Psalm 96:11-13

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar and all that fills it;
12     let the field exult and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13     before the Lord, for he is coming,
    for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
    and the peoples with his truth.

When we read a bit of this Psalm, I think of church services. Our whole plan can be seen in the 13 verses of Psalm 96. Here is: singing, saying how amazing God is, telling what God does, and bringing offerings/gifts. Author, Marva Dawn, has written a whole book about Christian worship, modeled on this text.

What we usually do in Churches is a far cry from what ‘worship’ was for Jews at the time of Jesus’ birth in the Middle East. The traditional Christmas Eve Service in our pews tomorrow evening will draw a large crowd. It is nothing like the animal sacrifices or ceremonial washing prescribed in the Old Testament. Yet the Psalms - and other texts - are filled with words of praise that still inspire our singing and talking and praying when we worship God.

One interesting image at the end of Psalm 96 is that mention of the trees (of all things!) singing for joy: God is arriving to make things right! Let’s pray for this.

Holy God, do you really bring joy even to the trees? In these days may we join all creation and all Christians in loud praise of Jesus, making things right. And give us quiet moments amid the hustle and bustle to rejoice as quietly as the trees do.

- Rev. Jeff White