More Than Bread

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As I look back over the last 50+ episodes in the Psalms, one of the major themes that has impacted me is the call to "Be different." That challenge is woven throughout the Psalms. It’s woven throughout the Bible, but I see it especially in the Psalms. Be different. Don’t be like the ungodly. Mediate on His Word. Be different. Don’t oppress the marginalized in your community. Be Different. Be different in who you love and how you love. Be different in your levels of worry and anxiety. Be different in your worship. Let your prayer life be different. Let your generosity be different. Be different in your identity as children of God gloriously created by the creator of the world. Just be different. 

But then the counter theme, or perhaps better yet the companion theme is "But come as you are." Be different. But come as you are. Come as you are to worship. That's what wrap-up #1 is all about.

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Psalm 150 says, "Let everyone who has breath praise the Lord." Or as we have suggested, "let every breath be an act of worship." No breath is wasted if every breath is worship. So don't waste your breath. Let everything that breathes use every breath, till our last breath, because no breath of worship is a wasted breath.  

 So we started in the last episode with a moment of worship that Eric Peterson stumbled into; from there we went to Psalm 150's description of worship that descends from the majesty of the heavens to every ordinary breath that we take; a never-ending worship, that we stumble into every time we worship. Now in this episode, we will close the psalms with a moment of worship that shows us how to worship...when life leaves you breathless; when just taking a breath seems almost impossible. 

In this episode we will look at a moment of worship involving Jesus in Matthew 15.

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This psalm is the grand finale of the Book of Psalms, and it's not just any ordinary psalm. It's a celebration of praise, a cosmic symphony of worship, and a reminder that our connection with God goes far beyond the daily stuff we seek .  Psalm 150 is often referred to as the "Hallelujah Chorus" of the Psalms. It is another call to cosmic, universal praise and worship, all people everywhere, everything that has breath, praise the Lord. It's not just all people called to praise God, it’s everybody in every way with every thing you can imagine. 

But here's what I love... the Hebrew phrase "let everything that has breath praise the Lord," could literally be translated, "Let every breath praise the Lord." What would need to happen in our lives that we might come to a the places where every breath we breathe is a moment, an expression of worship? That's Psalm 150!

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Psalm 148 is an invitation to all of creation…an invitation to join a cosmic hallelujah choir in a boisterous cheer of joy to God. It’s an invitation to an already-started always on-going party of praise. And it’s as all-inclusive as you can get, every created thing is invited to the party of praise. AND I can't help but think it is also an invitation to play. Yep, not a misspelling, I didn't mean to type pray... play. Listen to the whole episode for a challenge to play!

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Psalm 146 is a psalm of grateful trust in God’s faithfulness. It contrasts putting our trust in God vs. putting our trust in political leaders. It’s really a question of which Kingdom are you seeking? The Kingdom of God or the kingdoms of this world. Psalm 147 celebrates the greatness of God and His care for His creation. But inserted in the midst of his care for creation are these continuing comments about his care for the brokenhearted, his love for the humble. God is the caretaker of the universe, but he is also the caregiver for the broken and the humble, those in need who know they can’t do it on their own, those who need, desperately need God. 

While the greatness of this God is beyond our imagination and he cares for a universe beyond our comprehension, he is here, now, in our space, involved in the intimate details of our seemingly tiny lives and He has a special place in His heart for the humble and the brokenhearted!

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Psalm 145 is an ode to the beyond imagination greatness and goodness of God.  His greatness is beyond understanding, but so is His goodness. And when I think of the goodness of God, I'm drawn to His heart. The Psalmist writes, "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich (abounding, overflowing) in love." That's a great heart. Listen, this is so important. Father God's heart is stirred up for you. God delights in you. He is relentlessly pursuing you with an extravagant love. So what do we do with that? We pass it on to the next generation!

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Psalm 91 stands on stark contrast to Psalm 142 from the last episode. Psalm 142 is David’s cave psalm. It’s a tough one, one where he pours out his complaints to God, one where he brings his fears and loneliness and sense of betrayal and doubt to God. He brings them all with open hands to God and cries out, “I have no refuge and no one cares for my life!” Psalm 91 (suggested to me as someone's favorite) is all about the refuge we find in God. Both Psalms are real. Both matter. Both are necessary if we want to develop a full vocabulary of prayer. But I'll be honest, I'm a bit more partial to Psalm 91 being true of my life, than Psalm 142! 

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Psalm 142 arises out of one of the most difficult seasons of David’s life. He calls it a "prayer from the cave." It's a powerful expression of David's raw emotions during a singularly challenging chapter of his story. David is desperate, taking refuge in a cave while on the run from King Saul. He pours out his heart to God, expressing deep distress and doubt. He even pours out a complaint or two. It's an honest and vulnerable prayer rising up from a place of fear, frustration, and isolation during a time when he was seeking hope and strength because he had none! AND Psalm 142 gives us the vocabulary and the posture for our cave-prayers.   

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We know objects by their characteristics, but we know people by their stories. In the first two episodes on Psalm 139, we heard over and over again that God knows our story. That is at the heart of a yada (knowing) relationship. But if we want yada, it's not enough for Him to know our story, we need to know his story. The reality is that our story alone can't make sense of the wonder and difficulty of the live we live.  But true intimacy, that happens when our stories merge, when my story becomes His story. That is yada and that's what David is seeking when finishes his Psalm with the words, "Search me, refine me, and lead me O God." 

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One way evangelicals, love to describe our faith is that we say we have a "personal relationship with God."  Those four words slip off our tongues with ease.  "It's not about religion," we proclaim, "it's about relationship, a personal relationship with God."  To be honest I like the description.  "Yada" is the Hebrew word translated  "know" in Psalm 139.  It is a word of deep intimacy, a deep knowing. It's a nearness, a closeness, a familiarity that breeds friendship. Psalm 139 is often called the high point of Old Testament spirituality, at least in part, because of this vision of a personal relationship with God. With a God like this, there has never been a time when you were forgotten, unseen or unknown. God yada(s) you!