Psalm 24

                Psalm 24 falls on the shorter end of the spectrum, but it contains some rather inspirational verses that have been the framework for multiple musical pieces, both older and newer.  Start with verses 3-6:
 

³Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear by what is false.

⁵He will receive blessing from the Lord

and vindication from God his Savior

⁶Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

Now check out the lyrics to Charlie Hall’s Give Us Clean Hands.  There’s a very clear parallel between Psalm 24 and Hall’s work.  Verses 4 and 6 are reworked to create a beautiful prayer to God asking Him to give us the clean hands a pure heart needed to come into His presence and praying that we would be a generation that seeks the face of God.

                Continuing on, we come to verses 7-10 which should sound really familiar, especially around Christmas:

⁷Lift up your heads, O you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in

⁸Who is this king of Glory?

The Lord strong and mighty,

the Lord mighty in battle.

⁹Lift up your heads, O you gates;

lift them up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰Who is he, this King of glory?

The Lord Almighty –

he is the King of glory

George Frederic Handel used this text as the frame for movement 33 in Part 2 of his massive work Messiah.  It’s a very moving image and the notes suggest that this was a ritual part of worship at the early temple.  Verses 7 and 9 are a request from people outside the temple for the gates to be opened.  The priests, or someone else already inside, would then pose the question in verses 8 and 10 and the people would issue their reply.  This call to worship represented the people’s desire for God’s presence to dwell among them.

There are many more Psalms that have been used and reworked to create some very popular songs of worship and hymns.  As I come to them, I will point towards the modern rewrite.  It’s part of the reason I’m so drawn to the Psalms.  As a musician and worship leader, I find a tremendous amount of material here to use on Sunday morning.

The Tea Party

NBC/WSJ Poll on the Tea Party

Check the link above for a very telling poll conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal.  It basically highlights the fact that the Tea Party is pretty far off the mark on some serious issues facing this country.

Why do I post it here?  Because I hear a lot of the Tea Party noise where I live.  My U.S. Representative, Marlin Stutzman, was on the ballot today for House Majority Whip.  He's a Tea Party guy.  If you read my earlier overview of my beliefs, it's pretty clear that I'm not a Tea Party supporter.  Yet around here I hear plenty of comments about the Tea Party having the voice of "real Americans."  And the Tea Party stand for "Real American Values."

Sorry, but that's just plain wrong.  The Tea Party represents a very loud minority within conservative America.  As the poll indicates, the Tea Party isn't even in line with the Republican party on some issues.  They are part of the reason I plan to address some political topics here.  Because I'm not a Tea Partier.  I don't agree with their views.  I am a "real American."

Around here, it seems that people just assume that you share the same political beliefs as they do.  You go to church together after all.  I remember a Sunday School class several years ago that I had a chance to sit in on.  The conversation turned to the subject of prayer in school and most everyone there agreed that it should be brought back.  Until I spoke out in disagreement.  There were more than a few people in the group who were a bit shocked that this nice young man they thought the knew would disagree with them.  At some point, those of us who do not agree with the Tea Party need to raise our voices in opposition and show our leaders what they truly are - a minority position standing to one side of the political spectrum.  If we live in an area dominated by the Tea Party, then it become even more important so that we can elect leaders that truly represent all of us.

Psalm 23

In my journey through the Psalms, I’ve come to Psalm 23; possibly the most well know Psalm.  Most of us memorized this one in Sunday School when we were kids.  Some of us probably still have it memorized.  We’ve had this psalm explained to us many times before and so I didn’t really know what there was to say about this particular Psalm.

This morning as I was contemplating this passage, one particular line jumped out and stuck.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Psalm23:1 KJV).  The NIV translates the second half of that line as “I lack nothing.”  The Message paraphrases it to read “I don’t need a thing.”  That line hit me because it’s not one we’re good at truly believing.  This is America, the land of “I want it all and I want it now.”  So the question is how would you finish this phrase?  I want…

…a bigger house

…a new car

…a better job

…children

…more money

…better health

There are any number of ways we can finish that phrase, but unless we’re finishing that phrase with “Christ” we’re missing something in our relationship with God.  David had plenty of times where he wanted something.  He wanted victory over his enemies or deliverance from Saul.  Just read some of the other psalms and you will find David’s cries for help.  But here, David boldly states “I shall not want.”  He’s putting his trust in the shepherd.  He knows the Lord will lead him through whatever may come.

There are other passages in scripture that remind us of this same principle.  Students across the country have celebrated high school or college graduations recently and I’m sure that Jeremiah 29:11 has been, or will be, brought up as churches everywhere recognize their graduates.  It a great passage that reminds us that God has a plan for us.

This is not to suggest that we just passively sit here and quietly accept whatever comes our way.  No, scripture is also clear that we can, and should, make our requests to God.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ reminds us of the goodness of a father.  “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”  (Matthew 7:9-11)  This passage comes within the context of Jesus teaching his disciples about asking and knocking.

So, how does this tie back to Psalm 23?  I think it looks something like this.  We should be confident in our ability to approach God with our requests.  We should earnestly seek him and pray for those things that we desire.  BUT, we must also allow for the very real possibility that God’s response will be “no” or “not yet.”  We must trust that the good shepherd will lead us to the “green pastures” and “quiet waters.” (Psalm 23:2) We have to trust that He will bring us through “the valley of the shadow of death.” (Psalm 23:4) 

Too often we get caught up in our own desires and take God’s “No” as a sign that either He didn’t hear us, He doesn’t really exist, or we’re just too much of a sinner for God to give us our desires.  I think we’re missing something.  When we’re in the valleys it can be difficult to see where God is leading.  It can be hard to understand why God said “not yet” to our request.  But, when we come out of the valley, we’ll see it much more clearly.  So, lay your petitions at His feet, but trust that He is the Good Shepherd and we lack nothing.

Performance in Worship Part 2

A few days ago I posted links to some already important pieces in the growing conversation on “performancism” in worship.  Here’s my take:

                First, a quick look at the context I am writing from.  I lead worship for a small church with average weekly attendance less than 100.  The worship team consists of me (guitar, vocals), a keyboard player, and 2-3 female vocalists.  I’ve been a part of the stage end of worship teams for the past 9 years.  Before that, I spent several years back in the sound booth.  While my current church is fairly small, I’ve been in churches with average attendance of a few hundred each week.  I’ve been a part of services that are more traditional with hymns and services that “go with the Spirit” and feature contemporary praise songs.

                For me it seems like there is one part of this conversation that needs to be addressed because I think it can lead to some unrealistic expectations.  Jamie Brown brings into question the nature of the worship music industry and how worship leaders may be fostering this “performancism” as he calls it.  David Santistevan raises the question of our hearts in worship and ponders the question of our desperation for Christ.  They both make very valid points and I want to look at one key area where those two sides intersect.

                  Over the last 5-10 years it seems that there has been a serious growth in mass-worship events.  Some of them are geared towards a specific audience like the Passion conferences.  Some have more broad appeal like a Hillsong concert.  Both Passion and Hillsong have been around for many years and they continue to bring in new artists and songwriters.  There are also groups like Jesus Culture that have sprung up more recently.  These groups are doing some amazing and important things for worship within the church.  But, I think we sometimes confuse Saturday night with Sunday morning.

                Saturday night is a great night of worship with Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Kari Jobe, Matt Redman, pick your artist (this could be any night of the week, not just Saturday).  It’s a lot of fun to be there in the arena with several thousand people, most of them singing along.  But let’s not forget one key thing – this is a concert, a performance.  For the people on stage and behind the scenes, this is their livelihood.  This is how they pay the bills.  Now, hopefully, they love their jobs and aren’t in it just for the money.  Most of them are in it because they love it and have the talent and ability to make a career out of music.  Like I said before, these people and groups are important for worship within the church.

                When you go to that Saturday night concert, you have a certain set up expectations, and I would venture to say that those expectations are different than the expectations you have on Sunday morning.  On Saturday night, you’re hoping, in part, to be entertained.  You’re probably not expecting to be challenged in your walk with Christ.  You’re not expecting to hear someone go into a detailed study of the book of Ruth and what it means for us today.  You’re expecting to hear some great music, and probably, sing along with a lot of it.  You probably expect some type of general alter call after a presentation of the basics of the Gospel, but, really, you are there to sing/hear some good music.  Saturday night is usually a great experience and there may some moments of sincere emotional reactions that may draw you closer to Christ.  Let’s be clear though, this is not Sunday morning.

                When we get to Sunday morning we encounter a few problems.  The biggest one being that most churches cannot recreate Saturday night.   We don’t have the same level of skilled musicians and we don’t have the same massive audience.  In Hillsong’s “With Everything” there is this “whoa” part after the bridge.  That’s great when you have 5,000 teenagers and young adults singing along.  It’s not so great when you have 50 people in the entire church.  That’s a real problem if you are trying to perform a song just like it sounds on the album.  With the band that I have right now, I can’t do “Jesus Paid It All” the way Kristian Stanfill does.  Singing “O praise the one who paid my debts and raised this life up from the grave” 4 times is a bit too repetitive.  It doesn’t matter that the chord structure changes after the first 2 times.  We don’t have the musicians to clearly define that change in the music.

                The other big problem is that Sunday morning has an inherently different purpose than Saturday night.  The closest you will get to a sermon on Saturday night is a basic presentation of the Gospel.  That’s a very good thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not what we need on Sunday morning.  Saturday night we want to hear some great music and sing along with lots of people.  Sunday morning we should want to sing some great songs and hymns.  We should also want to be challenged to grow in our faith.  We should want to interact with our close friends and share our lives with them.  Saturday night should be about having a great evening with a lot of people.  Sunday morning should be about growing in our walk with Christ.

                This is where the issue of “performancism” causes a problem for me.  When worship leaders try to recreate Saturday night or the congregation “needs” the worship leader to recreate Saturday night, that’s a problem.  The arena on Saturday night probably has a few Jumbotrons that help everyone more clearly see the band on stage, maybe even zoom in on specific members of the band.  That shouldn’t be happening on Sunday morning.  Saturday night is about going to a concert, singing along with songs we hear on the radio and, sometimes, sing on Sunday morning.  It’s about hanging out with friends and having fun.  Sunday morning should be about coming to meet with Christ, to admit our need for Christ, to be challenged in our faith.  This seems to be the key point in David Santistevan’s post.  If I’m singing Chris Tomlin’s “Lay Me Down” on Saturday night, it’s because it’s fast, high energy, and a heck of a lot of fun to sing.  If I’m singing that same song Sunday morning, I should be thinking about the fact that I belong to Christ; I should be reflecting upon my own actions to see if I really am laying myself down in service to Christ.  I should be asking myself, is it really a joy to say to God “your will your way, always.”  If we’re striving to make Saturday night happen on Sunday morning, then we probably aren’t creating the space where our congregations can be challenged and changed by the songs we sing.

Finally, I link back to JamieBrown’s blog as he wrote several more posts on this idea of performance and worship that you really should read, including one on why you need to get your face off the screen.

Performance in Worship Part 1

Three links to articles from the blogosphere that have started a conversation on performance in worship.  It's an important conversation for the church to be having and it's an issue I have wrestled with for several years.  If you are a worship leader or have any interest in worship in the church, you really should read these articles.

Jamie Brown started the conversation with his reflections after the National Worship Leader Conference in Washington D.C.

David Santistevan then picked up the thread and carried it a bit further.

Lastly, Zac Hicks comments on the two earlier posts and adds his voice to the conversation.

I post them here to help carry the conversation to more people.  Again, anyone with any interest in how the church worships should engage with this conversation.  I'll add my voice to the conversation in the next post, but I wanted to get the ball rolling here because it's such an important conversation.

Psalm 22

                As part of my return to blogging, I want to pick up where I left of in the Psalms.  The psalms have always been an important part of the Bible for me.  They’re poetic and flow with lots of emotion.  Many psalms have become the basis for some of the songs we sing in churches today.  Matt Redman’s “Better is One Day” has its roots in Psalm 84.  Third Day’s “Your Love Oh Lord” comes out of Psalm 36.  Psalm 9 has been set to music.  I know I’ve sung songs based off of Psalm 121 as well.  It’s no secret that music is an important part of who I am and its now also my job as worship leader.  So, I want to dive back into the Psalms.  I’ll try to explore one or two each week.

Psalm 22 starts with one of the more prominent passages in scripture, even if most of us don’t realize it or put it in Matthew’s context.  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1)  These words of David are echoed by Christ as he hangs on the cross.  The psalm is a stirring plea for help.  Though this psalm comes out of David’s suffering, it predicts the suffering Christ will endure at the cross.

                Day and night David cries out, but there is no response.  Surrounded by his enemies, despised and rejected by them, David feels low.  Yet, he trusts in God as his fathers did.  In verse 19, David reiterates his plea for help, “O my Strength, come quickly to help me.”  A few verses later, we start to see God’s deliverance.  “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.” (Psalm22:22).

                This is one of the challenging and, at times, frustrating thing with the Psalms.  A lot of the songs that start in despair, or struggle, or dire circumstances manage to find deliverance by the end.  When I’m in those dire circumstances and deliverance hasn’t found me yet, it’s hard to press on.  It’s hard to read psalms that so poignantly describe David’s anguish and then reveal his salvation.  I can relate to the anguish, but I struggle to connect with his words of salvation, because it hasn’t happened yet.

                The challenge in these Psalms is to remember that David praised God in the middle of the storm.  Even in the midst of his despair and anguish, he never stopped believing that God would deliver him.  Part of David’s reassurance comes from the history he knew.  “[Our Fathers] cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.” (Psalm 22:5)  David knew that in the past his forefathers had called out for help and God had answered them.  Therefore, David knew he could do the same.  I have to trust that I can do the same today.  Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  If God is unchanging and history shows that he watches over his people and delivers them from their anguish, then, surely, in His timing, God will deliver me as well.  I just have to be patient.