When our children were preschool age, we took them to Disney World in Florida. We were living in northwest, Ohio at the time so it was a two day trip for us by car.
Now, I had previously driven from the west coast to the east coast that took me several days, but the trip from Ohio to Florida with two preschool children felt like it was twice as long as that cross-country trip.
When we drove that year to Florida, the Disney movie, “Beauty and the Beast” had just premiered in the movie theatre. Before we left, Penny bought the cassette tape of the soundtrack for this movie which we listened to for all of those hours during that incredibly long car ride. To this day, whenever I hear music from that movie, I have these terrible flashbacks.
So this might not be the best example of introducing our psalm of the week as part of our summer of psalms sermon series.
Psalm 128 is known as a traveling Psalm. It’s a psalm that you sing during a long journey not just to pass the time, but to also anticipate the destination to which you are going. And in the case of Psalm 128 as well as the other thirteen psalms of ascent, that destination was the city of Jerusalem, also known as Zion. And the reason they would travel to Jerusalem was because that was where the Temple was located, the Temple where animal sacrifices were made, where their sins were atoned, and where the people worshipped.
Thousands and thousands of Jewish people from near and far would travel from their homes to Jerusalem to celebrate their three major religious festivals that were held during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Like the city of Athens when the students come back during move-in week, the population in Jerusalem increased significantly. Lodging was not easy to find because of all the people in this one city during these festivals.
It reminds me ever so slightly of when in early June each year, 3,000 United Methodists representing the 1,000 churches from all over the West Ohio Conference make a spiritual pilgrimage to Lakeside, Ohio along Lake Erie for annual conference. Think of Lakeside as the city of Jerusalem and Hoover auditorium where our meetings are held, the Temple.
From Athens by car, and stopping briefly one or two times along the way, it takes me about four hours to get there. I looked it up, and if you would choose to walk the whole way to Lakeside, it would take just shy of 3 days without any stops along the way.
When we think of Psalm 128 and these fourteen traveling psalms of ascent that we find in the Book of Psalms, that image of walking several days from southeast, Ohio way north to Lake Erie, might help us to appreciate the commitment it took to make this journey three times a year. Think of all the effort and planning that would require! And no McDonalds along the way, either!
So we can see why, these traveling psalms would be needed. They reminded those religious pilgrims of not only where they were heading, Zion, the beautiful city of God, but of who they were as God’s people.
So let’s take a look at the lyrics of Psalm 128 and what the people would have sung along their long journey to Jerusalem.
Verse one begins with a blessing on all those who seek to follow God. “Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.” These opening lyrics continue in verses 2 and 3 for followers of the Lord to enjoy the blessings of productivity in work and in their families. And appropriately it concludes with the blessings of prosperity and a long life.
The last words of this traveling psalm are the words, “Peace be upon Israel.”
So in this short traveling psalm of six verses, those traveling pilgrims to Jerusalem would have reminded each other of the Lord’s blessings, and of the blessings they would receive upon their arrival in Zion, the city of God. That is so much better than listening to songs from “Beauty and the Beast” over and over again.
Psalm 128 is a psalm of blessings and peace. Blessings and peace. Blessings and peace.
Psalms of ascent are songs that remind us of God’s goodness and love. They are the portable expressions of our faith.
Our United Methodist heritage has a rich history of helping people who are far away from a church building to know and celebrate the good news of our faith in Jesus Christ. People knew us as those “singing Methodists.”
And we have Charles Wesley, John’s brother to thank for that. Charles was the man. An Anglican Priest like his brother, Charles excelled as a musician and as a hymn writer. Of all the hymns in our hymnal, Charles Wesley wins the prize for having the most hymns, fifty-one hymns in total.
In his lifetime, Charles wrote six thousand hymns. And just to think that we only have fifty-one of them in our hymnal. That would be a pretty large hymnal if we had all six thousand of his hymns.
John Wesley was known as the preacher and Charles was known as the musician. That combination of preaching and singing was a powerful force that swept through not only England but here in America in the early days of our nation.
Before Charles Wesley’s hymns were sung in churches, they were sung in taverns and in the open fields. When those early Methodist circuit rider preachers rode on their horses to travel to the next little town out in the frontier, they were known to always have three things with them along their journey. The Bible, the Book of Discipline, and a hymnal.
Singing was so important for those early Methodists that John Wesley offered seven directions for singing.
#1 – Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please. Why was this at the top of Wesley’s list? Because those Methodists wanted every song to communicate the unconditional love and grace of Jesus Christ that was available for every single person. They didn’t want to sing just any old hymn. Those hymns needed to emphasize God’s grace for all people.
#2 - Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.
#3 - Sing All. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.
#4 - Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.
#5 - Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
#6 - Sing in Time: whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can. And take care you sing not too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
#7 - Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.
Singing was so important to those early Methodists that they even had these rules on how to sing. Ours is a singing faith.
This is probably one of the most challenging things about COVID19 and how it impacts the church. We are told that one of the main ways that this virus easily spreads is through tiny particles that are emitted from our mouths when we speak and especially when we sing. To not be able to sing together is for me, the most difficult aspect in waiting for a vaccine. But, we can at least sing silently from our hearts. Or we can at least focus on the words we are singing.
Sometimes, a hymn that was sung during worship returns at unexpired moments for us throughout the week. Sometimes, a little phrase from a hymn will leap out at me as I’m singing it even though I had sung it many times.
And all of us have been encouraged to sing for at least twenty seconds whenever we wash our hands to be certain that they are washed as thoroughly as possible. There was a facebook meme that came out this past spring that suggested to sing the song, “I Will Survive,” by Gloria Gaynor. It was a fun way to remind us that we are going to get through this if we follow the guidelines.
We have a singing faith, even if that means singing from our hearts and paying attention to the lyrics. These hymns are here to remind us that God will see us through any challenge or adversity.
One of my favorite stories of survival during the coronavirus quarantine was out of Italy when accomplished soloists and instrumentalists offered their incredible gift of music from their balcony for others to enjoy.
Music has a way of lifting our spirits and pointing us toward our common humanity. We too have a singing faith and the music reminds us of a God who is more than able to lift our spirits when we are feeling isolated, afraid, and anxious about what the future holds.
We talk a lot about “Thin Place” moments, those times when heaven and earth overlap in mysterious ways, pointing us to a God who is present in our everyday lives. I experienced one of these “thin place” moments on Monday, March 16th this past Spring.
It was at the beginning of COVID19. We were instructed to cancel our worship services the day before to help stop the spread of the virus. I was feeling very anxious and afraid because I knew that there was a lot to think about in how our church was going to move forward with this new reality of social distancing.
When I got home from the church that day, I noticed a package had come for me in the mail. I wondered what it was because I didn’t remember ordering anything. I opened that package and my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I pulled out my new “United Methodist Music & Worship Planner for 2021!” I had ordered this about a month earlier, but it finally came in the mail on that day.
This is probably my most important resource when I plan out sermons, worship bulletins, and what hymns we will sing for the coming year. It was like God was reminding me to not just focus on the present reality which was causing me so much anxiety, but to also know that God was preparing us for a bright future in looking ahead to a new year.
And friends, that was the little spark I needed to feel some hope that a day will come when we will be able to gather to sing together. Like the Israelites who traveled those long miles to Jerusalem, we too are marching to Zion. And along the way, God has given us these songs of ascent, these traveling hymns that offer us hope and assurance that together or apart, we are still God’s people.
And when we finally reach our destination and are able to sing together, what a glorious day that will be!
A Psummer of Psalms
Sermon Discussion Questions
Psalm 128
July 26, 2020
Today, we are introduced to Psalm 105, one of fourteen psalms of ascent,” Psalm 128. Psalms of ascent were sung by Jewish pilgrims who traveled long journeys from their homes to the city of Jerusalem to attend three large religious festivals each year. The people would literally “ascend” up a long slope to eventually arrive to the city. Music was a way to not only pass the time, but to also sing about their faith along the way.
Do you like to take music with you on trips, especially long ones? If so, how does music help you along your journey?
The first verse of Psalm 128 even refers to the journey by saying, “Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who ‘walks’ in his ways.” It then goes on to celebrate the blessings of being God’s people and the blessings they will receive during their time in Jerusalem. This is a song that celebrates God’s blessings and peace. Pastor Robert shared that psalms of ascent, along with our church hymns serve as portable expressions of our faith. Thanks to Charles and John Wesley, the 18th century founders of Methodism, they encouraged those early Methodists to sing their faith both on Sundays and throughout the week.
Do you like to sing hymns? Why or why not? Do you have a favorite hymn?
John Wesley believed that singing our faith was so important that he wanted the early Methodists to follow seven rules when singing.
Read through these seven rules and share your thoughts about why you think they are or are not important to follow.
#1 – Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please. Why was this at the top of Wesley’s list? Because those Methodists wanted every song to communicate the unconditional love and grace of Jesus Christ that was available for every single person. They didn’t want to sing just any old hymn. Those hymns needed to emphasize God’s grace for all people.
#2 - Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.
#3 - Sing All. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.
#4 - Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.
#5 - Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
#6 - Sing in Time: whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can. And take care you sing not too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
#7 - Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.
One of the reasons why singing our faith during worship and throughout the week is because the songs can remind us that God can help us get through any challenge or crisis we may be facing.
Share a time when God helped you to get through a difficult challenge or crisis you were facing. How is God helping you to stay strong during this long and challenging time of COVID19?
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