Reflection 19th April 2024 from Rev Hilary KempPsalm 1171 Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. 2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.Praise the Lord. (NIV)The set Psalm for today is not only the shortest Psalm but also the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. In this translation it contains 29 words and begins and ends with the same three letter phrase – Praise the Lord.The Psalm tells us what to do – Praise the Lord, and why we do it – because God loves us and his faithfulness endures for ever. It’s not just personal though – it’s a call to all the nations, all peoples to praise the Lord. For all peoples to praise God, they need to know about his love for them. If we are continually praising God and telling others the story of what God has done in our lives that helps to spread the good news of God’s love. So this is almost a message within a message – praise the Lord because he loves you and in doing that you will be part of all peoples coming to praise God. Charles Spurgeon spoke about Psalm 117. He said: “this psalm, which is very little in its letter, is exceedingly large in its spirit, for, bursting all bounds of race or nationality, it calls upon all mankind to praise the name of the Lord.”Praising God is a choice we make, it’s a choice we affirm during our Communion Services atthe beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer in the following words: The Lord is here.His Spirit is with us.Lift up your hearts.We lift them to the Lord.Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.It is right to give thanks and praise.It is indeed right,it is our duty and our joy,at all times and in all placesto give you thanks and praise,holy Father, heavenly King,almighty and eternal God,through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. So let’s choose to praise God in the coming days – at all times and in all places – sharing what God has done for us and our reasons for praising him. Common Worship: Collects and Post Communions, material from which is included here, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000
We are taking a different look using this book.Holy Trinity Church on Sunday 17th February 3pm and following weeks on Mondays 2pmFebruary 18th & 26thMarch 4th, 11th & 18th
