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YE THAT FEAR THE LORD,
PRAISE HIM
~Psalm 22:23-30 KJV~
In-person service at
Second Baptist Church
2412 Griffith Ave.
Los Angeles
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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Sunday, February 25, 2024 | |
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23Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live forever. 27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations. 29All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. Psalm 22:23-30 KJV
Introduction
The opening verses of this Psalm resonates with the African American tradition with its recognition that the Lord has seen us through the affliction of the atrocities we have experienced due to prejudice and white supremacy in all of its manifestations. Our faith keeps us fortified with conviction, hope and love that the Lord is one who comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable as the Judeo-Christian heritage has substantiated throughout its history.
Consider how your faith has sustained you in your life’s
challenges, difficulties and troubles.
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Monday, February 26, 2024 | |
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This is a familiar passage as the first words in the psalm were uttered by Jesus on the cross. It opens with the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? — words uttered by Jesus on the cross in the gospel narratives. It continues in verse 18 with, “they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” But the first twenty-two verses of the psalm are not the focus of the lectionary reading for the second Sunday in Lent. Those verses will have to wait until Good Friday.
Verses 23-31 of Psalm 22 are less familiar to the reader. They form a distinct section of the psalm, and yet they are firmly tied to the first twenty-two verses. To understand the connection between the two portions of the psalm, remember it is a psalm where one cries out to God for deliverance from some life-threatening situation.
The elements are clearly discernable.
- The prayer cries out in distress for deliverance and the prayer tells the Lord what is wrong and makes a request of the Lord for deliverance.
- The prayer expresses trust that the Lord will respond appropriately.
- The prayer concludes with praise and adoration.
The lament psalms embody a human process of dealing with the harsh realities of life. We are confronted by things seemingly beyond our control. We cry out to God, detailing the hurt, the bitterness, the fear. We express our heartfelt desire for retribution or deliverance.
Consider what it means to know what to do in times of trouble in your life.
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Tuesday, February 27, 2024 | |
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Firstly, we cry out in our distress to the Lord telling the Lord what’s wrong.
In the process, we often have to remind ourselves why we even came to the Lord with our sorrows and pain. God has been there to deliver us or to help us find a way through the pain in the past, so we fervently believe that God can once again meet us where we are. And, finally, on the other side of the darkness, we find voice to praise God for all that God does for us.
Living below, in this old sinful world
Hardly a comfort can afford
Striving alone, to face temptation's sword
Where could I go but to the Lord?
Where could I go, oh where could I go?
Seeking a refuge for my soul
Needing a friend, to help me in the end
Where could I go, but to the Lord?
Neighbors are kind, I love them everyone
We get along in sweet accord
But when my soul, needs manner from above
Where could I go but to the Lord?
Where could I go, oh where could I go?
Seeking a refuge for my soul
Needing a friend, to help me in the end
Where could I go, but to the Lord?
Life here is grand, with friends I love so dear
Comfort I get from God's own word
Yet when I face this chilling hand of death
Where could I go but to the Lord?
Where could I go, oh where could I go?
Seeking a refuge for my soul
Needing a friend, to help me in the end
Where could I go, but to the Lord?
We had no place to go. The establishment made it impossible for us to have a path forward through our troubles. The laws were against us to deprive us of any judicial opportunity to redress the grievance we had . The structures of society were against us ever getting beyond the world that labeled us as less than human (three fifths of a person). This is our God-given fate, plight, and life. We had nowhere to go. The dye was cast in America for Negroes to be inferior. We were not afforded the opportunities extended to others coming to America from Anglo-Saxon countries like England, Ireland, Norway, Sweden.
Consider what it means to have a place and someone you
can go to when it seems like you have no place or person for which to turn.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2024 | |
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However, those who purported to believe in the Judeo-Christian heritage did not practice what they preached. Nevertheless, the founding documents for this country utilized the words that shaped their expressions of faith and were eventually used to provide an opportunity for peaceful, non-violent protest for opportunities, privileges and rights they were denied.
A composition that gets at that reality says, “God has a way that’s mighty sweet. You can lay your burdens at the Lord’s feet. The Lord knows the road and will help you bear the load. God has a way that’s mighty sweet.” The Lord turns things around in unexpected ways as our history can substantiate.
Now let me say this and move on: this is the Lenten season of the year. Lent reminds us of the temptation to our appetite, ambition and allegiance. It’s a good time to realign our allegiances, reconsider our attachments and reorder our priorities.
Consider what it means to realign your allegiances, reconsider your
attachments and reorder your priorities as part of the Lenten season
of the Christian calendar year as it relates to the Lord being present in
your life and turning things around for your good.
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Thursday, February 29, 2024 | |
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Secondly, David’s prayer expresses trust that the Lord will respond appropriately.
24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
We weren’t allowed to be part of mainstream society. We created our own churches, fraternities, sororities, masonic and eastern Star(OES) lodges, our social groups, cotillions, rights of passage organizations, schools, colleges, newspapers, magazines, clubs for enjoying ourselves with dance and fun, and you name it. We cried to the Lord in our distress and acted on the prayers for deliverance.
It was the pattern of the Lord’s presence in those who cried out with their request for deliverance. The Judeo-Christian faith heritage reminds us that the Lord uses us in the process of liberating ourselves from captivity, oppression and slavery. The deliverances in sacred writ in the Old Testament were the impetus that ignited the imagination of those who wanted their prayers answered. They realized that God participates through them and with them responding positively with resistance to the abuse, bondage, and captivity while trusting the Lord to be with them in the challenge, fight and struggle. Moses and the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and captivity is a classic example. We know what happens with Moses and the Egyptian deliverance (Exodus 12:14). The era of the judges with Deborah, a female Judge in Israel (Judges 4-5). Then, there is Gideon (Judges 6-8). Samson was another one (Judges 13-16). Consider Elijah against Ahab, and Jezebel about the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:19-29), Amos in chapter 5:10-13 says “let justice row down like waters and righteous like a mighty stream.”
Everyone participates in the cause that needs assistant and the wrong that needs resistance. I guess it's about your perception of good or bad, ethical or unethical, moral or immoral, right and wrong, and you name it.
Your politics, participation in the civic and public square, and your role as citizens is not separated from your faith in the Lord being the driving force that leads you to make the choices you do, guided by your belief about who God is, how God is and where God is at work in the world through you.
Consider what it means that the Lord responds appropriately to our circumstances, conditions and crises using us in the process of being liberated from captivity, oppression and slavery.
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Thirdly, David concludes with praise and adoration.
25My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
C. S. Lewis, author of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” a reflection on the psalms, shares great insight about praise. He says we praise what we enjoy:
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.
We are all aficionados of something, sports, music, literature, theater, opera, plays, certain television programs, cars, museums, architecture, people, to name a few.
We praise what we enjoy. We do it unashamedly and in ways that are noticeable and extravagant. We don’t care whether people understand or not. We want to make our voice heard and the joy felt, and our appreciation known.
The most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliments, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless …shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world resonates with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits, and malcontents praised least...Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible.…
I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?
The Psalmists, in telling everyone to praise God, are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.
Consider why you praise the Lord.
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I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10 (NIV)
I Will Sing Hallelujah, I Will Sing Oh Lord.
I Will Sing Hallelujah, I Will Sing Oh Lord.
Cause you are the source of my supply / Lord I praise and lift you high,
I Will Sing Hallelujah, I Will Sing Oh Lord.
He' given us... / He has given us hills and mountains
He has given us level plains
He’s given us food and clothing
He's given us Shelter from the storm and the rain
I Will Sing Hallelujah, I Will Sing Oh Lord
I Will Sing Hallelujah, I Will Sing Oh Lord
Thank you Jesus, Thank you Lord.
Consider what it means to praise the Lord for salvation, righteousness
and possibilities as we manage troubling times.
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