September 8, 1999
LIFE & WORK SERIES:
When praises fill heart,
troubles flee your head
___Psalm 103:20-21
___By Brett Younger
___Lake Shore Baptist Church, Waco?
___It hasn't been a good week.?You had a root canal, lost your VISA card, may have seen your cousin on "America's Most Wanted" and argued with your daughter over piercing a body part you didn't know could be pierced. On Saturday night you try to go to sleep to the barking of the neighbor's German shepherd. You wake up late to discover your air conditioner has stopped working. The alarm didn't go off again (you set the time but neglected to turn it on). You're glad the heat wave in your part of Texas has broken; it won't be 95 degrees for another four hours. You rush to church and slip into the pew. You're wondering if the air conditioner breaker could have kicked off (would that have messed upthe alarm clock you're sure you set?) when the organist begins the opening hymn.
___"Praise the Lord! ye heavens adore him; Praise him angels, in the height. Sun and moon, rejoice before him; Praise him, all ye stars of light."
___Slowly but surely your thoughts move beyond your own crises and problems.
___"Praise the God of our salvation! Hosts on high, his power proclaim; heaven and earth and all creation laud and magnify his name." The music gets past your lips and penetrates your heart. As you give thanks for God's goodness, you sense there is more than just this congregation singing.
___"As thine angels serve before thee, so on earth thy will be done."
___The Hebrew people went to worship even when they didn't feel like it. They didn't have VISA cards to lose, but they had troubled cousins and teenage daughters--and you don't want to think about their root canals. They sang when they didn't sleep well, when it was hot and when they were running late.
___They sang Psalm 103 to summon their gratitude to God: "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being praise his holy name" (v. 1). They gave thanks for God's forgiveness: "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins" (vv.2-3).
___They sang of the way God encircles the worshippers with unchanging love--"crowns you with steadfast love and mercy" (v. 4). They praise God who "works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed" (v. 6). The music bursts from inside as they sing, because at the end of it all, sorrow will be swallowed up in grace: "From everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him" (v. 17).
___Their final call to praise rises higher and higher as they realize they are not alone. The congregation is part of the great choir of all creation: "Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will" (vv.20-21).
___Every time we worship God, we join the angels' chorus.
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