Praise God!
Sermon
About A Loving God
The Bible is so realistic. It contains words and actions which express the whole range of human emotions. And in some ways, the book of Psalms is a composite of the Bible.
Psalm 150 is a closing song of praise. After 149 songs that tell of human pain and joy, as well as God’s comfort, the psalmists close with a simple song of praise. 'Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!' this great psalm says.
And that is what I would say here today.
Human life is so beautiful and varied!
It may not seem very biblical to say of enemies, 'Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,' as the psalmist does in Psalm 69 (v. 23), but that’s what the psalmist says. Those who wrote the psalms are very human, and they know what it is to feel strong emotion.
They cry in pain. They shout with joy. They praise God with trumpet, lute, and harp. In all of life, they see reason to praise God.
We have talked today about our memories of **, and now we praise God for * and for the memories we have of her. We praise God even for the hard parts of her life, because even the tough times belong to God.
As I have said 100 times before, it’s not that God causes the problems which we face. God loves us so much that he gives us the right to be who we are and who we choose to be. God gives us the right to face the joys and the tragedies of life as free human beings.
God doesn’t make cookie-cutter people, all from the same mold. In the book of Psalms, one writer can talk about how God makes us to lie down in green pastures and walk beside still waters, while another writer can ask God to bring the most terrible of tragedies on the Babylonians who have taken Israel into exile.
One writer can say of God, 'terrible art thou! Who can stand before thee when once thy anger is roused (78:7)?' while another can affirm, 'For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad by thy work; at the works of thy hands I sing for joy (92:4).'
The book of Psalms is a book of worship, and not just any book of worship. It is the book of worship of a faithful community who shares her pain and sorrow in light of the one true living God.
The psalms contain the whole range of human emotions, but in all of those emotions they praise God. No matter what, we are a part of a continuing relationship with God, the psalmists say, and we come into gatherings such as this to share with one another our joy and grief, our pain and hope, our praise of the Creator and Sustainer of us all.
And so today, we come to say good-bye to God’s child *, and in so doing, we do as the psalmists did. We gather in a loving community to praise the living God.
Our individual memories of *, the very things which give us hope and help us grieve, arc gifts from God.
The psalmist tells us to praise God for his 'exceeding greatness,' and then he goes on to talk of harp and song and dance — all kinds of praise.
'Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!' the psalmist says, and so we do. We come as a loving community, gathered here today to celebrate the life of ** and to praise God!
Let Us Pray
Almighty and loving God, we thank you for the life of ** and for the memories we have of her. We thank you for the way in which you surround us with your love and yet still let us live. Help us to feel or grieve in ways appropriate to each of us, and call us to see you in the lives we and others lead and then to praise you for them. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
*Person’s first name
**Person’s full name
Psalm 150 is a closing song of praise. After 149 songs that tell of human pain and joy, as well as God’s comfort, the psalmists close with a simple song of praise. 'Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!' this great psalm says.
And that is what I would say here today.
Human life is so beautiful and varied!
It may not seem very biblical to say of enemies, 'Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,' as the psalmist does in Psalm 69 (v. 23), but that’s what the psalmist says. Those who wrote the psalms are very human, and they know what it is to feel strong emotion.
They cry in pain. They shout with joy. They praise God with trumpet, lute, and harp. In all of life, they see reason to praise God.
We have talked today about our memories of **, and now we praise God for * and for the memories we have of her. We praise God even for the hard parts of her life, because even the tough times belong to God.
As I have said 100 times before, it’s not that God causes the problems which we face. God loves us so much that he gives us the right to be who we are and who we choose to be. God gives us the right to face the joys and the tragedies of life as free human beings.
God doesn’t make cookie-cutter people, all from the same mold. In the book of Psalms, one writer can talk about how God makes us to lie down in green pastures and walk beside still waters, while another writer can ask God to bring the most terrible of tragedies on the Babylonians who have taken Israel into exile.
One writer can say of God, 'terrible art thou! Who can stand before thee when once thy anger is roused (78:7)?' while another can affirm, 'For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad by thy work; at the works of thy hands I sing for joy (92:4).'
The book of Psalms is a book of worship, and not just any book of worship. It is the book of worship of a faithful community who shares her pain and sorrow in light of the one true living God.
The psalms contain the whole range of human emotions, but in all of those emotions they praise God. No matter what, we are a part of a continuing relationship with God, the psalmists say, and we come into gatherings such as this to share with one another our joy and grief, our pain and hope, our praise of the Creator and Sustainer of us all.
And so today, we come to say good-bye to God’s child *, and in so doing, we do as the psalmists did. We gather in a loving community to praise the living God.
Our individual memories of *, the very things which give us hope and help us grieve, arc gifts from God.
The psalmist tells us to praise God for his 'exceeding greatness,' and then he goes on to talk of harp and song and dance — all kinds of praise.
'Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!' the psalmist says, and so we do. We come as a loving community, gathered here today to celebrate the life of ** and to praise God!
Let Us Pray
Almighty and loving God, we thank you for the life of ** and for the memories we have of her. We thank you for the way in which you surround us with your love and yet still let us live. Help us to feel or grieve in ways appropriate to each of us, and call us to see you in the lives we and others lead and then to praise you for them. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
*Person’s first name
**Person’s full name
