Beating Hearts as One

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.

It's our hope that these sermons will draw you

more into the life of following God, Father,

Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and

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Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this

sermon. God bless. Let's pray again. Lord, we

do again thank you for your word. We pray as

we turn to it that we would be drawn to worship

you more and more because of who you are, Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit, because of what you have

done in our salvation and our preservation, Lord.

Draw us into greater praise and worship of you,

we pray. Amen. All right, good morning again.

We are back in the Psalms. Once again, and you

may be wondering when did we let off from the

Psalms? It was two summers ago because I wasn't

here with you last summer. But other than last

summer, we have been in the Psalms every summer

now for 10 years. I started this job actually

10 years ago this month. And we began with Psalm

1. And we are now to Psalm 66. And at this rate,

we will be done in about 12 years. Praise the

Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I thought

because just occasionally I want to do this,

I thought I'd explain to you some of my approach

with preaching. So in the fall, typically what

we have done is we have alternated between non

-gospel New Testament texts and various Old Testament

passages. Then in Advent and Christmastide, we've

typically looked at various series that kind

of prepare us to celebrate the coming of Jesus

and then help us to celebrate the gift of Christ

and his incarnation. Then often in Epiphany,

which is the beginning of January, through to

Easter. Often Epiphany and Lent, though we've

done a couple of series just in Lent, like considering

the work of the cross and why Jesus had to die

and things like that. Typically during that time

we have been in the Gospels. So this year we

were in Mark, but for years we were in Luke during

that time. And then during Easter season, we've

typically taken a series. We've looked at the

fruit of the Spirit and our mission statement

as a church. This year we consider what does

it mean to be a body in light of the resurrection

of Christ? What does it mean to be the church

in light of these resurrected passages, how Jesus

engages with his disciples? But part of what

I wanna do with that is I wanna give you a diet

of the Bible. My hope is that if you're here

for a little while, you are engaging with a lot

of different passages from scripture. And we're

told that all of scripture is breathed out by

God and it's useful for correction and teaching

and training and righteousness and all of the

rest. And parts of scripture speak of God's authority

and his creative power and some of it speaks

specifically about his salvific works, his works

of salvation on behalf of his people. Others

speak about how he's guiding us on all of the

rest. But we know God best by considering all

of his words to us. And so my hope is that over

time we kind of seep into it if you're here for

a little while. And today we are in Psalm 66.

Psalm 66 is, there's a lot of different categories

for Psalms. Psalm 66 is a psalm of praise and

thanksgiving. So it's calling us to praise and

it's praising God for what he's done. So you've

probably turned the Bible a few times as Sylvia

told you different passages. to look up, but

I want to invite you to look at Psalm 66 this

morning. So you can turn there. If you brought

a Bible with you, you can open up that Bible.

If you don't, maybe grab the Bible in front of

you. If you don't have a Bible, please take that

Bible that's in front of you with you. We'd love

for you to have it, love for you to read it,

check it out, maybe ask questions of other people

and learn about the Lord from His Word. As you

open up, Psalm 66. What you immediately notice

though is this is this call to praise, right?

It says, shout for joy to God all the earth,

sing the glory of his name, give to him glorious

praise. If you actually jump down to verse eight,

it says, bless our God, O peoples, let the sound

of his praise be heard. And actually, if you

go down to the very end there, the last verse,

verse 20, again, it says, bless be God. It's

kind of clearly this Psalm of praise, this calling

others to praise Him, to worship Him, to adore

Him. And I want us to walk through this Psalm

together. And part of what I want you to see

is how it kind of takes this wide, expansive

call, and then it narrows it down. But also,

given that this is a the Sunday of the year where

we particularly reflect on the Trinity, I want

you to see how these movements actually call

us into praising God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It's large, it's expansive, and yet it's also

intimate and it's personal, okay? So I want to

sort of illustrate this a little bit with this.

One of the most dramatic symphonies, or actually

I would say sort of performative symphonies in

a way, is Haydn's Symphony 45 in F sharp minor.

I'm sure as I mentioned that you're like, oh,

the F sharp minor one. Maybe you aren't, but

maybe as I mentioned actually its other title,

you might recognize it. It's known as the Farewell

Symphony. And what's so remarkable about this

symphony is that it begins with all of the different

orchestral instruments, and the players are upfront

and they're playing along. And as it goes and

as it nears the end, you have different players.

stop playing their instrument and walk off the

stage. I would encourage you later on, not right

now, to look up this farewell symphony on YouTube.

There are some great performances. Some of them

are actually funny where one, I think cellist,

takes out a handkerchief and as though he's throwing

in the towel, throws it on the ground before

he walks out. Then this other lady, she's like

one of the last ones to walk out. She takes her

bow and she puts like a white towel at the end

and starts waving it as though it's a surrender

flag. It's kind of humorous, but the very first

time this was performed, the lanterns that illuminated

the music sheets of the musicians, they would

snuff them out. as they walked off the stage

and you can just imagine the drama as this whole

body is playing this beautiful piece of music

and then it narrows down and at the end there's

just two violinists there on stage as it ends.

But of course what's remarkable about this is

that the music is lovely in its grandeur at the

beginning. I mean it's a beautiful piece of music

and all the parts are playing together and it's

so lovely. And yet that beauty does not diminish

as it kind of narrows down to the end. It still

grabs your attention. It still sort of delights

the ears. The beauty and the importance of the

collective together and of the individual part,

okay? That's part of what's happening in this

psalm. And I want to suggest to you that's part

of what's happening in the psalm in terms of

the great call to all of us to praise the Lord

and the call of each individual to praise the

Lord. And it's also true in the psalm of who

God is in all of His plurality and majesty and

in the singular ways in which He works, okay?

So look with me again at the beginning of psalm

66. I'm gonna read these first four verses for

you. again. Shout for joy to God all the earth.

Sing the glory of his name. Give to him glorious

praise. Say to God, how awesome are your deeds.

So great is your power. Your enemies come cringing

to you. All the earth worships you and sing praises

to you. They sing praises to your name. It's

just expansive, right? Twice it says all the

earth, all of it. All of it is to worship. And

of course, part of that that's mentioned here

is because his deeds are awesome. They're awe

-inspiring. He speaks and the world comes into

being. His authority is over all things. His

power is so great that those who oppose him,

they come to nothing. All the earth, because

of how great he is simply by his being, his awesomeness,

is to worship the Lord. Then you have this word,

Salah, there. And quite honestly, the truth is

we don't really know what that means. I kind

of love that. I kind of love it like I love when

the New Testament author says, somewhere it's

written. And it quotes the Old Testament like,

I do that sometimes. It was written somewhere

this. And I can't remember the reference, but

it's there. Because it keeps us humble, right?

And there's words that the Bible uses that actually

we're not entirely sure what it means. That's

why we use the Hebrew there. But most people,

and with good reason, believe that Salah means

something like pause, wait, rest. Almost certainly

it's a musical term because it's a change in

the movement. There's some shift that's happening

and there's some way of saying, wait a sec. In

my mind, it was most likely because somebody

needed to grab the electric guitar and start

doing a solo. Or rather, David was grabbing the

lute or the lyre, which was more like one of

these U -shaped things with strings and going

like this. But the point is that the solo in

some ways is a little bit of a shift, it's a

little bit of a pause. And so there actually

is a little shift here. The collective, all of

the earth, the expansive collective, all of the

earth, begins to narrow down. And it begins to

narrow down from simply the God who is awe -inspiring

because he's over all things, to the God who

invites and actually our praise is demanded because

he has acted for the salvation of his people.

So we pick up in verse five. Come and see what

God has done. He is awesome in his deeds toward

the children of man. He turned the sea into dry

land. They passed through the river on foot.

There did we rejoice in him who rules by his

might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations.

Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Salah.

Let's say he turned the sea into dry land. So

the psalmist has moved right from this all -expansive

idea to this collective people of God, right?

He says, come and see what God has done. And

he turned the sea into dry land. It's like, oh,

think specifically of what he's done for you.

Think together, he's saying, about what God has

done for you, how he has saved you, how he worked

for you. Think about how he brought you out of

Egypt when you were slaves. Think of how he knew

how the Egyptians were coming and your fear,

looking at the waves and thinking, there's no

way that I'm going to be saved here. And yet,

even in the midst of that fear, he not only causes

you to come to safety, but he does so dry land.

Think about the amazing act of God's salvation

for you. And then it says, praise. And this praise

here, what I'm saying is that it moves from this

all expanse of everything to this collective

still. It's still a body that has been saved

together. So the praise in verse eight is this,

bless our God, O peoples. Let the sound of his

praise be heard. It's this everything, all creation,

all the earth, but he is our God. He has acted

for us. Now the next section has to do with being

tried and tested, but also being led, being guided,

being brought to safety. And here he's again

narrowing it down. It says repeatedly us, right?

He says, you brought us into the net. You brought

us in. also to the place of abundance. So the

trying is of God collectively. It's also bringing

the people of God collectively to a place of

abundance. Just like the reference to the Red

Sea here, it's a trying of God's people, but

it's the safety to which God leads them. And

this kind of movement, again, moves from the

our to the us, and then actually, eventually,

to the I. It leads to the praise of the individual.

There's a narrowing that's taking place. And

so when you actually get towards the end, verse

13, it says, I will come into your house with

burnt offerings. I will perform my vows to you.

I will offer you burnt offerings of fatted animals.

I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Do

you see how this is a narrowing down? And it's

a narrowing in some ways. with the ways that

God acts. First, He's over all things. Awesome

are His deeds. Then there's this collective thing.

He's brought us through the sea and on dry land.

And then it's specifically, He's tried us. He's

tested us. He's brought us to a place of abundance.

All the earth leads to our people leads to I.

I. Final statement of praise is, blessed be God

because He's not rejected my prayer. Each of

the calls to praise make this movement. All the

earth, blessed be our God, he's heard my prayer.

Steadfast love is for me. So, it's been mentioned

that this is Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday is

the day in the calendar of the church where we

just reflect together on the revelation of God

as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that means

that last Sunday was Pentecost. Some of you were

here as we worshiped on Pentecost Sunday. And

that Sunday is remembering both the first Pentecost,

the 50 days after Passover when God met with

His people there on Mount Sinai, but also 50

days after the resurrection when the Spirit of

God descended in Acts chapter two on the disciples

and those there in Jerusalem. Anyway, today is

a day that we remember specifically this reality

that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, diversity

and unity. We're going to say together the Athanasian

Creed, and I'm telling you this right now because

it's not what we normally say and it's long and

maybe it's going to feel cumbersome for you,

but it's one of the great statements, creedal

statements of the Trinity. And maybe as I say

that, you have heard this said, hey, the Trinity

is not in the Bible. Maybe you've heard this.

You know, one of the great things about Christian

theology that's not even found in the Bible.

Well, the fact is, the word Trinity is not in

the Bible, but the Trinity is all throughout

scripture. You think with me just how Jesus says,

go and baptize in the name of the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit, or our Romans passage

talks about the Father, the Son, and the Spirit

all working together for our salvation. One God,

co -equal, co -eternal. And I want to suggest

to you that in a way, we actually have the Trinity

right here in Psalm 66, okay? I understand it

doesn't say, here's the Trinity right here in

Psalm 66, all right? But I think we have the

work of the Father, the work of the Son, and

the work of the Spirit here. And I think these

various aspects of the Trinity, the work of the

Trinity, actually reflects this sort of movement

from the grand down to the particular in a way.

So when we think of all the earth, shouting to

God for joy, for his awesome deeds, I think it's

right for us to think of the work of the Father.

We're told in 1 Corinthians 8, 6, yet for us

there's one God, the Father, from whom are all

things and for whom we exist. And then actually

in Revelation 4, 11, there's this worship of

the Father taking place. It says this, What we

have is this sense of all things should be worshiping

the Father, because He is awesome. He is over

all. We can say is that all the earth there is

to praise the fatherly reality of God God as

father But then what I said when it when it actually

when this psalm turns to say hey the people of

God the collective people of God Should also

be praising him. This isn't a call just to all

the earth but specifically to the church What

we see when we do that when we when we made that

turn is in psalm 66 What it's saying is you need

to do it because of how God saved you Remember

his acts in history to save you out of slavery

and to bring you to himself. Well, as Christians

we would say, that is the work of Jesus. The

great act of bringing us from being slaves to

bringing us to being sons is the historical work

of Christ on the cross and in the resurrection.

And so again, actually, we could look at the

very same passage, 1 Corinthians 8, 6. It goes

on to say, and one Lord Jesus Christ Through

whom are all things and through whom we exist

is what it says We exist as a body of the church

because of the definitive historical acts of

Christ for us. So we ought to praise him The

collective people of God exists because of the

work of the Sun and Actually, we could look at

the very next the very next passage in the book

of Revelation chapter 5 Not only is the Father

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

to be praised in Revelation 4, but the Son is

to be praised in Revelation 5, and he's to be

praised because of his works of salvation in

history. So this is what it says in that chapter.

Worthy are you, referring to the lamb there,

to take the scroll and to open its seals, for

you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed.

People for God from every tribe and language

and people and nation and you've made them a

kingdom and priests to our God and they shall

reign on the earth So you see the collective

people of God are to worship Jesus the son Because

of his works of salvation for them as a collective

people Okay, this big expansive thing is narrowing

down But also here's what I want to suggest to

you is that we see the work of the spirit here

also This psalm I think is calling us to praise

God as Holy Spirit also. And think with me about

how Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted.

What it says actually in that text there in Matthew

chapter four is it says the Spirit of God led

him there. But as he was tempted, the Spirit

of God led him through that and into a place

of abundance. Jesus tells us in John chapter

John 14 · chapter mention

14, that the Spirit is our counselor, in John

John 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16, that He's the one who will guide

us into all truth. This is the exact language

that is being used here in this psalm, here in

Psalm 66. We have a call to praise God because

He's awesome, because His works of salvation,

but also because He guides His people. And sometimes

He guides His people into trials. But through

those trials, through those valleys of the shadow

of death, He brings them into the place of living

water and abundance. What I'm saying is this

text here, it starts expansive. and it narrows

down to the individual. And in so doing, it's

actually calling us collectively and individually

to worship the Trinity who is collective, plurality,

and yet one unity. Part of the doctrine of the

Trinity is that it teaches us that God loves

us as Father, as the Almighty Father who's over

it all. That He loves us as Son. who redeems

us from our slavery to sin, historically, in

time and in space, but also that He loves us

intimately. Specifically. The doctrine of the

Holy Spirit is that God is with you, particularly.

He abides within you. He's made His dwelling

in you, individually. The fact is that all these

things together are all the more reason to praise.

The reality of God as Trinity should lift all

of our hearts all the more to offer Him our praise

and our worship. We were made in the image of

God. Genesis tells us that. It says, let us make

man in our image, the Father that was there ordering,

the Son there speaking, the Word is with God

in the beginning, the Spirit there hovering,

all creating. But also the Bible says that they

are all in recreation, too. God's love is for

you as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit. His

redemptive work is for you as Father, as Son,

and as Holy Spirit. All of it together is working

together to help us sing his praises. Live as

we are called to live. Worship as we are called

to worship. Let me circle back to music as a

way of kind of closing So you've probably heard

and I wonder actually if you've experienced this

That music actually is very good for your heart

health and Actually, specifically the beats of

music are good for your heart health and so you

can listen to certain Music and it actually your

heart will begin to beat to certain music. So

it can have a calming presence. It can actually

have a strengthening presence too, as it beats

in a certain way. There's been these remarkable

studies that have been done that music beats

can affect heart health. But you've maybe, because

I feel like maybe I mentioned this years ago

here. Of course, some of you were not there at

this time, but maybe you've also heard that there's

been some studies that have been done about the

effects of collectively singing. And specifically,

quite a few of these studies have been done with

regards to choirs singing hymns, actually, interestingly.

But in their various parts, as they keep beat

together, their hearts actually begin to beat

in unison. One of the articles I read this week

was from about 12 years ago. I don't know if

I'm saying that right. At the University of Gothenburg

in Sweden, they did a study a while back looking

specifically at the heartbeats of choir. And

so they would put this pulse monitor on each

individual singer. And what they found is that

at the beginning, they weren't beating together.

And then after a while, actually, the music would

cause their hearts to beat as one. Individually,

they're still themselves, and yet collectively,

they're working together. This is the call to

praise. It's an expansive call that's calling

each one of you in all of creation, and yet it's

calling you as individuals, right, to praise

this God. And as you think of this, I want you

to think about, this is exactly what God is doing,

because this is who He is. God, diversity and

unity. beating individually, acting individually

for us, and yet working collectively for us.

And this is what God calls you to, to praise

Him, to worship Him, and to let your hearts then

beat individually as one, praising God, Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit for who He is and for what

He's done. Let me pray for us. Lord God, We think

of this psalm that feels so big at the beginning,

and then it gets so intimate that it is us, individually,

one of us that matters, that our individual praise,

our individual offerings matter, that you work

as the Almighty God and as the one who is with

us as a church, and then further as the one who

is dwelling within each one of us as the Holy

Spirit. the guide, the counselor, the leader.

God, we bless you for this reality, that you

are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That you be

perfectly in your diversity as one. God, I pray

that as we lean into your praise, that we would

reflect your reality, that we would be a church

that loves our differences, delights in them.

yet beats as one because we reflect this reality

of those who have been saved by Almighty Father,

redeeming Son, Holy Spirit, in whose name we

pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to Second

City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has

encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate

the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing

to this podcast and joining us in person each

Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at

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and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God

bless.