some churches services, they even
have a portion of the service from the “Psalter,” in which you might recite and
sing part of, or all of a Psalm. This practice has existed historically for
centuries, as many of the Psalms were sung as hymns.
In my life time, I have never been to a church service
where every hymn chosen on a given Sunday, was the singing of a Psalm in its
entirety. I have been to services though, were we recited and or sang parts of
a Psalm. In fact, if you look on page 735 in our United Methodist Hymnal, you
will see the “Psalter” (UMC Hymnal, 735).
If you then flip to the next page on 736 it says, “The book
of Psalms is the hymn book of the Bible. At the heart of the Judeo-Christian
worship and prayer, the psalms express the rich spectrum of human emotions,
attitudes, and needs in relation to God, God’s family, and the world” (UMC
Hymnal, 736).
So many of the Psalms in the book of Psalm were and sometimes
still are sung as hymns. I have often not used the “Psalter” in worship,
because it then creates an incredible amount of speaking portions in the
worship service. Perhaps I am wrong though, and maybe the “Psalter” should be
included?
If you look at page 738 in your hymnal, for example, you
will see that part of Psalm 1 is sung, and the recited back and forth.
I tell you all of this, to set the tone of what many of the
Psalms are. In getting back to Psalm 19:14 specifically then, why do some
pastors, of which, this includes my friend Pastor John Aukema, begin there
sermons by reciting Psalm 19:14?
It would seem that you could recite a variety of scriptures
prior to giving a sermon. Yet the one that I have heard the most frequently
recited before giving a sermon, is Psalm 19:14. Why is this?
To be honest, I don’t have an exact answer for you, other
than, I think that Psalm 19:14 really encapsulates what most pastors want their
sermons to be.
Now once again, Psalm
19:14 says:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps.
19:14, NRSV).
So what do I think that pastors who recite this verse of
scripture before a sermon are really saying to God? I think that they saying,
“God I pray that my sermon, and the words that I speak in it, will be true and
pleasing to you”. I think that they are saying, “God, I pray that I would speak
the truth of the gospel, of your word, and I pray that you would put into my
heart and into my mouth words that are truthful and righteous”.
This verse also reminds us that God has revealed truths to
us. God has revealed truths in the Old Testament of our Bible, to people like
Abraham and Moses, as well as to prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Micah. In
imparting these truths, God expected people to speak, live, and do what he
asked them to do. These things were then written into the books of what we now call
the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Bible. The Old Testament, which is the Torah,
or the Five Books of Moses, which includes the Jewish Law, Books of Jewish
history, prophets, books of Wisdom, the psalms, and etc.
Speaking the truth that God has revealed then, and speaking
the love, peace, and mercy that God calls us to speak, live, and do, is I
believe what the Psalmist was hoping for this morning. Historically speaking,
the Psalms have been attributed to the great King David, the one who took down
the mighty goliath with a rock and a sling.
Now if Kind David did indeed write Psalm 19, then King David
was writing a song, a hymn to God. At the end of the Psalm or the hymn, King
David, was saying to God, I hope that what I have just written, sang, and said,
is true and pleasing to you.
So once again Psalm 19:14 says:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps.
19:14, NRSV).
In getting even deeper, this verse of scripture also says:
“and
the meditation of my heart” (Ps. 19:14, NRSV).
According
to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, one of the definitions of the word
meditation is:
So,
the things that we think and reflect upon, should also be pleasing to God. The thoughts
that pop into our heads, and the things that we dwell upon and focus on should
be pleasing to God.
This
verse of scripture then is saying that what we speak, what we reflect upon, and
what we dwell upon, should be Godly, holy, and righteous. My guess is, is that
we all struggle to do this sometimes, but this is what Psalm 19:14 says. This
is why I think that some pastors and priests, and maybe Rabbis, recite this
verse of scripture before preaching, as they are asking God to help them to
preach, think, and feel things that are of God.
So
my sisters and brothers, my friends, are the words of our mouths and the
meditations of our hearts pleasing to God? Or are the words of our mouths and
the meditations of our hearts pleasing only to us, or only to some? Do we ever have
words from our mouths or meditations from our hearts that are hurtful, mean,
and not of God?
I
believe now that I understand why certain pastors, priests, and perhaps even
Rabbis, recite this scripture before preaching. It is the goal of being
pleasing to God, in word, thought, and deed.
In
connecting this to our gospel of Matthew reading for this morning, Jesus tells
us the parable or the story of the tenants. Maybe some of you have had or have
tenants renting from you. Sometimes it is a great relationship, and sometimes it
is not so great.
In
this morning’s parable or story from Jesus, this tenant relationship is not so
great. In fact, this scripture tells us, that a landowner planted a vineyard,
put a large fence around it, put a wine press in it, built a watchtower, and
etc. (Mt. 21:33, NRSV).
The
vineyard owner then leased the vineyard to tenants with the agreement of
getting some of the produce at the time of the harvest (Mt. 21:34, NRSV). The
landowner sent one group to collect, and they were beaten, killed, or stoned
(Mt. 21:35, NRSV). The next set of people that the landowner sent was larger,
and they receive the same treatment (Mt. 21:36, NRSV). The landowner then sent his
son, and they then killed him (Mt. 21:37-39, NRSV).
Jesus
then says that after all of this, that the vineyard owner will come and wipeout
all those tenants, and re-lease the vineyard to good and faithful tenants (Mt.
21:40, NRSV).
Jesus
then says, that he is the rejected corner stone, the rejected son of God, and
indirectly, the rejected son of the vineyard owner (Mt. 21:42, NRSV).
So
the historical understanding of this parable or story, is that the vineyard owner
is God, that the first group of people that were beaten and killed, were the Minor
Prophets. The second group of people that were beaten and killed, were the Major
Prophets. The vineyard owner is God, his son who was killed, is Jesus.
So
if the people didn’t listen to Isaiah, Ezekiel, Nehemiah, Micah, and all of the
other Old Testament prophets, and if they didn’t listen to God’s son, Jesus
Christ, then they are not listening to the revelation that God has been sharing
for centuries and centuries. God’s plan to renew, reshape, and to restore
humanity.
God
spoke through the prophets of the Old Testament, and his plan was brought to fulfillment
through the death, resurrection, and teachings of his son Jesus Christ. As
Christians, we are people of the Gospel, Easter people, and people of the
resurrection. Since this is true, we are to be thinking, contemplating, and
speaking Godly things, Christ-like things, and holy things.
It is my hope and my prayer this day, this week, and
furthermore, that we may be committed to what Psalm 19:14 says. May we seek to
be Godly, righteous, holy, and loving, in what comes out of our mouths, and
from the meditations of our hearts.
With this said, oh great God:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps.
19:14, NRSV).
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment