Re: Sounding

James Cathcart January 09, 2025 1 1

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Listen to this daily worship

Psalm 98 (NRSVA)

1 

Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.

2 

The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

3 

He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

4 

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;

5 

make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 

with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

7 

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.

8 

Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;

9 

let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

There’s a theory that we are especially drawn to the sound of birdsong, and that it falls right in the sweet spot of our hearing, because it tells us that, “If birds can live here, than maybe we can live here.” Because birds need shelter and water, things that grow.

As humanity migrated across the globe we sounded it out, listening to to the song of birds to tell us when we had found a place to stay. When we had found our way home.

May we resound with creation praise.

Prayer:

With our breath

with our hands

with our tongues

with our teeth

with our knees

with our feet

with bits of metal

and wood

with bits of string

and reeds

with bits of plastic

and seeds

with rain on rooftops

and rivers over rocks

with singing trees

and wind through leaves

with a lion’s roar

and waves on the shore

We sing a new song to you!

Amen.

Check out this video where James uses Psalm 98 for an atmospheric call to worship.