Spurgeon commenting on Psalm 18 and King David-“Being possessed of poetic genius, he served the Lord by composing this Psalm for the use of the Lord’s house; and it is no mean work to conduct or to improve that delightful part of divine worship, the singing of the Lord’s praises. Would that more musical and poetical ability were consecrated, and that our chief musicians were fit to be trusted with devout and spiritual psalmody. It should be observed that the words of this song were not composed with the view of gratifying the taste of men, but were spoken unto Jehovah. It were well if we had a more single eye to the honour of the Lord in our singing, and in all other hallowed exercises. That praise is little worth which is not directed solely and heartily to the Lord. David might well be thus direct in his gratitude, for he owed all to his God, and in the day of his deliverance he had none to thank but the Lord, whose right hand had preserved him. We too should feel that to God and God alone we owe the greatest debt of honour and thanksgiving.”
In my life, I have tried reproving men in leadership on more than one occasion. These times were accompanied by prayer and genuine concern for that person. Proverbs 9:8 says, “Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you, reprove a wise man, and he will love you”.
Unfortunately, a couple of these times I was not met with love, but anger, accusations and deception. What is that? These were men that I loved and labored with in the ministry, men that I thought would respond in love and acceptance due to our relationship. Certainly, when you rebuke a scoffer or a nonbeliever, it results in anything but love, that is a given. But when you reprove a brother, there should be humility on his part to consider the reproof and act with wisdom.
This proverb is a tell-tale sign of who is wise and who is not. These men were very appealing and excellent teachers, well liked and thought of as anointed. We need to be careful about who we follow; someone can be quite well known and yet lack wisdom and humility.
To be continued
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For our gospel-believing Christian circles in general, I fear there is an alarming lack of spiritual discernment. Because we have shut out the Holy Spirit in so many ways, we are stumbling along as though we are spiritually blindfolded. Ruling out the discernment and leadership of the Holy Spirit is the only possible explanation for the manner in which Christian churches have yielded to the temptation to entertain. A W Tozer—Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts
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Ezekiel 33:30-33 “As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
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By David Ravenhill
If you were to ask an average believer how many of them stole something this past week. I’m sure the vast majority of them would look at you dumbfounded at the very suggestion. We are all well aware that stealing is forbidden by God and made it to His top ten list of commandments. ‘Thou shalt not steal’ ranks just below ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’.
Now if stealing is wrong, and it clearly is, then stealing from God Himself would be the ultimate theft. Right!? According to the Prophet Malachi, God accused His people of robbing Him. The robbery was in their tithes and offering which they either withheld completely or replaced with inferior offerings.
Just in case you’re not familiar with the passage I’m referring to, here it is:
‘But when you present the blind for sacrifice is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would He receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive you kindly?” Malachi 1:8,9
God was clearly upset with His people and the way they were treating Him. God goes on to say.
“…you bring what was taken by robbery, and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I AM A GREAT KING…Malachi 1:13,14
The point I’m trying to make here, is that in the New Testament, our sacrifices are no longer in the form of four-footed animals but through our praise and worship. Here is how the writer of Hebrews refers to it.
“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips that give thanks to His name. Hebrews 13:15
Nothing perturbs me more than going to church and having to listen to God’s people barely uttering a word of praise. The vast majority of people are not even singing and those that are can barely be heard. Almost every Sunday I go home with a pit in my stomach telling myself. ‘We robbed God again’, We robbed God again’. If that’s how I feel, then I wonder how God feels?
God had to remind His people that He is a GREAT KING. He’s trying to tell them to honor Him as such and not treat Him as though He’s not that important. If you turn from Malachi to Matthew just a few pages on but 400 years later, we have the account of the three Magi announcing to King Herod that they were on their way to worship the King of the Jews. Where they bringing the blind and the lame? No, they brought Him gold, frankincense and myrrh; a sacrifice and offering worthy of the KING.
Keep in mind that under the Old Testament economy the priest was responsible for examining every sacrifice prior to it being offered. If the sacrifice was blemished in any way it was to be rejected; only the very best sacrifice was acceptable. No wonder we read the Psalmist saying,
‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.’ Psalm 19:14
Today, we no longer bring our sacrifices to an earthly priest but directly to the Lord Himself who is our great High Priest. He is the one who decides to accept or reject our sacrifice of praise. Unless we are doing our very best to offer Him as perfect a sacrifice as possible, then we are no different from God’s people in Malachi’s time, who substituted the lame and blind instead of offering the best of their flock.
We read in Proverbs
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27
If we apply this verse to God Himself, then surely, He deserves the praise and honor that is due Him. God is worthy of so much more than just singing a few self-centered songs we refer to as worship. Worship should focus solely on God’s greatness, majesty, holiness, righteousness, and power. I love the lyrics of that song that says ‘Let’s forget about ourselves and concentrate on Him and worship Him’. I’m convinced if we truly did just, that we would experience so much more of His presence in our services.
Throughout God’s word we are exhorted to ‘Make a joyful NOISE to the Lord.’ Or ‘SHOUT joyfully to God, all the earth.’ Or ‘O clap your hands, all peoples; SHOUT to God with the voice of joy.’ Nothing should excite us more than being in His presence and then in turn to let Him know how much we love Him.
One last thought. Imagine being asked to take charge of preparing a large family Thanksgiving meal. Family members will be driving in from various places, some even flying in from overseas for the occasion. Chances are we wouldn’t find you shopping for a turkey the same day of the meal, or trying to decide at the last minute whether or not to serve cake and ice-cream or apple pie for dessert. No doubt you would have been planning for weeks or at least days before.
Worship should be considered as the greatest of all Thanksgivings. The ‘first fruits’ of any service, is the time we set apart, to give thanks to God for all His benefits. It is the responsibility of the worship leader to take the necessary time to pray and prepare for this very special occasion. Every detail should be thought out in advance and not simply thrown together at the last minute. Each song should be skillfully knit together to produce a seamless tapestry of worship fit for the King of kings. The task of the worship leader is to cast up a highway of song that leads the congregation into the very presence of God. Songs should be considered as steps with each song lifting us higher and higher until we find ourselves in awe of His glorious majesty.
The role of the worship leader, is in many ways, as important or even more important than the one delivering the message. The worship time is God’s time, and should be treated as such, while the remaining time is for our benefit and spiritual growth.
A word of wisdom here to those leading worship – let the songs do the work. In other words refrain from talking except for your initial welcome. Now a word to those in leadership. Don’t hijack the worship by veering off into some type of ministry time, that can come later in the service. Prophetic words or words of knowledge won’t perish if not used immediately. There is a time and place for everything so let’s not short change God by interrupting the service and thereby robbing God of all the honor He deserves.
If I’ve ruffled a few feathers please forgive me. I’m simply trying to right a wrong that has invaded the church for far too long. Let’s WORSHIP HIM!
Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged bible, David Ravenhill, faith, god, jesus, what is true worship, Worship | Leave a Comment »
It is an interesting story, the story of Elisha and Naaman the leper. Naaman reluctantly went and dipped seven times in the Jordan River and was healed because there was a prophet in Israel. He also realized that there was only one God, the God of Israel.
When Naaman offered Elisha a gift, Elisha told him “As sure as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing” (2 Kings 5:16). After Naaman had left, Elisha’s servant Gehazi went after Naaman and lied to him in order to get a gift of silver and clothes. When Gehazi returned, Elisha confronted him because in his spirit he knew what Gehazi had done. It did not fare well for Gehazi when Elisha asked him in 2 Kings 5:26-27 “Is it a time to take money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence, a leper as white as snow”.
The story speaks for it self, Carl Keil, a German theologian in the 1800’s says this in his commentary on II Kings-
“Was this the time, when so many hypocrites pretend to be prophets from selfishness and avarice, and bring the prophetic office into contempt with unbelievers, for a servant of the Lord to take money and goods …that he might acquire luxury and goods for himself.
What a rebuke! A rebuke our so-called modern prophets should heed with all their marketing strategies, their endless books, DVD’s, expensive conferences and material. Well did Micah tell of their error! Micah 3:11 “Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests instruct for a price. And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD saying, is not the LORD in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.” It is a stark realization that today’s so-called prophets have many followers, and there is pride in the fact that they claim that the Lord is in their meetings and in their “words”. Micah clearly rebukes them and exposes their error. In like manner, our modern prophetic movement needs rebuking!
The world is in dire times, economic collapses, rising unemployment and homelessness, more and more people are hurting. We live in a world where people need Jesus, the need the true Gospel. Where will they hear it? Will we bring them into a church that is wrought with error and mixture? Where are the true prophets of God? Is this the time to for making money? There are several instances in the Bible where some of the greatest prophets rejected money. Where are they now? These days it’s almost always all about the money. We need to pray for more discernment!! And then use it!
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“If goodness lead him not, then weariness may toss him to God’s breast.”
George Herbert
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While I don’t usually use movies to make Christian theological points, in this case, Boromir does seem fitting. I will take comfort in the fact that JRR Tolkien was a Christian.
While Boromir, in the Lord of the Rings, has a time of repentance at the end of his life, he was certainly enamored with the One Ring. He was extremely tempted by it and wanted to use it for good. He tried to persuade the other members of the Fellowship to use the One Ring against the dark lord. How many things of this world are we tempted to use for good?
As I read Luke 4:5-7, the devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all its glory. The devil tells Jesus that it was a domain that had been handed over to him, and that he had the power to give it to whomever he wished. That is an interesting thought because Satan certainly does give it to evil men, and all throughout history you can see his trail of destruction through those evil men to whom he has given it. Yet here he offers it to Jesus, the righteous Son of God. It is offered to Jesus as a temptation. For Jesus, in a twisted way, it was a way for “all things to become subject to Jesus’ feet”! But God’s way was for Him to suffer the cross and wait for “all things to become subject under His feet”. Hebrews 2:8 “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him”. The mystery of the Gospel slowly unwinds! Oh that we would have the eyes of our understanding opened by Jesus!
Boromir was told by Aragorn, “you cannot wield the Ring, it only answers to the dark lord”. We currently live in a world that answers to satan, “the prince and power of the air”. He gives his power to whom he wishes! It must be so for now. 1 Corinthians 5:249-25 “…then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet”. God still moves in the earth by his divine will and Providence, as it says in Daniel, “He does as He please with all the host of heaven and with man on the earth”. For now He is allowing satan a certain amount of power.
How does that apply to us? We have the same temptation facing us, to use the things of the world for good. If Jesus resisted that, should we not also resist it? There is a theology out there in the Christian world that wants to use the powers of this world to usher in the Kingdom of God. Is that even possible? Is that what God has intended for His church to pursue? We can all think of areas in this modern world that we could use for the good of the Kingdom. We could use politics and make Christian laws. We can use the entertainment and the music industry to have better Christian music and entertainment. We could have Christian businesses. All these things would make us feel good, but they are not the answer.
To quote a dear friend of mine, “It is interesting to note that Jesus did not initiate any socio-economic nor political change. He did not depose Herod, Pilate or Caesar; not even the High Priest. He did not set up social programs nor end slavery while on earth. Yet He declared, the kingdom of God has come upon you”.
Think of it, the Kingdom of God came upon the world! Politics did not matter! It did not matter who was in office! Yet we fight and devour one another over politics. It is important for us to accept the fact that God’s Kingdom is not of this world, John 18:36 tells us so! While there is a lot of good that we can do in the world, it is not dependent on anything of this world, it is dependent on the Holy Spirit. It was by the Holy Spirit that the Apostles changed the whole world! The life changing power of Jesus works in the whole world. It doesn’t matter what type of government you are under. The church grew under the most hostile government system the world had ever seen, the Roman Empire! We need to use what Jesus has made available to us, the Holy Spirit. He is greater than any denomination, greater than any political party and greater than any form of government! It is the kingdom of God. Let us not lose our distinctiveness! There is a uniqueness to Christians who are led by the Spirit, to those whose “kingdom is not of this world”..
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I was recently looking at a Commentary on Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death”.
The Commentary said the following, “It has now become the habit of the Apostle’s mind to trace the working of a divine purpose, which men, even when they are most bent on thwarting it, are unconsciously fulfilling”.
It is amazing to me how God’s plans are many times not seen while they are happening. Many times, even in our own lives, we can not understand His ways until time has passed and we are able to look back and “trace His divine purpose”. This applies to the world at large, and to our own personal lives.
Think of it, Peter and the disciples never expected the plan of God to be that Jesus would be crucified. It was Peter who famously was rebuked by Jesus for suggesting that He would never be given over and crucified. What changed? With Jesus being crucified, the disciples were devastated and scattered! But then He appeared to them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended into heaven, they started looking back and remembering the things that Jesus taught them. They then began to “trace the divine purpose” with the help of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2, it is now Peter who stands up and addresses the crowd. He now acknowledges that Jesus “was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death”. Wow! How little of God’s ways we understand.
This is a huge topic, one worthy of understanding in a better way. In another verse, Acts 4:27-28 it says, “In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, they carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen”. Again it was God’s hand in it all.
When we look at world history and events, can we realize that God is in control? In Revelation 17 we have some similar assertions. Verse 17 says “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled”. At the end of the age, it is God who orchestrates and puts into the hearts of men to execute His purposes. Just like when Jesus was crucified, it was God’s “divine purpose”! The more we search the scriptures and understand this, the better we understand God and His ways.
Again, a disclaimer, I am by no means an expert on all of this and don’t fully understand it all. We should all pray, “open my eyes that I might behold wonderful things out of Thy word”. If we can get a better grip of all this, we will have less turmoil in the body of Christ and in our lives. We will have less fear and worry over things of this world. I encourage you to look back over your own lives, can you trace God’s hand in it? Thank God, He works all things for good to those who love Him.
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While sitting out one night under the stars, I was again impressed by the beauty of the universe and the order of the heavens which God created. In the Psalm 19 we read, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands”. And in Jeremiah 3 we read, “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name”.
The stillness of the night, with constellations slowly passing by night after night, is an absolute wonder! The precise order is mind boggling and the peace is healing to the body! I think of Psalm 46, “Be still and know that I am God”, it is very easy to experience peace when we look at the grandeur and wonder of the heavens, Psalm 19 “the heavens declare the glory of God”. Would that the earth would finally be filled with the Glory of God, soon it will be. Psalm 72 “And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory, amen and amen”.
But for now, we live in a world that is filled with chaos. In our modern era, everywhere we look, there is chaos, destruction and all sorts of evil. There is no order here on earth yet! While we are told in Hebrews 2 that God has put all things in subjection under Jesus’ feet, we are also told that for some reason that we do not yet see it, we do not yet see all things put under Jesus’ feet. We live in a world of chaos while the full plan of God is worked out. The goal of all of this is worth considering. Jesus helps us to understand this when He taught us how to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. That is the goal of God’s plan in the earth. We are to also pray that way, “Lord let Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”. It will happen one day! God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. In the end, as it says in Isaiah 24, “the city of chaos will be broken”.
Some may ask, “why doesn’t God just come and end all the chaos on earth”? Many people who do not follow Jesus ask that. Romans 9 tells us this- “What if God, willing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?”. Paul tells us that God is patient with the chaos of the world and has a great willingness to show forth the riches of His glory through bringing many people, both Jews and Greeks into the Kingdom of God through repentance. Peter tells us the same thing in Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”. While God could instantly fix the problem of sin, caused by Adam’s sin and the Watchers, He is choosing not to for a greater good. He is patient and allowing time for people to join His company, “That none should perish!”
While we live in this world with all its chaos, we understand that we are part of a Kingdom that is not of this world. Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world” and that is where our hope lies. We will have peace when we come to Him even in this world. We can have God’s peace as we walk through this very chaotic world that is filled with fear and evil. In John 14:27 Jesus tells us, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful”. Also in Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When the end comes, and God restores peace on the earth, we will all say “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation”. Isaiah 25:9
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