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Sunday 27th June
Psalm 48
Great is the LORD, our God,
and let His praise be great;
He makes His churches His abode,
His most delightful seat.
These temples of His grace,
how beautiful they stand,
the honours of our native place
and bulwarks of our land!
2 Oft have our forebears told,
our eyes have often seen,
how well our God secures the fold
where His own sheep have been.
In ev’ry new distress
we’ll to His house repair,
recall to mind His wondrous grace,
and seek deliv’rance there.
3 Far as Thy Name is known,
the world declares Thy praise;
Thy saints, O LORD, before Thy throne,
their songs of honor raise.
With joy Thy people stand
on Zion’s chosen hill,
proclaim the wonders of Thy hand,
and councils of Thy will.
4 How decent and how wise!
How glorious to behold!
Beyond the pomp that charms the eyes,
and rites adorned with gold.
The God we worship now
will guide us till we die;
will be our God while here below,
and ours above the sky.
Isaac Watts
You can hear the tune, Dover, here
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/180733
Reflection
“Great is the LORD, our God, and let His praise be great;”
What a fantastic idea! To go into our churches, our places of worship and sing God’s praise! To let ourselves go in the moment of ultimate adoration in a place we know will be safe.
It must seem like a dream at the moment. Our churches, our refuges, our sanctuaries, have closed their doors to protect members from an unseen enemy that has taken over our lives (sound familiar?!)
So where do we praise now? Online? In the privacy of our own home – dancing around the living room on our own?
How do we praise God together when we are apart? How do we wonder at the glory of God in a one bedroom flat with no view? How do we sing the praise of our creator with a mask on?
Yet God is still to be praised
It can be a smile at a passing stranger on daily exercise. It can be singing in the shower or the car or anywhere in the house. It can be worship online, making a chaotic, but joyful noise to the Lord on Zoom. It can still happen – we just have to be more creative about it.
God is still wonderful; God is still moving in his mysterious ways and God is very much still to be praised.
So let yourself go in the garden; sing in the shower; let rip in the lounge; but praise the God who is great who is with us now and will be with us long after this pandemic is well and truly over.
Prayer
Great is our Lord and worthy to be praised. Dear God, help us find ways to sing your praise; to worship you unconditionally; uncontrollably; and with all our heart, mind and body. Let our praise be real and spontaneous, for you are our God. Amen.
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