Palm Sunday
Preaching
Aids To The Psalms
Exploring The Message
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord,
we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Alternate Image
The Singer has passed by a large church numerous times. It is
an awesome building, built of huge granite building blocks and
extending in spires into the sky. The windows are of
dark stained glass, beautiful but cold. The doors are massive of
oak and iron; they look locked, impenetrable to common folk such
as the Singer. Each day on his way to work, he marvels at how big
that edifice is and how small he is by comparison. It is a place
that seems to forbid entry. The Singer has never seen those
massive doors open or anyone ever enter that building.
One Sunday morning the Singer walks past the church. He has
never walked there on a Sunday before. He is amazed. A steady
stream of cars pull up to those front doors and passengers spill
out excitedly in their Sunday finery. The massive doors now stand
wide open and friendly, smiling men and women are greeting those
coming up the steps to the entrance of the church. From inside
emanates music of a wondrous nature that gladdens the heart.
Those once forbidding doors beckon irresistibly to the Singer. He
enters at last and hears the minister say, "This is the day that
the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." It is true,
thinks the Singer. This is the day God has given, I am so glad I
came this day. "Thank you Lord," he prays with the congregation.
Reflection
This is a Psalm that welcomes the pagan, the heathen and the
sinner to worship in God's presence. It is easy for us to make
ourselves unwelcome in God's family. We eye that family with
suspicion, we arrive when not expected, we think of it as an
exclusive club that we dare not enter. We assume the doors of
churches, the entry into God's family is closed, and that
assumption is wrong. No matter what we have done, no matter what
we think, no matter who we think we are, we are welcome. When God
reveals to us the open entry into the kingdom, the family of God,
we are blessed and we rejoice. We rejoice in God's goodness and
forget our unworthiness.
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord,
we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Alternate Image
The Singer has passed by a large church numerous times. It is
an awesome building, built of huge granite building blocks and
extending in spires into the sky. The windows are of
dark stained glass, beautiful but cold. The doors are massive of
oak and iron; they look locked, impenetrable to common folk such
as the Singer. Each day on his way to work, he marvels at how big
that edifice is and how small he is by comparison. It is a place
that seems to forbid entry. The Singer has never seen those
massive doors open or anyone ever enter that building.
One Sunday morning the Singer walks past the church. He has
never walked there on a Sunday before. He is amazed. A steady
stream of cars pull up to those front doors and passengers spill
out excitedly in their Sunday finery. The massive doors now stand
wide open and friendly, smiling men and women are greeting those
coming up the steps to the entrance of the church. From inside
emanates music of a wondrous nature that gladdens the heart.
Those once forbidding doors beckon irresistibly to the Singer. He
enters at last and hears the minister say, "This is the day that
the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." It is true,
thinks the Singer. This is the day God has given, I am so glad I
came this day. "Thank you Lord," he prays with the congregation.
Reflection
This is a Psalm that welcomes the pagan, the heathen and the
sinner to worship in God's presence. It is easy for us to make
ourselves unwelcome in God's family. We eye that family with
suspicion, we arrive when not expected, we think of it as an
exclusive club that we dare not enter. We assume the doors of
churches, the entry into God's family is closed, and that
assumption is wrong. No matter what we have done, no matter what
we think, no matter who we think we are, we are welcome. When God
reveals to us the open entry into the kingdom, the family of God,
we are blessed and we rejoice. We rejoice in God's goodness and
forget our unworthiness.
