Rejoice and Sing 712
All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell;
come ye before him and rejoice.
The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
without our aid he did us make;
we are his folk, he doth us feed;
and for his sheep he doth us take.
O enter then his gates with praise,
approach with joy his courts unto;
praise, laud and bless his name always,
for it is seemly so to do.
For why: the Lord our God is good,
his mercy is for ever sure;
his truth at all times firmly stood,
and shall from age to age endure.
Public Domain
William Keith’s version of Psalm 100 which you can hear here.
Acts 16: 19-26
[In Philippi Paul and Silas healed an enslaved girl whose divinations made large profits for her owners.]
When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of profit had gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the city authorities in the main square; bringing them before the magistrates, they alleged, ‘These men are causing a disturbance in our city; they are Jews, and they are advocating practices which it is illegal for Romans to adopt and follow.’ The mob joined in the attack; and the magistrates had the prisoners stripped and gave order for them to be flogged. After a severe beating they were flung into prison and a jailer was ordered to keep them under guard. In view of these orders, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas, at their prayers, were singing praise to God, and the other prisoners were listening, when suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken; the doors burst open and all the prisoners found their fetters unfastened.
Reflection
Our Puritan ancestors devised the Westminster Shorter Catechism in 1647 to teach the faith as they understood it. It begins by echoing the great commandment as taught by Jesus.
‘What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever.’
If we disregard the archaic language this still remains a striking claim. We are here to praise God. Psalm 100 sees that praise located in the Temple before reminding us to bless God always. The Westminster Shorter Catechism does not begin in Church; it claims that our whole life should be built around glorifying God. Singing hymns is only one part of that, but it is a significant part. Today hymns take many shapes and themes but the origin of all hymns is the praise of the divine. When hymns become too introspective they turn our attention away from God to ourselves. A hymn, by definition, ought to turn our minds towards God. The idea of enjoying God sounds strange to modern ears, as does serving him with mirth. What is meant here is not superficial happiness but inner joy. Hymns sometimes have the power to take us away from our everyday context and bring us to what we can only term ‘heaven’.
Paul and Silas included hymn-singing in their devotions. Rather than metaphorically raising the roof they shook the prison apart. Earthquakes were not uncommon, but this one is surely a miracle. Even more miraculous is the religious conversion of the jailer. We might take many lessons from this story but in the context of hymn-singing it is evident that the regular practice of prayer and praise has a power all of its own. We will explore this further this week.
Prayer
Almighty God
we thank you for all your mercies,
for our rest and safety and for this new day.
Cause us to spend this day
in obedient and faithful service.
Preserve our souls from sin,
and our bodies from dangers or hurts
which would hinder us from serving you.
Cause us to live as in your presence,
and let us do all to please you,
and to your glory,
and to the good of our own souls
and of one another;
and let your love, and praise, and service,
be our continual delight;
for Jesus Christ’s sake,
our Saviour and Intercessor at your right hand.
adapted from a prayer by Richard Baxter,
someone intimately connected with the Westminster Shorter Catechism