A couple of weeks ago I had the wonderful experience of hearing a choir of 250 young people and supporting orchestra and soloists perform Elgar’s ‘Dream of Gerontius’ in Ely Cathedral. It was moving, not just because of the music but because of the effect of performance on young people, many of whom may not have sung or played in the work before. The performance was part of the inspirational work of Gabrieli Roar (https://www.gabrieli.com/roar/about-gabrieli-roar/)
The Dream of Gerontius happens to be my ‘go-to’ music when personal bereavements are a bit too close for comfort. I last heard it live a couple of years ‘bc’ (before Covid) and since then it propped me up when first my youngest sister and then my father made their final journeys thence. I know so many of the words by heart, but they never cease to move me. Sure enough, I had to get a grip again in Ely when the threshold shook and all those young people exclaimed, ‘Praise to the Holiest in the height’.
Old words for me, new words perhaps for many of them but powerful words, big sounds, and an even bigger picture of God in all his Glory. When the Psalmist wrote (Psalm 96), ‘Sing to the Lord a new song’ he was envisioning a great expansion of the knowledge of God beyond the hitherto limited bounds of Judaism.
There is nothing new in familiar words and tunes and yet every time they are repeated, they are new for someone. It does us good to be reminded that the knowledge of God is forever refreshing itself to suit new times, tides, and people. The centrality of God is rock solid and unchanging; the only thing that can make heaven shake is the praise of creation.
Psalm 96:
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
A prayer
God, grant me the grace to be excited with every new expression of praise, however familiar the words may be. May the praises of your church and your people awaken new hearts to love and praise you too. For Jesus’s sake. Amen.