Wednesday Night Worship

Psalm 150 begins and ends with the same call: “Praise the Lord.” The psalm places praise around everything else, like a sandwich, and then gives three plain answers: where praise happens, why praise rises, and how God’s people join in. The psalm names God’s sanctuary and the mighty firmament as places of praise. The firmament, that great dome of sky from Genesis, means the whole created world belongs to God. Creation itself becomes God’s sanctuary. Praise does not need a special room, a certain kind of service, or one proper setting. The world, from the sky above to the ground beneath, gives people room to recognize God’s presence. God’s mighty deeds and surpassing greatness give praise its reason. God’s goodness is not locked away from ordinary life. God’s gifts show up in creation, in breath, in beauty, and in the simple fact that people are present within this great big world God has made. Praise answers the goodness already given. The psalm piles up instruments: trumpet, lute, harp, tambourine, strings, pipe, cymbals, loud clashing cymbals, dance, breath. Every instrument has a place. Every body has a place. Gregory of Nyssa’s picture fits this well: all creation is a hymn singing glory to God, and God is the great conductor. People are not puppets in that symphony. God gives hands to play, lungs to breathe, voices to sing, and lives to offer back as thankful music. Creation keeps making its own music. Cicadas roar on a hot afternoon. Frogs and crickets fill the night. Leaves rustle in fall. Geese fly overhead. Winter brings a brittle kind of silence. Spring brings rain, water, buds, and life pushing forward. Each season carries its own orchestration, and each season of life may carry one too. Even a life that feels like one short or random note still belongs in the song. Human limitation does not disqualify anyone from praise. God uses “earthen vessels of our limited selves” to express a goodness greater than earthly life. Weak breath, tired souls, and ordinary bodies can still improvise something beautiful for God. When praise feels impossible, friends can carry faith like the friends who brought the hurting man through the roof to Jesus. When words will not come, the Lord’s Prayer can be prayed. When songs feel far away, even a tired soul can still say, “How great Thou art.” Youtube Chapters • [00:00] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Welcome • [07:38] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Let Everything That Has Breath Praise • [25:26] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Fantasia and the Power of Music • [27:16] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Psalm 150: Where, Why, and How • [28:49] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Praise in God’s Sanctuary and Firmament • [30:24] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Praise for God’s Goodness and Greatness • [31:00] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Every Instrument and Every Breath • [31:48] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Creation as God’s Great Hymn • [36:23] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Hearing the Orchestra of Creation • [41:07] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - A Needed Note in God’s Song • [42:50] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Praise When Life Feels Heavy • [43:37] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - Friends Who Carry Faith • [44:52] (   • Wednesday Night Worship  ) - When Words for Praise Run Out