Thoughts for the Day

All Lands Summoned to Praise God. A Psalm of thanksgiving.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Psalms 93 and 95-100 are hymns of praise to God as our King, and number 100, also known as the Jubilate has been sung or said at the service of Matins for centuries. Its words are the basis of many well-known hymns, from the modern "Come into his presence sing Alleluia!" and "Jubilate everybody" to William Kethe's (died 1594) "All people that on earth do dwell". As a young Christian I loved to sing this joyous canticle, sometimes I admit as a bit of a relief after the endless verses of the Te Deum with its three different tunes.

There is one word that has always stood out for me in this Psalm. Unfortunately it is missing in the New RSV translation used above, and that word is "serve". It's not just a case of removing the old language, for it's still present in the Psalm printed in the Anglican Common Worship Service book which is used by thousands of churches around the world today. Instead the word "worship" is used. Does this matter? I think so! Dozens of Psalms encourage us to "praise" God and "worship" him, but only on two occasions do they encourage us to "serve" God, and that is in Psalms 2 and 100.

The person who sweeps the floor or vacuums the carpet in church week after week, is serving God. The person who selflessly runs the children's work at the expense of their own worship in church, is serving God. The person who visits the sick or elderly faithfully week in and week out, is serving God. The person who remembers to take items to the food bank, is serving God.

↠ Do we worship and serve God?

Lord God,
we joyfully come to worship You
and join together to sing Your praise.
But sometimes the busyness of life
gets in the way of serving You.
Energise us to worship and serve You
as generously as we can,
using our gifts and time wisely.
Amen.