Slain in the
Spirit?
Serve
the Lord with gladness,
and come before his presence with a song.
Psalm 100:1
In
our reflections on the two lessons we should not overlook
the psalm, which, together with the canticles, is an integral
part of the service of Morning Prayer. The Psalms are songs
of praise; they combine poetry and music, which, together,
have a profound influence on the soul.
Yesterday's
Religion page in the Star featured the Toronto Airport
Christian Fellowship, with photos of worshipers rolling on
the ground and laughing uncontrollably. The article mentions
that they also make animal noises: braying, barking, howling,
and roaring. They stagger about as if drunk; they shake and
jerk; they weep, wail, and yelp. Mass hysteria or the working
of the holy spirit? Who is to say? In any case, a movement
which has attracted some 4 million Christians from five dozen
nations over the past decade is certainly a phenomenon, especially
when compared to our half-empty churches. When the former
Archbishop of Canterbury was picked up by our bishop at the
airport to attend a meeting of Anglican prelates in the city,
the first question he asked was: "What can you tell me
about the Airport Church?"
Undoubtedly
there are many different ways to praise the Lord, but for
liturgical Christians the Psalms are a principal expression
of praise. I find it moving to think that these songs which
we use today in our liturgy were first used in the liturgy
of the Jerusalem temple. They are a precious proof of the
link between Christian and Jewish spirituality, although some
psalms, in Christian use, have been given a specifically Christian
interpretation. This is scarcely surprising when we recall
that Jesus prayed one of the psalms on the cross: "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34
= Psalm 22:1).
Besides
the liturgical use of the Psalms, I wish to emphasize their
use in private prayer. Both in times of joy and in times of
anguish (as Jesus' example shows) the Psalms serve to direct
our hearts and minds to the one from whom all blessings-and
all afflictions-flow. The Prayer Book uses the translation
of the Psalms by Miles Coverdale, which differs slightly from
the later King James Version. The differences can be illustrated
by comparing the two version of the best beloved psalm of
all: Psalm 23.
In
Martin Luther's second preface to the German Psalter, he has
this to say:
In
the Psalms you look into the hearts of all the saints, as
into a
beautiful garden, indeed, as into heaven, and in that garden
you
see spring up lovely, bright, charming flowers, flowers of
all sorts
of beautiful and joyous thoughts about God and his mercy.
Again, where do you find words expressing sorrow more
deeply and picturing its misery and wretchedness more tellingly
than the words that are contained in the Psalms of Lament?
And the very best thing is that they speak such words about
God
and to God.
Let
us not fail to use this precious resource which can so enrich
our spiritual lives.
