“Great is Yahweh, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:3, LSB)

I remember it vividly because of the shock I had when he spoke the words. I was an associate pastor of a small church and was soaking up every practical ministry lesson I could. “I hate preaching holidays like Christmas and Easter,” he said.

“Why?” I couldn’t fathom a Christian pastor ever uttering those words. Unfortunately, I have heard versions of that same sentiment ever since I first heard it.

“I have a hard time finding something new to say,” the pastor replied. As a young man just starting out in ministry, I could see his point. If you preached for 40 years (and never repeated a sermon at a different church), you would need to write 40 sermons on some aspect of Christ’s birth and the resurrection. If you preach a special message about communion, the task grows exponentially.  

I’m on the other end of the spectrum–maybe even a little farther down the road than the pastor who spoke those shocking words to me. So, have I come to adopt the same sense of dread? No, and the words of Psalm 145:3 are part of the reason why.

I have found that when I preach to an “audience,” I am especially mindful of their reactions and responses. I am not much different from an orator, stand-up comedian, politician, commencement speaker, or anyone else who is seeking to win the approval of their listening audience. Such a person would be reasonable in wanting a positive response and in seeking some form of entertainment or fulfillment. I have seen many pastors do this very thing. And that can stir up the feeling that we need to say something novel, or something that will impress listeners so they keep coming back. But this can become a trap, like a hamster wheel of pleasing our audience or they will become bored with God, with the church, and worst of all in this mindset: bored with us!

Some homileticians have argued that expositional preaching is dying because listeners don’t want it. Some have said it isn’t a biblical model to just stand in front of people and tell them what the Bible says (even though Jesus and the Apostles did just that). But when all the arguments are laid out, they all amount to the desire to scratch the hearer where they itch.

Can we take a step back for a second and meditate on the verse above? Our God is great! We, as preachers of the Scriptures, get to open our Bibles and tell people about this great God every time we step into the pulpit, sit down in a discipleship setting, or meet in counseling. Then out of the overflow of that magnificent truth comes forth praise for this God! Here we can see our goal is not to entertain, but to have those who hear us, both believers and unbelievers, walk out of our churches in awe of the God within the pages of Scripture. If we aim to have them see our preaching as something great, we have greatly missed the point of our calling!

And finally, there is no end to this greatness, and thus no end to our speaking about our great God. His greatness is unsearchable, David wrote. And to illustrate this truth, he wrote this 21-verse song in an acrostic form to put on full display the beauty and majesty of his Subject.

It’s Saturday morning, and I have to wonder how many pastors will muddle through another sermon they have to write because they have to preach tomorrow. If that’s you, you may have lost the reason why God has called you to be one of His heralds. It’s not about you or your listeners. It’s all about Him. Even if it’s only you and the church mouse, proclaim the majestic glories of our Risen Savior tomorrow–and then do it again and again until Jesus calls you home.