Psalm 106:48 (NKJV) 

⁴⁸Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord! 

One of our liturgical practices is shouting, “Amen!”, after singing our psalms and hymns. This morning I’d like to remind us why we do this and how we ought to do it. The declaration, “Amen!”, is a means of affirming what has been said. It is shorthand for, “So be it! That’s right! That’s true! I agree with that!” or even, “May that come to pass!” So, in our text today, the people are to say, “Amen!” upon hearing the declaration, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting!”

The declaration, “Amen!”, permeates the Scriptures and was foundational to the worship of our fathers. So, after the Israelites entered the promised land, Joshua divided the congregation in two. Half stood on Mount Gerizim and half on Mount Ebal. Then the Levites spoke with a “loud voice and [said] to all the men of Israel:”

¹⁵ ‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ 

“And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’ 

¹⁶ ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ 

¹⁷ ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ 

¹⁸ ‘Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ 

¹⁹ ‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ 

²⁰ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

²¹ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

²² ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

²³ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

²⁴ ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

²⁵ ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

²⁶ ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’ 

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ” 

The verbal affirmation, “Amen!” is a way of confirming the truth of what has been said or sung. So when we pray or sing and close with, “Amen!”, or when we shout, “Amen!” during the sermon, we are saying, “So be it! I agree with that! May these things truly come to pass!”

So how ought we to speak this “Amen!”? First, make sure you agree with what has been said or sung. Don’t say, “Amen!” if you don’t mean it. Part of our rationale for singing the psalms and other substantive hymns is to protect us from saying, “Amen!”, to things that we ought not affirm. If the preacher were to declare, “Good is evil, and evil is good!” the last thing that you should say is, “Amen!” Say, “God forbid!” or “May it never be!” but don’t say, “Amen!” Why not? Because to say, “Amen!” is to declare that you agree with what was said.

Second, issue your “Amen!” heartily. Either you agree with what has been said or you don’t. If you do, then do it. You’ll note that the “Amens!” in your Bible are typically printed with an exclamation mark. That’s because they are exclamations. And the word “exclamation” comes from two Latin words: ex, which means “out,” and clamare, which means “to shout.” So you’re supposed to “shout it out”! Say it like you mean it. “Amen!”

Reminded that we often approve of things that we should condemn and that we are often tepid rather than hearty in our approval of what God has said, let us confess our sin to the Lord. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sins.

Psalm 95:6
⁶Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Psalm 134:1–2
¹Behold, bless the Lord, All you servants of the Lord, Who by night stand in the house of the Lord! ²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.

One of the most frequent questions visitors have about our service of worship, one of the questions that you may also have, is this: What’s with all the different postures? We sit, we stand, we kneel, we bow heads, we lift hands – why all the variety?

The answer to this question is threefold: first, God did not create us as mere spirits but as creatures with body and soul. As those who have bodies, God expects us to use them for His honor. Paul writes, “…you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor 6:20). Our bodies belong to God and so what we do with them is important. This is especially true of our sexual conduct; but the principle applies more broadly. All our actions should reflect our reverence for God and our knowledge that one day Christ will return in glory to raise these very bodies from the grave. Our bodies matter.

So this leads us to the second answer to our question: why all the variety? The answer is that in worship there are a variety of things we do. We praise and thank the Lord; we confess our sins; we hear the assurance of forgiveness; we listen to the reading of God’s Word; we confess the creeds; we present our tithes and offerings; we pray; we learn from the Scriptures; we feast with God at His Table. This wonderful variety demands a variety of responses – both verbally and bodily. There is no “one size fits all” bodily posture for worship.

And this is why, third, the Scriptures invite us and, at times, command us, to worship God with a variety of postures – standing, kneeling, sitting, lifting hands, etc. So consider our texts today from the psalms, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” (95:6). And again, “Behold, bless the LORD, All you servants of the LORD, Who by night stand in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD” (134:1-2). These are just a few examples of bodily postures described in the context of worship.

So we worship with a variety of postures, first, because we are bodily creatures and what we do with our bodies matters, second, because we do a variety of things in worship, and third, because Scripture itself commends a variety of postures in worship. But here’s one reason we do not worship with a variety of postures: just to put on a show or go through the motions. After all, the ultimate reason that our posture changes is that we worship coram Deo, before the very face of God. He is here with us and we dare not treat Him lightly. He calls us to worship; we respond by standing to praise Him. He thunders at our sin; we respond by kneeling to confess it. He assures us of pardon; we stand to listen and enter boldly into His presence through the shed blood of Christ. He instructs us from His Word; we stand to give our attention to its reading. This is the drama of the Divine Service – but it’s a drama that is meaningful only when accompanied by hearts that love and cherish Him. We are to “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” – one without the other is hypocrisy.

So what of you? Why do you stand? Why do you kneel? Why do you sit? Do you do it just because that’s what you’re being told to do? Do you kneel so you won’t appear out of place? Do you sit so you can take a nap? Or do you do all these things because you recognize with awe and wonder that the God we worship this Day has invited you into His very presence to worship? That He is here with us.

So today as we have entered into God’s presence He has thundered at our sin – let us confess that we have often just gone through the motions of worship; and, as you are able, let us kneel as we confess together. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.