Psalm Meditation 683
Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 21, 2013

Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
(NRSV)

There are times in which we feel as if our emotions control us and there is nothing we can do to make ourselves feel any different than we do at a particular moment. This psalm reminds us that we have control over our actions and that our actions can make a difference in our emotions. In the middle of a bad day, we can lift our mood by singing a song, or dancing a dance, letting the outward expression of joy filter into the innermost parts of our being.

The psalmist doesn’t say we have to feel the joy, we are invited and encouraged to go through the motions with a sense of openness to the presence of God in our lives. It is possible that by being available to God we may find ourselves feeling the joy in the noise we are making. As we feel the joy, even a little bit of it, our worship goes from an outward expression to an inner experience. As our worship becomes heartfelt we know that God seeks out a relationship with us and we find ourselves wanting to draw closer to the presence of God.

Willingly going through the motions of worship will not take us from the depths of despair to the heights of joy. Expressions of joyful worship are likely to help us feel a bit of the joy that is available to us in the presence of God. Knowing that God is with us can lift us up a bit so that we can see that we are not alone, that we are in this together with God.

July 15, 2013