Keep on Singing

 

We circle back a third time to Psalm 96, because I believe the repetition and returning time and again is a wonderful way to really let the words sink and simmer and settle within us.  Rather than rushing off to find the next new and improved things with promises that surely this remedy will resolve what afflicts us today, we come back open to the familiar.  So, read aloud, slowly, noticing which of the words travel from your lips to your ears to your heart and soul.  Read aloud, open to which words leap from the tip of your tongue and immediate cause you to think, “Say what!?!”  Notice where you emphasize and where you emphatically disagree or don’t feel much at all.  Read with me Psalm 96 from the Voice Translation.

Sing a new song to the Eternal;
    sing in one voice to the Eternal, all the earth.
Sing to the Eternal of all the good things He’s done.
    Bless God name;
    broadcast the good news of God salvation each and every day.
Enlighten the nations to God splendor;
    describe God wondrous acts to all people.
For the Eternal is great indeed and praiseworthy;
    feared and reverenced above all gods, the True God shall be.
For all human-made, lifeless gods are worthless idols,
    but the Eternal plotted the vast heavens, shaped every last detail.
Honor and majesty precede God;
    strength and beauty infuse God holy sanctuary.

Give all credit to the Eternal, families of the world!
    Credit God with glory, honor, and strength!
Credit God with the glory worthy of God magnificent name;
    gather your sacrifice, and present it at God temple.
Bow down to the Eternal, adorned in holiness;
    lay awestruck before God, trembling, all people of the earth.

Shout out to the nations, “The Eternal reigns!
    Yes, indeed, the world is anchored and will not shake loose.
    God governs all people with a fair hand.”
And so, let the heavens resound in gladness!
    Let joy be the earth’s rhythm as the sea and all its creatures roar.
Let the fields grow in triumph, a grand jubilee for all that live there.
Let all the trees of the forest dig in and reach high with songs of joy before the Eternal,
For the Eternal is on God way:
    yes, God is coming to judge the earth.
God will set the world right by God standards,
    and by God faithfulness, God will examine the people.

What is percolating in this reading or singing aloud of the psalm for you today?  I love how ALL creation is part of Your chorus, which tells me that I need to listen to my fellow choir members to be in harmony with the wind and sparrows and clouds and sun.  Maybe you want to go outside and say these words to the trees and grass and all that is around us. 

Creator and Conductor, You inspire a song that has been sung before I first drew breath and will continue for centuries to come.  Help me today to listen to other humans, snails, dogs and to all that I encounter this day You have made.  Amen.