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O
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sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all
the earth. 2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his
salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory
among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4 For
the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to
be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of
the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Honour
and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. 7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give
unto the Lord glory and strength. 8 Give
unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an
offering, and come into his courts. 9 O
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the
earth. 10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth:
the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge
the people righteously. 11 Let the heavens
rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. 12 Let
the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the
trees of the wood rejoice 13 Before the Lord:
for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with his truth. (Psalm 96:1-13)
One
of the most spiritually impressive features of ‘traditional’ Anglican worship
is the profusion of Scripture reading involved with every facet of worship,
whether Daily Morning/Evening Prayer, Holy Communion, Matrimony, or Burial
Services. If the Church abides, as it must if it will be Reformed, by the
Prayer Book Lectionary (1928, 1962, or 1662), it will observe regular biblical
readings from the Psalms, Old Testament, Gospel and Epistles every day or week.
The words of the grand text of Holy Scripture from the Received Text Bibles
inspires faith and devotion. When I was young, every service involved readings
from the King James Bible and, since everyone had the same Bible, there was no
confusion of meaning or verse.
Today, you will be hard put to determine which verse of the Bible
is being read, if any at all, in modern churches that have complacently allowed
themselves to be deceived by the wicked men who love lucre more than
righteousness. The modern church is mostly led by those men to which 2 Timothy
makes reference: “1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall
come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without
natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady,
highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For
of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women
laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Tim 3:1-7) Ladies, do not be offended
by the term ‘silly women’ since the characteristic of silliness is found with
abundance among the male populace as well. Some men today are more effeminate
than are our wonderful ladies many of whom are far more solemn than our men.
When I first attended a regular Morning Prayer Service at St.
Peter’s Anglican Orthodox Church in Statesville in 1995, I felt like I had
returned to a previous and more Godly age in my life experiences. The Venite,
Exultemus Domino awoke memories of the Morning Prayer Services I had
witnessed regularly at the Protestant Chapel at the US Military Academy at West
Point. Though it was performed with greater sophistication at the Academy, the
version I heard at St. Peter’s seemed closer to the heart and soul. Instead of
the largest church organ in the world (at West Point), a portable organ was
used at St. Peter’s in those days, but with greater spiritual intensity.
The Venite is
a canticle based on the 96th Psalm and is actually a paraphrase of the meaning of it. The
rubric authorizes the substitution of the 95th Psalm if occasion
suggests it. It reinforces the attitude with which we should approach the
worship of a Holy God. The Venite was the battle hymn of the
Knights Templar during the Crusades.
Our reverence before God should begin long before we enter the
place of worship. We should, every morning, awaken to the reality that this day
is a gift of God and that we owe Him praise and thanksgiving for giving it.
But, most certainly, when we enter the church foyer and sanctuary, we should do
so with humility and quietness and in contemplation of the feast of Heavenly
Bread that we are about to be fed from God’s Holy Word. Our first act, once
seated, should be to engage in quiet prayer that God’s Word will sink into the
fertile sinews of our heart and bear fruit. If we only attend church once per
week, could we not be silent at least for 52 hours out to the year to the glory
of God? That would leave (in a year of 365 days) 8,708 hours to gossip,
converse and socialize with friends, and do our daily labors in that same year
– not even a tithe of our time dedicated to the reverent worship of the Lord.
Actually, less than 1% of the hours we have in a year.
The canticle concludes, as required by the Prayer Book rubric,
with the Gloria Patri. It is a chant sung to a tune by E.F.
Rimbault. I will forego an elaboration on the meaning of each line since it is
self-explanatory in plain language of Holy Scripture.
Venite, Exultemus Domino
(#610 in 1940 Hymnal)
O Come Let us sing unto the | Lord; Let us heartily rejoice in the
strength of | our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanks|giving; and show
ourselves | glad in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great | God; and a great King | above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the | earth; and the strength
of hills | is his also.
The sea is his and he | made it; and his hands prepar | ed the dry
land.
O come let us worship and fall | down; and kneel before the | Lord
our Maker.
For he is the Lord our | God; and we are the people of his
pasture, and the | sheep of his hand.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of | holiness; let the whole
earth | stand in awe of him.
For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the | earth; and with
righteousness to judge the world, and the | peoples with his truth.
Glory be to the Father and to the | Son, and | to the Holy Ghost;.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever | shall be, world |
without end. Amen.
Instead
of adopting the fast-foods approach of modern churches in worship, perhaps we
should take note of the testimony of the great Reformers such as Cranmer,
Luther, Hus, Calvin, Latimer, and Ridley – in returning to the understanding of
the Apostolic Fathers in practicing a studied and biblical approach to worship
that has been certified by the martyrdom of many saints and the faith and
doctrine believed by the Church from its inception, and in all ages?
