Our sermon for May 22nd, 2022: Steadfast Love, Psalm 145:8-19

salm 145:8-19
The Lord is gracious and merciful, 
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 
The Lord is good to all, 
   and his compassion is over all that he has made. 
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, 
   and all your faithful shall bless you. 
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, 
   and tell of your power, 
to make known to all people your mighty deeds, 
   and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
   and your dominion endures throughout all generations. 
The Lord is faithful in all his words, 
   and gracious in all his deeds. 
The Lord upholds all who are falling, 
   and raises up all who are bowed down. 
The eyes of all look to you, 
   and you give them their food in due season. 
You open your hand, 
   satisfying the desire of every living thing. 
The Lord is just in all his ways, 
   and kind in all his doings. 
The Lord is near to all who call on him, 
   to all who call on him in truth. 
He fulfils the desire of all who fear him; 
   he also hears their cry, and saves them. 

---

Steadfast Love: Psalm 145: 8-19 
Do you remember the Nat King Cole song L-O-V-E? I don’t remember where I heard it first. Maybe it was in that Little Rascals movie that came out in the mid-90's? Or, maybe I learned it from the Nat Cole cassette tape my Granny had that we listened to as we drove around in her Toyota Camry? Either way, the first verse is just one of those songs that lives in my brain.

L is for the way you look at me 
O is for the only one I see 
V is very, very extraordinary 
E is even more than anyone that you adore can Love... 

This song popped into my head while I was reading up on Psalm 145 because the first verse is kind of an acrostic. Acrostics are poems, or songs in this case, in which the first letter of each line spells something. In in Nat King Cole song, it’s the word “love.” Sean Glatch, in an article about acrostics, shared the poem “Stroud” by Paul Hansford, an ode to the town of Stroud. The first letter of each line spells the name of the town (as does the last letter, just for good measure). 

Set among hills in the midst of five valleys, 
This peaceful little market town we inhabit 
Refuses (vociferously!) to be a conformer. 
Once home  of  the cloth it gave its name to, 
Uphill and down again its streets lead you. 
Despite its faults it leaves us all charmed. 

Psalm 145 is a kind of acrostic Glatch might call an abecedarian, which means that the first line starts with the first letter of the alphabet, then the second line starts with the second, and so on and so forth until the last line starts with the last letter. We who don’t read Hebrew will miss this in English translations. Most translators seem to decide that capturing the meaning of the line is more important than attempting to also mirror the acrostic form in the translation. Even when the translations capture the majesty of this Psalm, which is an ode to what Dr. Wil Gafney calls God’s “power to provide and preserve,” they don’t usually capture the form in which the Psalm was originally written. While I read enough translations to be convinced that they’ve captured the meaning of the lines, I’ve also read enough commentaries on this Psalm to believe that the form of the acrostic tells us something about its meaning, too. The form is telling us something about God’s power to provide and preserve. 

In her commentary on this text, Nancy deClaissé-Walford says that, while acrostics may have had a practical use... the interesting form may have helped people remember them... the form also has a more poetic and philosophical use. In English, in order to communicate that someone has a complete understanding of something, we might say “you know that subject A to Z.” Dr. deClaissé-Walford contends that by crafting a Psalm that includes a line beginning with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the Psalmist is crafting a song of praise and thanksgiving that is intended to capture all that could be said about God’s steadfast love in one Psalm. This is God’s steadfast love, from A to Z, or, in Hebrew, from alif to tav.  

Dr. deClaissé-Walford cites the work of another scholar, Adele Berlin, regarding the beautiful complexity of this form. Dr. Berlin said, “The poet praises God with everything from A to Z: his praise is all inclusive. More than that, the entire alphabet, the source of all words, is marshaled praise of God. One cannot actually use all of the words in a language, but by using the alphabet one uses all potential words.” Imagine being so sure that God’s love is steadfast and so certain that God will lift up the bowed down, that you can only consider describing it if you can evoke every possible word in your whole language. What a glorious God this is if we need every word to speak of Her steadfast love. 
​
While we can certainly make use of the ancient Psalm to sing of God and remind us of God’s provision and faithfulness, I wonder if we might craft our own abecedarian acrostic to communicate, inspired by this portion of Psalm 145. Who would like to take a line? We'll need at least 26 lines of text. You don’t have to try to come up with it right now. Whomever offers to help write the Winthrop UCC Psalm inspired by Psalm 145 can have until Wednesday this week to either call me with your line or email or text it to me. I’ll compile each line into the complete Psalm and share it in the Newsy Note and have copies next Sunday. (Several people offered to help write the acrostic inspired by Psalm 145. We gave them a letter to start their line of poetry) 
​
Now, let’s read the text together and come up with some themes to help each other write our lines.  
The Lord is gracious and merciful, 
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 
The Lord is good to all, 
   and his compassion is over all that he has made. 
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, 
   and all your faithful shall bless you. 
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, 
   and tell of your power, 
to make known to all people your mighty deeds, 
   and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
   and your dominion endures throughout all generations. 
The Lord is faithful in all his words, 
   and gracious in all his deeds. 
The Lord upholds all who are falling, 
   and raises up all who are bowed down. 
The eyes of all look to you, 
   and you give them their food in due season. 
You open your hand, 
   satisfying the desire of every living thing. 
The Lord is just in all his ways, 
   and kind in all his doings. 
The Lord is near to all who call on him, 
   to all who call on him in truth. 
He fulfils the desire of all who fear him; 
   he also hears their cry, and saves them. 
 
(The people gathered noticed themes about God providing care, God listening, God helping creation- especially those who have fallen down or who are bowed down,)  
Those are great themes! I think we’ll have plenty to work with over the coming week. May our words be a blessing to each other. And, may we be reminded of God’s deep love and loving provision. Blessed be the Living God and blessed be her name forever and ever.  
 
Resources consulted while writing sermon:  
Nancy deClaissé-Walford: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-17-2/commentary-on-psalm-14510-18-2 
About L-O-V-E: https://genius.com/Nat-king-cole-l-o-v-e-lyrics 
Sean Glatch: https://writers.com/acrostic-poem-examples 
Wil Gafney, "Sixth Sunday of Easter," Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2022) 
Art credits:  
Adult lifting up child: Image by Siloé Amazzi from Pixabay   
Couple walking: Image by Bernd Müller from Pixabay   
​Kids: Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash 
Protest: Photo by Joe Yates on Unsplash