"Come let us sing to the LORD,
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the LORD is our God
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
and the heights of the hills are his also;
the sea is his for he made it
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee
and kneel before the LORD our maker,
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand."
Psalm 95:1:7
From very early on, Christians have greeted the day with this psalm. It was St. Athanasius who instructed the faithful followers in this practice and ever since it has been a part of our Morning Prayer liturgy. The Orthodox church chants this psalm as a part of their Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Contextually, we find it in a chunk of psalms that are very high hymns of praise and acclamation and over and again in these psalms, the psalmist invites us into the singing.
A quick scan of the psalm leads the reader to see why a psalm like this may be used on Christ the King Sunday: For the LORD is our God and a great King above all gods.
I have been writing recently on what it means to be penitential -- that is, to recognize our utter need for God. I believe that this psalm fits very nicely into this theme. While it wouldn't be labeled as a "penitential psalm" it does put God and our relationship to/with him in perspective.
As is the custom of the psalmist, he paints a picture of what God has done.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
and the heights of the hills are his also;
the sea is his for he made it
and his hands have molded the dry land.
As the people of God, we believe that God made the earth; that he created all that we see and we ourselves have been formed by him. In the busyness of this culture, perhaps we need to discipline ourselves more to think about God in this way; but, nevertheless, we can agree that it's a foundation of faith to believe that we are here because God created life. We also believe that God created humans in his image, thus giving humans dignity and the ability to think and celebrate the good creation.
What is the psalmist's response to these ponderings?
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee
and kneel before the LORD our maker,
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
The psalmist reminds those of us who sing the psalm of who we are in the mix. We have a real "out of sight, out of mind" challenge in our faith. We don't see God and we don't look for God, though God is all around us and makes himself known to us in myriad ways. The funny thing about seeing God, particularly in the way that the psalmist proclaims - through creation, is that the more that you look for God, the more you find God. If I take the time to look at creation around me and to consider the work of God in the world, I may not come to it easily, but I will begin to see God.
This can also be said of our worshiping community. God never promised to make sense. We see this clearly in the person of Jesus. Jesus is a peasant who was brought up in a back-water town in the ancient middle east. He develops a clan that dwindles in his short tenure of ministry. The dwindling of his followers comes to a climax at his own embarrassing and brutal death. The teacher that proclaimed that the "last shall be first and the first shall be last" is inaugurated as King of the World and Lord of the Universe through this embarrassing Roman tradition of crucifixion and it is in the event of the third day - the resurrection - in which death and life of all humanity and all time are changed forever. Our worshiping community gathers in the name of this very Jesus every week.
Most people that you see in church look the same. However, the work of God through these ordinary people is profound. It is profound on levels that need not be explained in this blog, but the poor are being fed, the friendless are being comforted, those who are empty in spirit are being filled, the last are first and the first are last. Our wisdom is being confounded by the Lord of this world each day; when we think we have it figured out, paradox strikes again. The psalmist sees God in creation, as should we, but what is his response when he sees God?
Come, let us bow down.
The response is one of penitence -- recognizing his need for God. Bowing down is a sign of surrender. As faithful followers of Jesus, the Lord of this world, we are going to be confused by the "common sense of the kingdom" which is not consistent with the common sense of the world. Such common sense as utters phrases like: sell all you have and give it to the poor, you must hate your life in order to save it, and deny yourself and take up your cross. In light of the confusion, our response is one of faith:
Come, let us bow down.
If Jesus, through his death and resurrection, is calling us to the same kind of life, to die and to rise for the life of the world, how does this affect our daily living? Being reminded that we are to come and to see God in creation, and new creation, we are partners with God in his new creation through Jesus. This dying and rising for the life of the world is just that -- being partners with God in this new creation. We are called in this way through our baptism. We are sustained as a people of God through the body and blood of his Son in the eucharist. Together, each week we proclaim the mystery of this new creation in our gathering around Word and Sacrament.
Come, let us bow down.
If Christ is King and we are to come and bow down, then nothing about life can be the same. Where does this begin?
Come, let us bow down.
It begins in the waters and is sustained by the bread and wine. It is sustained by our faithfulness and obedience which is itself a gift of God's grace.
Come, let us bow down.
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