A Pleasing Theme

"My heart overflows with a pleasing theme"

Those are the opening words to Psalm 45, and when I read them before church began on Sunday morning they were just what I needed.

Last week had been a very full week, with a three-day retreat to Oklahoma in the middle of it. Nine people from our congregation had traveled all day Tuesday to a church camp a bit west of Oklahoma City. All together there were about 45 people connected with Native American ministry in the Reformed Church in America. Activities were planned for Tuesday evening, all day Wednesday and then Thursday morning, before getting back on the road and arriving home about 11 PM.

Friday morning it was back to work, with Sunday's sermon as the priority. I had spent most of Monday in sermon prep, taking my computer and notes on the retreat, hoping to work on it in the evenings, but that didn’t happen. Friday morning I intended to begin where I had left off Monday afternoon, but I wasn't so certain I knew where the sermon was headed anymore. Whatever "really good" ideas I had on Monday I seemed unable to find again on Friday.

I started to work and pulled a draft together Friday, and then I worked on it some more on Saturday. Sunday morning came and I looked at my notes, going over some parts aloud. I've learned, the hard way, that what looks good on paper can sound like a mess when spoken aloud. The general message seemed faithful to the biblical text, which was good. Application seemed particularly weak. I've been trying to work on bringing out ways in which the Bible's words have real meaning for the lives of those in the congregation. It's a weak spot in my preaching that I'm trying to improve. I wasn't crazy that in my view this sermon seemed so weak in that area. I know that God uses weak preachers and weak sermons to his glory, but I didn’t want to be a real-life example of that.

And so about an hour before worship I decided to read my Bible. Not the part I would preach, but something else. I checked the app for my Bible reading plan and saw that the next passage was Psalm 45. And so to Psalm 45 I turned and began to read. The first phrase brought me to a dead stop.

"My heart overflows with a pleasing theme"

Those words were a clear reminder of who I needed to focus on as I got ready to worship. I needed to focus on the Lord. My heart hadn't been overflowing at the moment, but

as I thought about who he was and what he has done I began to think much less about the sermon and much more about the God the sermon, and all of worship, was intended to praise.

May you also think about who God is, how he has shown himself to you time and again, and may your heart overflow with praise. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.