Thursday, July 23, 2020

DAY 140: A Swiss Legacy



DAY 140
Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
pastorrobert@paxpres.org
Week Twenty – Saturday 1 August 2020

A Swiss Legacy
Today is Swiss National Day, their Fourth of July. It was on 1 August 1291, 729 years ago, that the country of Switzerland began with three cantons or states. Today Switzerland is comprised of 26 cantons, one of which is Geneva. It was in Geneva in the mid 1500’s that the Reformer John Calvin ruled a theocratic city state based on the Reformed faith he espoused.  It was there the Genevan Psalter of 1561 was created containing all 150 Psalms set to music. Calvin held forth in St. Peter’s Cathedral, where a Christian church was first built in the 4th century, the present edifice having been built beginning in 1160. I have sat in that church and wondered what it must have been like to hear Calvin preach and the people singing God’s Word, the Psalms. 

Geneva has long since become secular but this Swiss legacy of singing Psalms has remained a unique part of those churches called Presbyterian or Reformed. To this day all Presbyterian hymnals contain many of the Psalms set to music with some of the music from the Genevan Psalter, some small Presbyterian denominations only sing the Psalms, and the hymnals of the  Christian Reformed Church contain all 150 Psalms set to music with many of the tunes from the Genevan Psalter. Perhaps one of the most familiar is Psalm 100, “Old Hundredth.”    

Psalm 100 – Old Hundredth
All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Serve him with joy, his praises tell, come now before him and rejoice!
Know that the Lord is God indeed, he formed us all without our aid.
We are the flock he surely feeds, the sheep who by his hand were made.
O enter then his gates with joy, within his courts his praise proclaim!
Let thankful songs your tongues employ. O bless and magnify his name!
Because the Lord our God is good, his mercy is forever sure.
His faithfulness at all times stood and shall from age to age endure.

During this time of a protracted global pandemic, we need the inner support of this timeless text and its original tune – think “The Doxology” we sing each week, to help us on our way and through the day. God’s gift of music and of singing is intended to be a source of strength, hope, comfort and courage. Let’s avail ourselves of it. And ‘Happy Birthday Switzerland!”

Reflective question:  Which verse above most speaks to you during these COVID-19 days? Why?                                                                                                                             
Reflective Scripture: Read Psalm 100 in your Bible and then its paraphrase above.

Reflective hymn: Using its original tune – think “The Doxology,” sing Psalm 100, above.

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