Sermon (June 14) “A Psummer of Psalms - Psalm 116” by Rev. Robert McDowell

June 14, 2026

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

     I love the psalms and thought it would be good for us to make this a Psummer of Psalms where we incorporate them more into our daily lives and in our walk with God.

     The book of Psalms has served as the hymnal for people of faith since the time of King Solomon which would have been around 950 BC. Most bible scholars believe that the 150 Psalms we have were developed from the time of Solomon all the way to around 350 BC, which is a span of six hundred years. That’s a long time to put a hymn book together.

     So here is one of our hymnals that we keep in our pews. One thing that is really noticeable is the weight of this book because it is filled with about 700 hymns of faith. Now, imagine if we didn’t have access to this book to help us in worship. Imagine listening to me preach even longer each Sunday if we didn’t do any congregational singing.

     This is why the Psalms are so important in our bible. These Psalms make up the hymn book of the Bible and are what have sustained and spiritually fed God’s people again and again from generation to generation. And just like our hymnal, there are a variety of psalms from which to choose.

     There are basically five types of Psalms. There are psalms of praise, psalms of lament, psalms of thanksgiving, royal psalms, and wisdom psalms.

     These five types of Psalms cover just about every imaginable human emotion that we face in our lives. Emotions like happiness, sadness, grief, fear, gratitude, longing, discouragement, anger, disappointment. You name the emotion; you can probably find it somewhere in these 150 Psalms.

     Think of the Psalms like the hymns in our hymnal as a spiritual aid to express what you are feeling in any given moment but don’t know how to put it into words. The Psalms are here to help you do that.

     Also worth noting is that for every Sunday worship service, there are appointed scripture readings for us to use, called the lectionary. The lectionary always includes four scripture readings. We usually read two of those readings depending on the worship theme that is selected. And I will often include the Psalm as part of our Call to Worship at the beginning of our service.

     Two of the four appointed lectionary readings are always an Old Testament reading and a Psalm. And the theme and emotion of the appointed Psalm is always connected in some way to the appointed Old Testament reading. So, for example, today’s appointed Psalm which is Psalm 116 has a thematic connection with the Genesis scripture reading about Abraham and Sarah.

     The other quick thing that I want to say about this summer of Psalms is that I hope it will lead us to appreciate the Psalms even more as a valuable part of our faith experience. And I hope this series leads all of us to reclaim the treasure that these prayers and hymns of faith offer us.

     So, let’s get started. Psalm 116.

     I mentioned the lectionary of appointed scripture readings for each Sunday. This Psalm, Psalm 116 appears three times during the three-year cycle. It shows up today, but it also was the appointed Psalm a couple of months ago. It’s so popular that it is always the Psalm that is used during Holy Week for Maundy Thursday services, the night of Jesus’ Last Supper.

     And the reason it is the Psalm for today is because of the connection it has with the story of Abraham and Sarah in our Genesis scripture reading. We heard that reading. It’s the story of when the Lord appeared to Abraham when he was in his tent one day.

     The Lord sends three men, and Abraham offers them hospitality by providing them a meal. And as they were eating, the men ask Abraham where his wife Sarah is. And then drops this bombshell on Abraham when they inform him that the Lord will return to them in “due season,” which is pregnancy/due date language, and says that Sarah will give birth to a son.

     Abraham and Sarah who are now old enough to be great-grandparents, let alone new parents of a baby, respond as you might expect they would. They laughed!

     That’s right. They laughed at the Lord! At these messengers!

     Let’s stop there for a moment. Have you ever laughed at the Lord? If we think that’s too disrespectful or improper, we might want to think again because laughter is a sign that God is about to do the impossible. Laughter is that first step in getting us to the point where we can start looking beyond what we think is impossible to what is possible with God.

     So let me fast forward the story. Sarah does end up getting pregnant and she has a son in their old age as the scripture tells us, and they named their son… are you ready for this?  This is the perfect name. They name their son, “Laughter.” What a great name!

     In Hebrew, the name is actually, “Isaac.” Abraham and Sarah have a sense of humor. They had remembered how they had laughed at the Lord when he told them that they would be proud parents in due time, so what better name for their new baby than, “Laughter?”

     And I love what Sarah says after Isaac is born. She says, “God has brought laughter to me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

     Can’t you hear little Isaac when he was around five or so asking mom and dad why they named him “Laughter?” What a fun story! Just hearing the name, “Isaac” reminds us of how God is more than able to do the impossible. With God, all things are possible.

     Now, how does Psalm 116 fit into this theme? Both Sarah and the Psalmist point out that it’s when we are really listening to God that we can be open to the impossible becoming possible. This is why being a good listener to God’s voice can often lead to laughter. Sarah listened and laughed. The Psalmist also listens and ends up being blessed by God.

     The impossible thing that Sarah was facing was becoming pregnant in her advanced years. And the impossible thing that this Psalmist had faced was distress and anguish. It sounds like the Psalmist was facing a life and death situation where there was no hope.

     The Psalmist listened to the Lord, and the Lord saved him. Sarah and this Psalmist are great examples of what it means to listen to the Lord, to be open to the impossible becoming possible, and then expressing our praise for what the Lord has done. This praise is why Psalm 116 is known as a Psalm of praise.

     This Psalm and the story of Abraham and Sarah point us to the importance of listening, both in our listening for God’s voice, but also in how God listens to our deepest needs. I feel like I’m not the best person to be talking about the importance of listening, since I really struggle to do it well and with any kind of consistency.

     Maybe that’s the whole point in focusing on the psalms this summer. They teach us what it means to listen to the Lord, and they remind us that the Lord listens as well.

     Listening is a wonderful skill to have not only in our interpersonal relationships, but also in our relationship with God. How do we listen for God’s voice?

     For this, I turn to our two westies, Blu and Tipsy. Yes, they teach me how to be a good listener. They are terriers, which means that they are always listening for the squirrel in our back yard who might be making its way down a tree. Heaven forbid that the squirrel will make even the faintest scratching sound, because Blu and Tipsy will totally stop what they are doing, and they will frantically run to the door and go into the backyard.

     We have hardwood floors so it’s always fun to watch them frantically slip and slide all their way to the door.

     Even if the TV is at a high volume, they still are able to hear even the slightest noise. When Penny is away and I’m with them, they will rush to the door to greet her when she gets home. They can tell when her car makes it to our driveway, even before the garage door goes up. I can’t hear a thing! But they can.

     I am so glad that we invested in our westie home security system. This system gets great reviews. I highly recommend them. Our westies are phenomenal, phenomenal listeners.

     What if we would train ourselves to hear even the slightest whisper from God? What if we would become alert to those moments when God is trying to get our attention?

     Like the Psalmist in our Psalm for today, it might be a personal challenge we are facing that will lead us to seek God for help, healing, and guidance. When we are going through a difficult time, that’s when it’s always good to be even more attentive to what God might be saying to us.

     And like Sarah in our Genesis reading, if what God is telling us seems too good to be true, keep listening, keep an open mind, because this God is known to work miracles. We might laugh at the thought of God doing the impossible, but God is the one who has the last laugh.

     And last but not least, when God sees you through what seemed to be a dead end, like Sarah and the Psalmist, remember to praise God and offer yourself anew to God. Notice that after God rescues the Psalmist, the Psalmist ends up praising God with an offering in the presence of God’s people. The psalmist even offers a toast to God for what God has done.

     Listen to The Message Translation of this toast. “What can I give back to God for the blessings he’s poured out on me? I’ll lift high the cup of salvation – a toast to God!”

     Being a good listener to God’s voice always leads to becoming more generous, more grateful, and more willing to share our newfound joy with others.

     Whenever God pulls off the impossible, there might not be a better way to end our prayer like we find in Psalm 116.

     All we can really say is, “Praise the Lord!”

Sunday (June 14) Pastoral Prayer

June 14, 2026

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove  UMC

Before I start talking to you, Lord, today’s Psalmist reminds me to begin this prayer by listening to you instead. In these next few moments of silence, let’s listen not only to what the Lord may be wanting to say to us, but also to what may be on our hearts and minds today.

[MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

 

Thank you, Lord for reminding us today of the importance of listening to your voice. Sometimes, we get so busy that even our prayers are only a one-way conversation where we are talking to you the whole time. Remind us to take time in our prayers to also listen to what you want to say to us.

 

Speak to us your word of hope as we offer to you anything that may be troubling our hearts. Speak to us your word of encouragement as we give to you our fears. Speak to us your word of grace as we give to you our shame and our guilt.

 

And we pray that you would speak to those who are on our prayer list as well as those who are on our hearts and minds this day. Speak your word of healing, of comfort, of assurance, of guidance, and of peace.

 

Lord, as our prayer hymn and today’s psalmist remind us, lead us in these next few moments of silence to now offer our praise to you for those times when you have heard our prayers and have spoken your word to us.

 

[MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

 

With praise and thanksgiving in our hearts, we now join together in praying the prayer that Jesus taught us to say together…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Sermon (June 7) “Thinking Cap Sunday” by Rev. Robert McDowell

May 31, 2026 (Trinity Sunday)

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

      Several hundred years ago when I was in elementary school, teachers would tell us to put our thinking caps on. You knew you were going to have to think really hard when they used that phrase.

     Last week was Trinity Sunday. I’ve moved it to today because of our hymn sing last Sunday. I’ve always felt that Trinity Sunday is a thinking cap kind of Sunday because it invites us to think really hard about a very complex and difficult to understand doctrine known as the Trinity.

     This is vitally important because the doctrine of the Trinity is trying to help us comprehend how God who is one can also be three distinct beings. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God known in three persons. So, to make a long sermon short, here’s the short answer. The doctrine of the Trinity is and always will be a mystery to us.

     But since most of you know me pretty well, you probably are already aware that you’re going to get the long answer as well. Hey, I got to fill up my fifteen minutes somehow!

     How can God who is one God also be known in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Great theological minds have looked at this over the centuries and I’ll offer a very brief summary of how they have tried to explain it.

     First of all, I should say that the word, “Trinity” is never mentioned in the Bible. The word, “Trinity” was simply a name that theologians use in understanding who God is.

     Our appointed scripture readings from Romans chapter 5 and John chapter 16 mention all three members of the Trinity.

 

     In our Romans reading, the Apostle Paul refers to God, the general name for God, also known as Father, and then he refers to Jesus through whom we have access to God’s grace. And then he says how God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

     In our Gospel reading, Jesus is telling the disciples that the Spirit will come and guide them in all truth. Jesus also refers to God, the Father and that all that the Father has belongs to Jesus as well.

     Throughout the New Testament, we hear how all three persons of the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are worthy of our worship. And since we are to only worship one God, then this means that all three persons of the Trinity are part of who God is. “God in three persons, blessed Trinity” as the hymn puts it.

      So how have theologians sought to explain the mystery of the Trinity? Here’s where we all need to put on our thinking caps! Let’s strap them on! By the way, these imaginary thinking caps never really made that much of a difference for me, but it is kind of fun.

     Here we go:

     The challenge in understanding the Trinity is holding on to the biblical belief that there is only one true God and at the same time holding on to the biblical belief that God, the Father, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also God.

     Even when we turn to analogies in nature to try to explain this, they eventually fall short. They only take us so far. So, for example, some people talk about how water can appear in three different modes as liquid, ice and steam but yet it’s still water.

 

     The problem with this analogy is that unlike dividing water into liquid, steam, and ice, you can’t divide God in three different ways because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time, all the time. In the water analogy, water is sometimes liquid, sometimes ice, and sometimes steam, but never all three at the same time.

     For example, at Jesus’ baptism, we have all three persons of the Trinity present at the same time. At Jesus’ baptism, God, the Father is speaking words of assurance to Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is descending upon Jesus.

     The other problem with the water analogy is that liquid, steam, and ice do not love each other. I guess they don’t dislike each other but they do not interact with each other in a loving and caring way. They don’t have a personal relationship with each other.

     On the other hand, there is a love relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the scripture, God is not revealed as a thing or as a what but as a who. God is the Father eternally loving His Son in the Spirit which is something you don’t get in the water analogy.

     Other nature analogies are also used to explain the mystery of the Trinity. In addition to the liquid, ice, steam analogy; we also have the egg analogy; the 3-headed man analogy; the pie with 3 slices analogy; sun, heat, and light analogy; the shamrock analogy; the apple analogy of the apple skin, core, and fruit.

    All these analogies fall short because of the uniqueness of the biblical perspective in describing who God is.

 

    The doctrine of the Trinity was formed into a creed thanks to early Christian theologians who relied heavily on the Greco/Roman philosophies of their day. Of course, even philosophies cannot fully unravel the mystery of the Trinity either, but at least they include biblical references to get us closer to the heart of who God is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

     We can thank the early Christian theologian, Tertullian who lived near the turn of the 3rd century as the first person who used the word, “Trinity” which is derived from a Latin word.

     Like other theologians who would follow after him, they were attempting to use the philosophical categories of their day to explain how God can be one God but at the same time be known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

     It would be another century or so later that other theologians would end up developing what has become known as the Nicene Creed in describing the Trinity in philosophical language. We said that creed together earlier in the service.

     This creed is what helped the church to have a common language in formulating their understanding of who God is, especially during a time when there were other views being shared that were contradictory to the biblical witness.

     I appreciate this Sunday on the church calendar each year, because it gives us an opportunity to really think about our faith. Sometimes, we can easily go through the motions of our faith and never really stop to think about what we’re saying or hearing during worship.

 

    To be a growing disciple of Jesus means that we have a learning faith, that is humble, open minded, and curious. And actually, I hope there are many Sundays where we leave from church with more questions for us to think about during the week.

     A Learning faith means that we are always seeking to better understand who God is because the more we know who God is, the more we are drawn into a loving relationship with God through worship.

     One of my favorite parts of being a pastor is when people are eager to learn more about their faith. Like this story that happened at one of the churches I served.

    With only a few bible studies left before our summer break, someone in our study group approached me at the end of our weekly time together with a request.  "Sometime, I'd like you to explain the Trinity at one of our bible studies,” she said with a determined look on her face.

     This was not an unusual request.  She would often come up to me following a bible study to ask me a question, offer one more thought from our discussion, or share something that she found really insightful from our time together. 

     For the three years she attended our bible study, it was very obvious to me that she was a life-long learner, a true student of the bible and someone who wanted to know how it connects with our daily living.  In short, a pastor's dream. 

 

     In many ways, she reminded me of my mother who would have been about the same age as this woman and who also enjoyed reading and studying the bible.
     

     In response to her request, I replied, "Trinity Sunday is only a couple of weeks away, so for our last Bible study before we break for the summer, I'll offer as much as I know about the doctrine of the Trinity.  It's not easy to explain, but I'll give it my best shot." 

     A great big smile came to her face and she said, "Oh, that would be great. Thank you!"

     At our final bible study gathering, I came prepared.  I listed the many scripture passages in which all three persons of the Trinity have divine attributes that are only associated with God.  I also referred to Jesus' baptism and his transfiguration as examples in which all three persons of the Trinity were present at the same time.  I went on to share pretty much what we have been focusing on today.

     For example, when Jesus (the Son) was baptized, a dove (the Holy Spirit) descended upon him, and a voice came from heaven (the Father) stating that this is my son with whom I am well pleased. 

     I also shared that while the word, "Trinity" is not used in the bible, it's the best word to explain how God is known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, especially when we read a verse like Matthew 28:19 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

     After offering my best effort to explain the Trinity, I then told the bible study group that it's still a mystery.  How can God be one and yet be known as three persons?  The scriptures point us to the doctrine of the Trinity, but they don't remove the mystery that is behind it. "We accept the doctrine of the Trinity by faith," I said to them as we concluded our final session with a prayer.

 

     As I was packing up my bible and notes, she was one of the last to leave and I knew that she wanted to speak with me.  "Thank you for helping me to understand the Trinity.  That really helped.  And I really like it that you admitted that it's still a mystery to you."

     I left from that bible study feeling like I accomplished something.  Her kind words following that bible study lifted my spirit.

     Just a couple of weeks after Trinity Sunday, this wonderful saint in our church passed away unexpectedly.  I met her son and daughter at the church that week to pray with them and plan their mother's funeral service. 

     I told them what a wonderful mother they had, and I also told them this more recent story of how their mother wanted to know more about the doctrine of the Trinity during my bible study. 

 

     As I told them this story about their mother and how she always wanted to know more about the mystery of the Trinity, that’s when it dawned on me.

     And now, she knows.