Blogging toward Sunday

By Edwin Searcy
1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
Sunday, March 3

I don’t need anything else

A folk-singing friend taught me that if I could link a sermon to a song, listeners would remember the song, and thus be more likely to remember the sermon. Music resides in a part of the brain that is resistant to amnesia, he said. Putting the 23rd Psalm in this Sunday’s readings to music gives us preachers an opportunity to help the congregation rediscover this psalm and its power.

• “The Lord is my shepherd.” Invite the congregation to imagine itself as a collective disciple. Let the psalm speak first to “ya’ll” as a single body—perhaps as the “I” who is the singer. Imagine what would happen if the congregation were able to live the faith it sings. In the ancient Near East it was commonplace to speak of kings, pharaohs and caesars as the “shepherds of the people.” This is political speech. The church is called to place its primary trust not in princes but in its risen Lord. Remember the consequences of this for the Confessing Church in Germany in the 1930s when it took the 23rd Psalm seriously. What would happen if we not only sing but also live this psalm?

• “I shall not want.” The congregation sings that it does not need anything else, but this claim counters a culture that preaches that salvation comes from consuming as much as possible and from relying upon military might. Imagine the shape of a church that has this single verse as its mission statement. What does a congregation that “does not want” look like?

• “Even though I walk through the darkest valley.” The Hebrew word for “valley” here is better read as “gully” or “crevice.” When I mention this in a sermon, I notice that the room becomes very quiet. I don’t illustrate. I don’t tell stories. I just say, “More than a few of us know this dark gully only too well. Some of us are deep in such a crevice this morning even though it may be hidden beneath our apparent ease and smiles.” At that moment you can hear a pin drop. It tells me that the truth has been told. Of course it is not just individuals but also many congregations in North America that find themselves closer to the dark valley than to the green pastures these days. The fact that the psalm names the valley of Good Friday reveals that the 23rd Psalm is not a sentimental cliché but instead a brazen declaration of faith sung into the teeth of despair.

• “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.” The Hebrew word for “follow” is actually the word “pursue.” Suddenly goodness and mercy are not like two little puppies following close behind, tails wagging. Now goodness and mercy are the hounds of heaven pursuing lost souls and lost congregations. In the closing scenes of Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen hears the confession of a brutal killer. She has been unsuccessfully hunting him with grace, but now, as he walks to his death, love finally catches him and redeems him. Imagine a congregation that does not see obvious signs of goodness and mercy close on its heels. Now preach that the psalm is not about the obvious. It sings a daring song of hope: “Surely good and mercy shall pursue me. . .and, finally, catch me.”

Let the congregation be reminded of all of this whenever it sings its favorite psalm.

Edwin Searcy is a pastor with University Hill Congregation of the United Church of Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.uhill.net).

Comments

[Kathy]

You might want to attend a Sunday service at a Reformed Presybterian Church of North America congregation some Sunday. That denomination sings psalms exclusively and all a cappella. The 23rd Psalm is sung quite often.

[Dick]

To what tune is the 23rd Psalm sung?

[Ed]

Kathy -

Yes, the 23rd Psalm is sung often in my denomination - though not a cappella (that must be an awesome experience) The problem for us is that the familiarity of the 23rd Psalm has led to its easy domestication. This is the reason that I imagine unleashing it so that when it is sung the Psalm carries renewed voltage.

As for tunes - I find the setting entitled "My Shepherd is the Living Lord" (Thomas Sternhold & Isaac Watts) set to an American folk tune (harmonized in our book by Erik Routley) to be the most beautiful and haunting version I know.

[Homily Service]

A real nuggest for a sermon for sure. I have a variety of musical settings for Psalm 23 - this Sunday we will use Marty Haugan's Shepherd Me O God with is memorable line Shepherd me O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life. Added to its haunting melody, Searcy is right - I don't need anything else.

[Marillyn]

Dick---
Please tell me where I can find the 23rd Psalm setting: "My Shepherd Is the Living Lord" by Thomas Sternhold & Isaac Watts, as you described. (I have looked in several hymnals and cannot locate it.) Thank you!

[Ed]

Marilyn

According to the hymn book that we use (a small Canadian worship book called "Songs for a Gospel People") there is no name for the tune. It is simply listed as 'American Folk harm. Erik Routley, 1976'. The harmonization is copyright "Westminster Praise", 1976, Hinshaw Music. Hope that you find it and enjoy singing it as much as we do. The last verse ends so powerfully: "The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days; O may your house be my abode, and all my work be praise. There would I find a settled rest, while others come and go - no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home."

[Doug]

Ed has also taught me in another context to read verse 5 differently. The word "anoint" is related to the word Messiah. The Messiah is the Anointed One. To be "anointed" in verse 5 is to be "messiah-ed." There is a danger in this reading, of course, especially for a people who are already too full of themselves and already have a "messiah complex." But there is also an additional level of voltage in that phrase when seen in this light. Anointing is not just comforting oil on a hot day, but is a commissioning, a calling. In Lent when we remember that "messiah" and "cross" always belong together, perhaps we can embrace this calling even while in the darkest valley/crevice without the usual accompanying arrogance.

[Annie]

Marillyn, in the Presbyterian Hymnal (1990) the tune is "Resignation" with harmony by Dale Grotenhuis (not Erik Routley). It's based on a tune from Walker's Southern Harmony (1835). The first line of the Watts' text is "My Shepherd will supply my need" so you may find it in an index of first lines as that. The third stanza is as Ed has quoted it. It is a lovely hymn.

[Merry]

New Century Hymnal # 247 - tune: Consolation, harmonized by Erik Routley based on Southern Harmony tune.
Hope you can find it by morning.

[pastorj]

In the ELW (ELCA hymnal) it is #782, My Shepherd, You Supply My Need.

[pastorj]

In the ELW (ELCA hymnal) it is #782, My Shepherd, You Supply My Need.