However, when people talked with me about the sermon I realized that somehow, in spite of it's bumbling nature, the message had connected. One lady, with tears in her eyes, told me that as I read Psalm 42 it put words to her feelings. Another said that when she opened to Psalm 42 her eyes began reading Psalm 40 and that it was a perfect expression for her current experience of life. Others mentioned their desire to move more deeply into the Psalms and especially to learn how to pray the Psalms.
The Psalms are messy because life is messy. Perhaps, the best way to begin this sermon series is with a messy sermon that lacked the structure and progressionary sequence that seems to help sermons communicate. Psalm 1 is not messy. It is organized and easy to understand. It presents life as it should be, and life as it will be. The 149 Psalms following Psalm 1 largely present life as it is. And frankly, life is a mess! But as the Psalms proclaim over and over -- Our God is a rock!
1 comment:
I love the Psalms. Not sure how I felt about them when I was younger; though to be sure, ever since we dove into the spirtual excercises i've come to trust and enjoy and love the psalms. Sometimes its hard finding the right words to use in our prayers, esp if we're an emotional wreak... the psalms are also good for lamenting or at least learning how historically seekers of God have lamented.
Psalm 42 is also my fav. I wish the song had all the lyrics. I think there are two different ways to sing "As the Deer..." whichever has the blues vibe really tugs on my heart.
no worries on your sermon structure, i didnt even notice. I think this is going to be an awesome journey, now I just need to find me a good walking stick.
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