Daily Worship

Surround sound

James Cathcart January 13, 2020 0 0
light_shining_sound_wave
Image credit: Pixabay

Psalm 29 (NRSVA)

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
    worship the Lord in holy splendour.

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
    and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
    and strips the forest bare;
    and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
    the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
    May the Lord bless his people with peace!

With the Trinity we get dynamic range! From the years of Jesus’s quiet service, to the thundering voice in today’s reading, to the groans of the Holy Spirit who can sigh a sigh too deep for words (see Romans 8: 26-27).

The Trinity is a famously difficult concept to get our heads around. God is one and yet God is three. God is indivisible and yet God is a community of more than one. God is alone above at all and yet at a fundamental level is ‘a relationship’ between three. God is call and response — one who speaks but also two who listen. God is an ongoing conversation that we are invited to join in. God is singular, almighty and yet somehow multi-voiced; at one time a mighty thunder that breaks the cedars and at another a soft murmur of peace.

God is a soundscape.

PRAYER

Dear God,
Help us as we follow the wave patterns of your love
from the whispers at midnight
to the rushing roars of creation
from the long silences
to the bursts of song.
God you are melody and harmony
steady rhythm and unexpected syncopation.
You lull us to sleep and shock us awake.
You give us all sound
and a capacity to reply.
Be with us as we follow the wave patterns of your love.
Amen.