Psalm Meditation 1111 Proper 22 October 3, 2021 Psalm 47 1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. 2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth. 3 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. 4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah 5 God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. 7 For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm. 8 God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. 9 The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted. (NRSV) ¶Something about singing engages more of the body and mind than speech can. Multiple regions of the brain are stimulated when we sing. Even those among who are not able to match the notes being sung by those around them, are still singing. There are any number of ways to sing that do not match the standard definition of singing. The psalmist does not say we have to be the best, only that we sing. ¶With the call to sing praises to God, there is no insistence on quality, only that we sing. Most singing groups, including choirs, are made up of a few voices that are top quality and the rest of us blend with those voices in a way that sounds wonderful to those who are listening to the blended voices. Even a top quality voice can sound out of place when it does not blend with all the others. ¶So, sing. Sing in the shower, sing in the most private space available, sing in a choir, sing for an audience of one or thousands. Any singing in which we tune our hearts and voices to God is going to be praise. When we sing any song as an offering to God, it is a song of praise. If we are among those who can clap, dance, and sing at the same time, we are joining the psalmist in an act of praise. Even if the clapping and dancing doesn’t match the music, we can praise God. “Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.” ¶September 27, 2021 LCM