at ground level

Expressions of Praise

In these next few blogs I  want to share a couple biblical examples of worship with you.
I want to look at three or four scriptures from the psalms and see what the words we translate praise actually picture by their definitions. I think it helps us to know Biblical expressions of worship. Sometimes our cultural norms can limit our experience. Sometime they protect us, but other times they limit us.

I pick the Psalms because David was a man after God’s own heart. And because in the new testament there is talk of God restoring the tabernacle of David. God could have chosen Solomon’s temple in all its grandeur or the temple that existed at Jesus time. But he didn’t. It was David’s tent that he chose to reference.
                               
Before I do that though let me say that worship in its fullest sense is a lifestyle. Everything we do is worship when it’s done to honor God, when it’s done to show his worth to us. Obedience is worship, serving others is worship, fulfilling your dreams and utilizing your gifting and skills for the common good is worship. Anytime you choose the things of God over the things of this perishing world you are worshiping.

Worship comes from the heart. It is our response to what God has done and who he is to us. Our worship is rooted in our understanding of God. Our perception of whom he is, is based on our understanding of scripture and our experiences with Him.
In Luke 7 Jesus, in talking about the woman who washed his feet with her hair, teaches us that those who are forgiven much will love much. Her expression of worship was born out her thankfulness and love for Jesus.

There are as many ways to express worship as there are people. But I want to focus on worship as we commonly think of it. Generally we think of it as those times when we sing songs, praying, and listen to teaching in the sanctuary with a group of believers or singing, praying, and reading our bibles in the sanctuary of our own homes alone with God.

Let’s look at few scriptures and the Hebrew words we translate “praise.”
Psalm 108:1-3, “My heart is steadfast o God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre, I will awake the dawn. I will ZAMAR you, O Lord among the nations.”
The English translation here is praise. The word picture created by the Hebrew word is strumming or plucking strings of an instrument. Simply making music on your instrument can be praise.

David would praise him like that. In fact once David got the ark of the covenant back to Mt. Zion in Jerusalem he set up a tabernacle. It was in this tent, there on the mercy seat, between the angels, where the presence of God dwelt.
David appointed 288 priests to play musical instruments and sing praises, prayers and worship 24/7. Scripture said everybody had an appointed time, great and small, teacher and student. People were trained in prophesying with their instruments. I think they did more than accompaniments. I think instrumental music was also used to worship God in David’s tabernacle.

We’ll look at couple more scriptures next week.

Rod

Rain

My wife loves to garden. Once February hits, she gets out the garden books and goes on line and starts planning her garden. She does mostly perennials and each year she makes changes, moving plants, replacing plants.
This year spring came early. Never in recorded history has the weather been so warm so soon. Our growing season is about a month ahead of normal. But she was ready, except for getting the mulch down. Rains at the end of April caused a sudden spike in the growth of her already ahead of schedule plants. The garden exploded in foliage and the early flowering plants shot up. The orange poppies are open, and some purple and blue flowers that I have no idea what they are called. The roses are blooming as well.

Things were already ahead of schedule but the late rain put it all over the top.
In the middle east there are two growing seasons that are sparked by an early rain and  later rain. (If memory serves me correctly). The church has had its early rains. It was planted at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit. She has grown, been challenged, suffered set backs, lost focus, and gone astray but through it all she continues to grow and learn.

Rains came at key times to  refresh replenish and correct. Outpourings of the Spirit, the Zoe life of God that pours down in torrents we call revivals, come to refill our wells, replenish our soils, and cause sudden spikes in our growth.

I think God is sending us another rain, another outpouring of his Spirit. This one may not look like the others. This one may be less man centered and less outward manifestation focused and much more about the inner life and community. It maybe a call back to putting Jesus at the center, a call back to intimacy with our bride groom, a call back to a sense of community and away from copying corporations. It maybe a call to once again be a church family. A call to and grace for a relationship with Christ like we’ve not had before. It maybe an acceleration in our transformation as we are drawn closer to Jesus, as we are drawn to an increased focus on the inner life. Not the lightning and thunder of Mt. Horeb but rather the still small voice of intimacy. Perhaps this next wave will accelerate the continued fulfilment of Jesus prayer in Jn 17 . . .
“I pray for all those who believe in me through their message that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Rod

Judgement Day

 I have friends who practice various religions. Though we differ in our faiths most of us agree that eventually this world will end and there will be a final judgement. Now, I still sin and yet Jesus died for my sin, so am I a walking contradiction?
Do I need to exercise more self restraint, more self control, more self denial and hope my good out weighs my bad on judgement day? Do I need to hold religiously to rites and rituals, to laws of don’t eat this or don’t touch that?  What do I need to do to survive the judgement?

During prayer this morning this thought hit me:
It’s not that my sin is gone.  I cannot say I am without sin. But rather that I have already been judged and acquitted because Christ paid the price, Christ died for my sin.
My capacity for sin still exists but I’ve already passed through the judgement.
I stand guiltless before God,  in the tattered rags of my human frailty.

And now, by his grace and my willing participation, I am being; cleaned up, transformed and strengthen a little more each day.

I’ve already survived the judgement because my life is in Christ.
How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

Rod