Psalm 34:1-3 reads, "I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise
shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the
LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with
me, and let us exalt his name together!" (ESV)
I love reading & studying the Psalms. It is the songbook or hymnal
of scripture. Most of the psalms teach us about praise & worship.
As we use the psalms as our model, we will draw closer & closer
to understanding what worship is all about.
Now as we look at these verses from Psalm 34, notice that in three
verses, there are five references to the Lord (no less than five of
six phrases refer to Him). Three times the word is LORD, referring
to God Almighty, Holy in His character and action. He is the God
who alone is worthy of all our praise, adoration and worship.
Why do you sing in the choir or play in the orchestra? What is
the focus of music in the Bible? The focus of all music is ALWAYS
Almighty God, the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Worship that is not
trinitarian in nature is NOT Christian worship. This is the problem
today, in that many times a "worship service" becomes man-focused
more than God-focused. When we MAGNIFY the LORD (i.e. praise
Him in such a way that His character & nature can be seen more
clearly), the focus is taken off man and us (or the music). The
ultimate concern should NOT be what people think of our songs;
how much they are blessed or not blessed by it. A big way that we
evaluate worship is to ask and answer the question, "Was God
pleased with my praise/thanksgiving & worship today?"
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
A New, Fresh Work
Psalm 96:1-6 reads, "Sing a new song to the LORD, sing to the LORD,
all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise His name; proclaim His
salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonderful works among all peoples. For the LORD is great and
is highly praised. He is feared above all gods. For all the gods
of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor
and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His
sanctuary." (HCSB)
Why would God through His Holy Spirit inspiration in the scriptures
command us to “Sing a new song to the LORD”? Is this about the
style of music? Is it about the form of the music or poetry? I don’t’
believe so at all. You’ve heard the old song “Give me that old-time
religion”. I know that was intended in the writing of those words.
The message of the Gospel and the truth of God NEVER CHANGE. But
the song can give the sentiment of the “good old days” rather than
the scriptural admonition that we are to live as wells of living
water springing up in us every day. This is new and flowing water
that doesn’t have the chance to be still and stagnant. We are also
encouraged that the Lord’s mercies are NEW EVERY MORNING. God,
by His Holy Spirit in us, desires to do a new and fresh work in us
and through us on a regular basis.
People will talk today about loving only the old hymns because
they know them so well. They know all the words and had the songs
in their hearts for years. All that is correct and God uses the
truth of scripture through those songs to remind us of Him.
However, there was a time in everyone's life when those hymns
were new, even if it was in their childhood. An old song can
become a new song when it is birthed anew and afresh in the
person's heart. An old song can be new to a congregation when they
have never sung or heard it before. I was amazed in recent years
to find a church had sung great hymns for years yet did not know
one of my all-time favorite hymns by Charles Wesley,
"And Can It Be". That powerful old hymn text & tune, penned
250 years ago, became a new song to that local assembly of
believers!
The significance of the command to "Sing a new song" is the
expression of a new and fresh work of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the songwriter and the singer. If God is not doing a
fresh work in us today, we can be sure that we are stagnant
in our heartfelt praise and thanksgiving before Him. What new
and fresh word do you have from the Lord? How is God speaking
to you today? We never will reach the greatest depths of truth
in the Word of God this side of heaven. We will NEVER come to
the end of discovering all there is to know about our amazing
triune God. There is ALWAYS new truth for us to find in the Word,
so there will always be new thoughts for us to express through song.
"Sing to the LORD, all the earth". Has this command been obeyed?
Not hardly. It cannot be obeyed until all peoples and tribes and
tongues in the earth know the LORD and worship Him. Every song
about our Lord God is new to those who have never even heard His
name. Estimates say that over 3.5 billion people on earth today
have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ and nearly 6 billion
have never accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Can we even
comprehend these figures? There are over 600 million people
without Christ in North and South America alone. According to the
International Mission Board, there are 11,700 people groups in
the world, with 6,776 that are "unreached" (under 2% saved).
How can we ever penetrate this amount of lostness and darkness?
We cannot do so by giving up and sticking our heads in the sand
like ostriches. We must return to multiply disciples and churches
according to Jesus' command as the church in the book of Acts
(I recommend reading "The Master Plan of Evangelism" and "The
Master Plan of Discipleship" by Robert Coleman. God used them
to change my life and the lens through which I see ministry.).
As Psalm 86 says, we must begin and continue to "proclaim
His salvation day to day and declare His glory among the nations"!
God is doing a fresh work around the globe as His Gospel is shared,
disciples are made, and churches are multiplied. Churches are being
planted at alarming rates in Africa & other parts of the world.
God is doing a new work in America in leading pastors to pray for
revival in their churches to birth a Great Commission Resurgence.
Let's be faithful to sing a new song about God's work among us and
in all the earth.
all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise His name; proclaim His
salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonderful works among all peoples. For the LORD is great and
is highly praised. He is feared above all gods. For all the gods
of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor
and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His
sanctuary." (HCSB)
Why would God through His Holy Spirit inspiration in the scriptures
command us to “Sing a new song to the LORD”? Is this about the
style of music? Is it about the form of the music or poetry? I don’t’
believe so at all. You’ve heard the old song “Give me that old-time
religion”. I know that was intended in the writing of those words.
The message of the Gospel and the truth of God NEVER CHANGE. But
the song can give the sentiment of the “good old days” rather than
the scriptural admonition that we are to live as wells of living
water springing up in us every day. This is new and flowing water
that doesn’t have the chance to be still and stagnant. We are also
encouraged that the Lord’s mercies are NEW EVERY MORNING. God,
by His Holy Spirit in us, desires to do a new and fresh work in us
and through us on a regular basis.
People will talk today about loving only the old hymns because
they know them so well. They know all the words and had the songs
in their hearts for years. All that is correct and God uses the
truth of scripture through those songs to remind us of Him.
However, there was a time in everyone's life when those hymns
were new, even if it was in their childhood. An old song can
become a new song when it is birthed anew and afresh in the
person's heart. An old song can be new to a congregation when they
have never sung or heard it before. I was amazed in recent years
to find a church had sung great hymns for years yet did not know
one of my all-time favorite hymns by Charles Wesley,
"And Can It Be". That powerful old hymn text & tune, penned
250 years ago, became a new song to that local assembly of
believers!
The significance of the command to "Sing a new song" is the
expression of a new and fresh work of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the songwriter and the singer. If God is not doing a
fresh work in us today, we can be sure that we are stagnant
in our heartfelt praise and thanksgiving before Him. What new
and fresh word do you have from the Lord? How is God speaking
to you today? We never will reach the greatest depths of truth
in the Word of God this side of heaven. We will NEVER come to
the end of discovering all there is to know about our amazing
triune God. There is ALWAYS new truth for us to find in the Word,
so there will always be new thoughts for us to express through song.
"Sing to the LORD, all the earth". Has this command been obeyed?
Not hardly. It cannot be obeyed until all peoples and tribes and
tongues in the earth know the LORD and worship Him. Every song
about our Lord God is new to those who have never even heard His
name. Estimates say that over 3.5 billion people on earth today
have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ and nearly 6 billion
have never accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Can we even
comprehend these figures? There are over 600 million people
without Christ in North and South America alone. According to the
International Mission Board, there are 11,700 people groups in
the world, with 6,776 that are "unreached" (under 2% saved).
How can we ever penetrate this amount of lostness and darkness?
We cannot do so by giving up and sticking our heads in the sand
like ostriches. We must return to multiply disciples and churches
according to Jesus' command as the church in the book of Acts
(I recommend reading "The Master Plan of Evangelism" and "The
Master Plan of Discipleship" by Robert Coleman. God used them
to change my life and the lens through which I see ministry.).
As Psalm 86 says, we must begin and continue to "proclaim
His salvation day to day and declare His glory among the nations"!
God is doing a fresh work around the globe as His Gospel is shared,
disciples are made, and churches are multiplied. Churches are being
planted at alarming rates in Africa & other parts of the world.
God is doing a new work in America in leading pastors to pray for
revival in their churches to birth a Great Commission Resurgence.
Let's be faithful to sing a new song about God's work among us and
in all the earth.
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