Sunday, November 19, 2006

Psalm 99: A Call to Worship

It is Sunday here and my first post in Timeless Prayer. I automatically went to Psalm 99, being my favourite psalm for a Sunday call-to-worship, though this Psalm is already posted not 4 days ago, in an NT perspective.

This is my prayer and call-to-worship for this Sunday morning: to exalt the Lord, our God, and worship at his holy hill, for the Lord our God, is holy.


The Holy King

I
1The Lord is King! Let the people tremble!
... He sits above the cherubim;
... Let the earth tremble!
2The Lord is great in Zion;
... He is exalted above all peoples;
3Let them praise thy great and awesome name!
... For He is holy.

II
4The King is holy; he loves justice.
... It is thou, thyself, who hast established equity.
Justice and righteousness
... That thou, thyself, executest in Jacob.
5Exalt the Lord, our God, and worship at his footstool.
... For he is holy.

III
6Moses and Aaron among his priests,
... And Samuel among those who call on the Lord's name,
They cried unto the Lord, and he answered them.
... 7He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
... They kept his testimonies and the statutes he gave them.
8O Lord our God, it is thou, thyself, who answeredst them.
... Thou has been for them a forgiving God,
... Although thou didst discipline them for their faults.

Envoi
9Exalt the Lord, our God, and worship at his holy hill!
... For the Lord, our God, is holy.

Strophe I
Yahweh is King! He sits enthroned on the cherubim. Cherubims are the heavenly being which are endowed with wings and the Lord flies on them through the heavens. He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind (2Sa 22:11). God addresses himself to the community in worship. Worship the Lord, for He is holy.

Strophe II
While our Holy God sits on the cherubim, it also flows out with rectitude and righteousness. It has been executed in Jacob, in the whole of Israel. And in our times, in the body of Christ. Worship the Lord, for He is holy.

Strophe III
Three heroes, Moses, Aaron and Samuel, are selected among those to called on the Lord and received answers. They are our witnesses, they are our spiritual fathers who attest to the holiness and faithfulness of God.

Envoi
Worship the Lord, for He is holy.

Translation by Samuel Terrien, The Psalm, (Grand Rapids: Eerdsman, 2003): 685

1 comment:

Kevin Knox said...

Hmmm.

Worship the Lord, for He is holy.
Worship the Lord, for He is holy.
He has forgiven, and disciplined.
Worship the Lord, for He is holy.

How straightforward, when you break it down. Praise the Lord.

I had to go review my retelling, to see whether I caught any of that. The shadow is still visible. :-)

Thank you!