Praise and Worship (II): the structure

-- continuing

Well, in the last post we already mentioned that in the liturgy of the hours, the prayer of the church, the main components are the Psalms, the silent time, and the Word of God. The silent time, in fact, is very important, that they are inserted every time we finish singing a psalm and listening to the Word of God. In fact, Fr. Gino told us that the best worship is "silent".

What do we have in a catholic charismatic prayer meeting? A praise, a worship, and the Word of God. Is it a coincidence?

But let us take sometime to read the Scripture and focus only on the praise and worship session. Let's read Psalm 95, which is usually used an an "invitation to praise" to begin the liturgy of the hours.

Ps.95
[1] O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
[2] Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
[3] For the LORD is a great God,and a great King above all gods.
[4] In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
[5] The sea is his, for he made it;for his hands formed the dry land.
[6] O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
[7] For he is our God,and we are the people of his pasture,and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would hearken to his voice!
[8] Harden not your hearts, as at Mer'ibah,as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
[9] when your fathers tested me,and put me to the proof,
though they had seen my work.
[10] For forty years I loathed that generationand said,
"They are a people who err in heart,and they do not regard my ways."
[11] Therefore I swore in my angerthat they should not enter my rest.

I am aware that we usually have the tendency to skip the scripture passage, but you might want to read it slowly. Well, maybe let us pray the psalm slowly. I hope we can feel the flow and the elements that we have in the Liturgy of the Hours, as well as in the prayer meeting.

The psalm starts by inviting the people to sing and to make a joyful noise (can you figure out what "joyful noise" means? Could it be music?)

[1] O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

And then, the psalmist invites the people to come into God's presence with "Thanksgiving".

[2] Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

But not only with that, he invites them further to make "a joyful noise" with ....? Guess what? He invites them to make a joyful noise to God with "songs of Praise"!

Then the psalmist does not stop only in inviting, but he starts to "praise" God in verse 3 to 5

[3] For the LORD is a great God,and a great King above all gods.
[4] In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
[5] The sea is his, for he made it;for his hands formed the dry land.

This must be a tiring one. If you ever watch the movie "David" and see how they dance and sing before the Lord, you will open wide your eyes. David even took off his clothes and started to dance almost naked! (2 Sam 6)

[14] And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. [15] So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn. [16] As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

Even, David's wife was embarrassed with what David did.

[20] And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' maids, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

Maybe some of us also experience the same thing as David. This is how David answer

[21] And David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD -- and I will make merry before the LORD.

It is before the Lord that we dance and sing, that we raise our hands, that we make a joyful noise with musics and clapping hands. It is before the Lord! and we shall make merry before the Lord!

But let us continue. After this, the psalmist invites the people again

[6] O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
[7a] For he is our God,and we are the people of his pasture,and the sheep of his hand.

He invites us to "Worship" or to "Bow Down" which is the literal meaning of the word worship in Hebrew. Then, after we worship, he invites us to "Listen to His voice".

[7b] O that today you would hearken to his voice!
[8] Harden not your hearts, as at Mer'ibah,as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
[9] when your fathers tested me,and put me to the proof,
though they had seen my work.

And so this is what the psalmist invites: to give thanks, to praise, to worship, and then to "listen" to his voice. Isn't it wonderful! What we are doing in a catholic charismatic prayer meeting is similar to what the Scripture is teaching us! It is similar to how the Jews prays! It is also similar to how the church prays!

----to be continued