Psalm 145
“One generation shall extol your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:4 (NRSVUE)
Have you ever walked into a large cathedral and noticed organ pipes at the front, and then turned around and discovered another set of pipes at the back?
The organ at the back is called an Antiphonal Organ. Because it is separated from the main organ, the two sections can create an echo, with music seeming to answer back and forth across the sanctuary. (View a brief video here: Antiphonal Organ.)
In writing about Psalm 145:4, Eugene Peterson uses this same idea to describe the worship of God’s people:
“Praise is antiphonal between the generations. Praises lifted in one century are echoed in another. Our voices pick up themes announced hundreds of years ago and add personal variations, producing ‘the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, “Hallelujah!”’” (Revelation 19:6 NRSVUE)
—Eugene Peterson, Praying with the Psalms © 1993
What a beautiful picture of the church.
When we sing together, we are doing more than singing words on a page. We are joining a song that began long before us and will continue long after us.
Think about the generations in our congregation. A child may hear a grandparent singing a hymn that has been part of the church’s worship for decades. A young person may sing words that Christians have sung for centuries. Older generations hear the voices of children and young adults and are reminded that the faith continues.
One generation sings, and another answers.
The older generation says, “This is the faith that has carried us.”
The younger generation responds, “We have heard you, and we will carry it forward.”
Sometimes we may not feel like singing. Our faith may feel weak, or our hearts may be heavy. But that’s another gift of congregational singing. Someone else’s voice can carry us until we find our own.
Like an antiphonal organ, the sound moves through the sanctuary—front to back, young to old, one generation to another.
We are not simply singing with one another.
We are singing the faith to one another.
And someday, our voices will become part of the echo that another generation hears.
So listen the next time we sing. Listen for the children. Listen for the older saints. Listen for the generations answering one another.
Together, we are adding our voices to “the voice of a great multitude.”
And the song continues.
Hallelujah!
Listen:
“The Blessing” https://youtu.be/Eh71x1nXEBQ
Sung by Jeff Gronewold & Hannah Loos, August 4, 2024
“May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children”
Question for Reflection:
- What song of faith have you received from those who came before you?
Prayer:
Lord, help us faithfully sing the song of faith we have received, adding our voices to the generations before us and faithfully passing it on to those who come after us. Amen.
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