This is part of the worship series,
"Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down"
Series Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
Week One
Praying in God’s House
Scripture
New Testament Lesson: John 14:1–6
Text: Psalm 84
Sermon: A Nest on the Altar
What place in your life would you describe as lovely? As beautiful? For the psalmist, the loveliest place is the house of the Lord. This place meets his deepest desires and wants. The house of the Lord is a home, a refuge—offering welcome, safety, and security. It’s both a source of strength and a source of praise.
So what is “the house of the Lord”? Is it heaven? Is it a metaphor for your personal devotional time? Not really. The psalm is quite literally about the temple, the location of public worship. That is the place of greatest beauty in the life of the psalmist.
Can you say the same about coming to church? Is this house of the Lord lovely for you? Does your weekly experience of worship here in this place meet your deepest desires and wants? Or are you really here not out of a sense of longing and desire but out of an awareness of duty and obligation? Many of us—especially those who are most active in and most committed to the church—come to church because we’ve been taught to come to church, because we know we ought to come to church, because it’s the right thing to do on Sunday morning. But the loveliness of worship is a rare experience. Most weeks we don’t even hope for it anymore.
Is this sanctuary a home, a refuge, a welcoming shelter? Or in your experience is church one more task, one more responsibility, one more source of obligation and work? Many of us—especially those who are most active in and most committed to the church—find ourselves consumed by the busyness of church activity, and Sunday morning is a time when we work at that activity. It’s a time of the week that is full of responsibility and sometimes even anxiety.
Is this a place that gives you the energy for praise? Or does it sap your energy and leave you tired? Is this place a source of strength? Or is it a source of exhaustion? Many of us—especially those who are most active in and most committed to the church—go home on Sunday afternoon with yet more work to do, jobs we picked up in the course of coffee hour or during the quick committee meeting after church school. The truth is that many church members, not just pastors, are burned out. One friend of mine recently referred to this as “compassion fatigue.”
I wish I had the secret for making worship always lovely. Because that’s the way it’s supposed to be. If this psalm does not describe your experience of this place, then you need to restructure your church involvement to let this loveliness come back into your experience. Some of you may need to say no more often. Say no to the activities that don’t strengthen you. Some of you may need to say yes more often. Seek out the activities that do strengthen you. This psalm reminds us that worship should be lovely.
Liturgical Resources
Call to Worship
The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
—Psalm 50:1–2 NRSVUE
Opening Time of Praise
“Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim” (Psalm 135) (st. 1)Psalter
“I Will Exalt My God, My King” (Psalm 145) Cardenas
“It Is Good to Sing Your Praises” (Psalm 92)
“Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim” (st. 3)
Call to Confession: Psalm 14:2–3
Prayer of Confession
“God, Be Merciful to Me”Psalter
[or read Psalm 51 in unison]
Assurance of Pardon
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
—Psalm 103:8-14 NRSVUE
Note: As alternatives, sing the Taizé setting of Psalm 103, “Bless the Lord, My Soul,” which includes a part for the cantor singing these words of forgiveness (Songs and Prayers from Taizé, Vol. 2). Or have the congregation sing only the refrain before and after the spoken assurance.
Prayer for Illumination: Psalm 119:18
Musical Settings of the Sermon Text (to precede and/or follow the sermon)
Metrical Settings of Psalm 84
“How Lovely, Lord, How Lovely” Duba
“Lord of the Worlds Above” Watts
“How Lovely” Daw
“How Dear to Me, O Lord of Hosts” Psalter
Choir Anthems
“How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” Brahms
“O How Amiable” Williams
Prayers of the People
Introduce the prayers of the people with Psalm 34, using one of the many recent settings that involve the congregation on a refrain, with the verses sung or read by one person. For one example, consider “Taste and See,” a gospel-style setting by Francis Patrick O’Brien. The optional choral support on the refrain is very accessible for a small choir. (Incidentally, this piece is also very appropriate during the Lord’s Supper.) The arrangement of the entire psalm would be as follows:
Refrain (v. 13, sung the first time by the choir alone)
Stanza 1 (vv. 1–3); Refrain
Stanza 2 (vv. 4–7, 9–10); Refrain
Stanza 3 (vv. 11–18); Refrain
Stanza 4 (vv. 19–22); Refrain
Prayers of the People; Refrain
Benediction: from Psalm 67
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
—Psalm 67:1–3 NRSVUE
Revised Common Lectionary
Year A: Epiphany—Presentation of the Lord
Year A: Easter—Fifth Sunday of Easter
Year B: Epiphany—Presentation of the Lord
Year B: Season after Pentecost—Proper 16 (21)
Year C: Epiphany—Presentation of the Lord
Year C: Season after Pentecost—Proper 25 (30)
