Worship February 26, 2021
Let us worship!
Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
give glory, you sons of Jacob;
adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
never looked the other way
when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
he has been right there, listening.
Here in this great gathering for worship
I have discovered this praise-life.
And I’ll do what I promised right here
in front of the God-worshipers.
Down-and-outers sit at God’s table
and eat their fill.
Everyone on the hunt for God
is here, praising him.
“Live it up, from head to toe.
Don’t ever quit!”
--Psalm 22:22-26 (the Message)
A prayer to center you
Gracious God,
From generation to generation,
you have been faithful and just.
Throughout time you have heard the cries of your people
and stood by them in their pain.
We come to you now,
just as we are.
We come to you now,
broken and heavy laden,
hurting and concerned
weighted down and worried.
But we come to you.
We seek your grace and your compassion
your love and your peace.
As you have faithfully stood by all those before us,
we know you stand by us now,
hearing our cries, lifting our burdens, and helping us to carry on in this world.
Hear now our praise and lament…
And help us to trust in you and the promise of provision that you give.
Amen
Holy Words from Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why do you refuse to help me or even to listen to my groans? 2 Day and night I keep on weeping, crying for your help, but there is no reply— 3-4 for you are holy.
The praises of our fathers surrounded your throne; they trusted you and you delivered them. 5 You heard their cries for help and saved them; they were never disappointed when they sought your aid.
6 But I am a worm, not a man, scorned and despised by my own people and by all mankind. 7 Everyone who sees me mocks and sneers and shrugs. 8 “Is this the one who rolled his burden on the Lord?” they laugh. “Is this the one who claims the Lord delights in him? We’ll believe it when we see God rescue him!”
9-11 Lord, how you have helped me before![a] You took me safely from my mother’s womb and brought me through the years of infancy. I have depended upon you since birth; you have always been my God. Don’t leave me now, for trouble is near and no one else can possibly help.
25 Yes, I will stand and praise you[d] before all the people. I will publicly fulfill my vows in the presence of all who reverence your name.
26 The poor[e] shall eat and be satisfied; all who seek the Lord shall find him and shall praise his name. Their hearts shall rejoice with everlasting joy. 27 The whole earth shall see it and return to the Lord; the people of every nation shall worship him.
28 For the Lord is King and rules the nations. 29 Both proud and humble together, all who are mortal—born to die—shall worship him. 30 Our children too shall serve him, for they shall hear from us about the wonders of the Lord; 31 generations yet unborn shall hear of all the miracles he did for us.
Reflection
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me (us)?” O, these words, how they echo the times we now face. O, how my heart sings them in the midst of the wee hours of the day. How many times has this cry sunk into my heart and run through my head this past year? More than I can count.
Over the past year I have asked myself this and so many more questions about the trial we have been facing. I have asked myself “why are we facing this difficult time? Why is such struggle being placed before us? Why is challenge after challenge being thrown before us? Where is God’s will in all of this for us God’s people? What lessons are we not learning as a people that we must continue to suffer? Why, my God, why?”
It can easily feel like God has left us these days. Looking around, it can feel like all there is to see is sorrow and hurt. It is difficult to see past all the worry of a pandemic, the unease of an unsteady democracy, the reality and pain of racial inequity that is rampant all around, and the financial insecurities that are facing so many. When surrounded by so much earthly pain and suffering, it is easy to feel that God has forsaken us, left us to fend in for ourselves in an unjust world. It can feel evil and sin are surrounding us from every corner.
In the middle of living through this pain and suffering it can be hard to put that pain into words. Yet, these words of lament from the Psalmist, written thousands of years ago, speak to the pain that we have been walking through for me. They are words of lament that echoes down through generations. These words speak not just for the generation for which they were written, but seem to speak to us now in our suffering.
I take comfort to know that throughout all of creation, generation after generation, humanity has faced perils and struggles. There are few, if any, generations or people who have not made these cries for themselves. Few, if any, who have not felt isolated, challenged, and even sometimes forsaken and forgotten. The generations that follow us will suffer their own perils and fights. It seems to be the state of humanity. We are all stuck in the sin and humanity of humankind. From Adam to Eve on, humanity has struggled to live into the promised kingdom. We hear the pain of the psalmist reverberate through space and time to our own state. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
But the Psalmist also tells us that the praises of those before us surrounded God’s throne. Even in the midst of struggle and strife, those before us turned to God with Hallelujah and praise. In the midst of feeling abandanded they turned their hearts closer to God and trust God to see them through. The Psalmist hope in the stories of generations before us, urges us to do the same—to worship God with praise and trust in God’s long history of provision. The Psalmist calls us to shout Hallelujah’s even in our worm like state, even in the midst being scorned and despised. We are reminded that God heard the cries of those before us, the cries of ALL the generations before, and they were never disappointed when they sought God’s comfort and aid.
We take hope in the promises of a loving and caring God, even in the midst of struggle and strife. We take hope in the knowledge that through all generations, from the time of Adam and Eve, of Abraham and Sarah, of Moses and Aaron, of Mary and Joseph, of Martha and Mary, God’s promises have held true and God has stood by God’s people.
We take hope in the promise that “the poor shall eat and be satisfied; all who seek (God) shall find (God) and shall praise (God’s) name. Their hearts shall rejoice with everlasting joy.”
I cling to this hope…to this promise, the promise that has been passed down from generation to generation, a promise of a brighter future, a promise of the reign of a just and loving God that one day will come to full light. Though I am surrounded by a global pandemic, though I see around me the lingering hurt and hate of racism generations after the abolition of slavery, though I feel the anguish of those around me suffering economic turmoil, though I see the pain and suffering of humans in an unjust world. I turn to God, I cling to God with hope and with praise. From generation to generation, God has been with God’s people. God has not let us down, nor looked the other way. God has never wandered off to do God’s own thing (as I have many times). God has stood firm and listen to by cries. God has upheld me in the midst of struggle. From my birth to this very breath God has always been my God and seen me through each peril, each doubt, each worry, each breath and I trust God will remain with me (and you) until our last breath and beyond.
While life is full of challenges, while struggles and peril mount, while we may feel alone, abandoned, and unheard, God has proven from generation to generation, to stand by us, to be with us, and to see us through. Not will not forsake us now, let us not forsake God in the midst of our need, but shout praises to God and draw ever near to the thrown of grace.
To get you thinking…
What has been overwhelming to you this past year?
List it out. Write it down. Let God see your lament.
God wants to hear your worry.
God cares for your concern.
From generation to generation,
God has heard the cries of God’s people.
God has helped us before. Don’t leave us now! —Psalm 22:11
When have you seen God be faithful to you or someone you know?
When have you experienced God answering your prayer or carrying you through a difficult time?
What can you do this week to praise to God even in the midst of the chaos that is around us?
Prayer of Sending
Holy God,
the days that we are living through seem overwhelming at times.
Our burdens can grow and we can become weak under the weight.
Help us to trust in your and your strength.
Through all of time, you have been faithful and strong.
You are big enough to carry our worry and concern.
Help us to turn our worry and trouble over to you.
Help us to stand and praise you, even when we feel weighted down!
You, O God, are faithful through all generations,
an ever present help in times of peace and times of need.
Stand with us now.
Guide us now.
love us now.
And help us to pause and worship you, now and always
Amen.
Going out.
Go out into the world, seeking the light of Christ Jesus and may you see all around you the love, compassion, joy, generosity, and hope in the Kingdom of God.
and in all that you do, may the love of Christ Jesus uphold you,
the peace of God sustain you and may the Holy Spirit guide you each step of the way
Let all God’s people say: AMEN
