Proper 4/Pentecost 2/Ordinary Time 9
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
Object:
Categorized as both a "song of Zion" and "a psalm of confidence," Psalm 46 celebrates God's choice to be present in the midst of the people -- specifically, in Jerusalem, "the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High" (v. 4). It is not the city itself that breeds confidence, however. The city is secure only because God, the Lord of hosts, makes it so (v. 7). This theme sounds again in Martin Luther's great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," which is written from Psalm 46.
Here are some sermon possibilities:
1. The psalm expresses confidence especially in the presence of two fearsome things: the threatening seas (vv. 2 and 3) and the threatening nations (vv. 6 and 9). In the worldview of that time, the seas were especially terrifying. The earth, in the ancient Hebrew understanding, rested on mountains rooted deep in the oceans. If those mountains shook, the seas rose. (In Revelation 21:1, one of the blessings of the new age is that the "sea is no more.") But though the seas "roar and foam," the city of God "shall not be moved" (v. 5), for God is with her. Likewise, amidst the raging of the nations, God is the refuge of faithful people. What are the things we fear most? Cancer? Terrorism? Meaninglessness? Financial loss? How is God our refuge against those things?
2. For all its singing about Zion, note that the psalm never says the city is the people's refuge. Only God is. Jerusalem is a temporal expression of Zion, but the real City of God is wherever God chooses to dwell. In the Hebrew understanding, God chose for a time to dwell in Jerusalem and its temple, but some may have forgotten that the Lord's presence was focused in a moveable Ark. In the New Testament, that presence came into focus in Jesus Christ. A sermon could be written on the tendency to confuse the symbol with the reality to which it points. The events of September 11, 2001, reminded us of the frailty of physical locations as the source of confidence and security.
-- S. P.
Here are some sermon possibilities:
1. The psalm expresses confidence especially in the presence of two fearsome things: the threatening seas (vv. 2 and 3) and the threatening nations (vv. 6 and 9). In the worldview of that time, the seas were especially terrifying. The earth, in the ancient Hebrew understanding, rested on mountains rooted deep in the oceans. If those mountains shook, the seas rose. (In Revelation 21:1, one of the blessings of the new age is that the "sea is no more.") But though the seas "roar and foam," the city of God "shall not be moved" (v. 5), for God is with her. Likewise, amidst the raging of the nations, God is the refuge of faithful people. What are the things we fear most? Cancer? Terrorism? Meaninglessness? Financial loss? How is God our refuge against those things?
2. For all its singing about Zion, note that the psalm never says the city is the people's refuge. Only God is. Jerusalem is a temporal expression of Zion, but the real City of God is wherever God chooses to dwell. In the Hebrew understanding, God chose for a time to dwell in Jerusalem and its temple, but some may have forgotten that the Lord's presence was focused in a moveable Ark. In the New Testament, that presence came into focus in Jesus Christ. A sermon could be written on the tendency to confuse the symbol with the reality to which it points. The events of September 11, 2001, reminded us of the frailty of physical locations as the source of confidence and security.
-- S. P.
