One Generation

One of my earliest forays into an appreciation of classical music was an LP (yes, the old vinyl sort) of Handel’s “Chandos Anthems”, which were settings of various psalms for choir and orchestra. Even now, any time I turn to Psalm 145, I cannot read it without the extended phrase “One gen-er-a-tion shall praise Thy name to an-o-o-ther  n-o-o-ther” running through my head. Somehow, the musical interpretation of the phrase, in the 1975 recording I had, matches perfectly the idea of flow and continuity of the message of the Gospel and the adoration or our Creator God, being passed on from one generation to another down across the centuries.

And sometimes, it works both ways - the younger generation informing and inspiring the older to a fresh appreciation of the greatness of our God. It was exciting for us over New Year, to be part of the “Maquina de Sonhos”, (“The Dream Machine”) which was a 3 day Missions conference for Portuguese young people held in a big sports hall across the river from where live. It was great to see a new generation picking up the theme of eternal praise and making it their own.

And just meditating on Psalm 145, I am struck by the number of verbs that have to do with communication that are contained in just four short verses, vs 4-7, and how each verb reveals a slightly different nuance on the business of communicating who God is.

‘Telling’ (‘contar’ in Portuguese) - simple storytelling of the narrative that holds within it the ageless truths about our God, in oral or written form
‘Proclaiming’ - this is the business of the preacher, declaring with authority what the Bible says about God.
‘Speaking’ - a much more informal verb, the art of communicating through our personal conversations, and it's often as much about how we live, as it is about the words we use.
‘Singing’ God’s praise - applying our own artistic creativity to root the eternal truths in a way that is culturally relevant for every generation
And finally, ‘Commemorating’ or ‘Celebrating’ - using events and moments in time as important markers for the memory, so that the message continues to have prominence within the community.