Something just struck me wrong. There we were in the middle of the worship service and one by one all the songs were about me and my part in worship. We sang about how we will do this or that and I am embarrassed to say that I “knee jerked”[1] in my reaction to it. I am not normally prone to this type of reaction, but I will admit I am very sensitive when it comes to this topic. I began to think, 'just keep me out of it in worship'. I decided that in worship I only wanted to focus on the intrinsic attributes of God. While this is a good and true form of worship, I will admit that in negating all the songs that mention me, myself or I; then I would negate a bunch of the worship in scripture. I was right that there is a problem in our modern worship but I was wrong about the source of the problem. God began to deal with me about my own biases in worship, in the scriptures He began to reveal something that is now so precious to me. I began to think about the differences between hymns of the past and the modern worship songs. I came to the realization the main difference is that the great songs of the past are sometimes gut-wrenching, raw and honest with God about our problems and suffering; and now we seem to just skirt right past that part of worship.
I found the problem with my worship and the most modern worship in an entitled culture like America is that we begin in the wrong place and we have no sense of the journey of worship; allowing no room for lament. I think one of our misunderstandings about the worship can be tied to the way Psalm 22 is translated in the KJV, (I am sorry to offend the KJV only camp, but this is truth) . Particularly verse three is translated, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." So worship leaders who grew up on the KJV (which I did by the way) have a tendency to say 'God inhabits the praises of his people'. This translation is a little bit goofy, because some have taken from it this idea that, when played out to its logical conclusion, makes it seem like our work in praise and worship calls out to God to come check out how good of a job we are doing at worshiping Him. Most other translations, such as the NASB, NLT, NIV and HCSB among others all translate it something more like the ESV, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel." Much more true to the original Hebrew. Do you see what that does? Its a subtle difference and if you are not careful you will miss it. The focus here is the Holiness of God primarily and we praise Him because He is so holy, good, loving, wonderful, almighty and sovereign. Praise is our reaction to God's attributes and presence instead of His presence coming from a reaction based on our ability to praise Him. I bring this up because this is a Psalm of Lament. It deals with suffering. In the Pulpit Commentary series it says of this verse that in the midst of suffering it is saying, still God is holy; the Sufferer casts no criticism, accusation or reprimand for the suffering on God, but instead commits to Him that is righteous. In God's righteousness, there is a trust that God would come through like He had always done before. "Numerically the biggest category of worship songs in the bible are laments and yet our worship music doesn’t really reflect that very well.” – Michael Card Before I go on I want to make sure we are working with a good understanding of lament.
All of these words mean to wail and mourn and they are really describing a passionate display of anguish or sorrow. So I came to the following realization: We don’t bring our suffering into worship because we are threatened by, uncomfortable with, and embarrassed by suffering in a culture of comfort and affluence (sadly this is not just our outside culture but our church culture as well). It makes us feel helpless and we don’t want to feel helpless, but that is the essence of our relationship with God. We were helpless in our sin, He provided help through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are supposed to encourage and be encouraged in our churches. Which then begs the question, how can we encourage each other if we aren't honest about our suffering and trouble? I believe that the scriptures are full of this idea of an intimacy with God in which we share our laughter, doubts and pain. From the cool of the day conversations in Genesis to the redeemed gathered round the throne in Revelation it is self-evident that we were made to worship and commune with our Creator and His genuine desire is have intimacy with us. Michael Card points out The Bible is about this journey from “Torah Obedience” to “Intimacy with God” and that the Law was made to bring us into intimacy, that He would be with us (Leviticus 26:12, Context is 26:1-13). The Holy of Holies was the essence of God with us. Jesus was called Immanuel which means God with us (Matthew 1:23). Jesus’ last words in the great commission were “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, context is 28:16-20) “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them” Rev 21:3 But where do we begin? "All true worship begins in the wilderness. “ – Michael Card What a statement. But can it be backed up? Well, in the middle of Exodus chapter 7, God tells Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Much of the stories of Jeremiah, Job, and David are Lament and Jesus lamented on many occasions(eg. Tomb of Lazarus, over Jerusalem, in the Garden and on the Cross). The bible is full of verses that promise that God will meet us in the middle of our Lament such as, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 and, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” – Psalm 34:18 And in Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming Christ in Chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah, it says, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” In fact most of the chapter is about Jesus’ coming suffering for us. “God used suffering to save the world… So, take lament seriously or you can’t take the cross seriously” – Michael Card Jesus lamented. He was Human, Prophet, Priest, King and God. Jeremiah lamented the fall of Jerusalem because of sin. David lamented over his sin, enemies, and struggles. Job lived to obey the law, but when the enemy of his soul attacked he learned how to lament in worship. After the trials of Job, in the final chapter, he says, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” – Job 42:5-6, Context 42:1-6) The Lord’s Supper, Communion or the Eucharist; whatever name you use, it is a great symbol of our relationship in worship to God. It is a true worship experience. In First Corinthians chapter 11 (a chapter dedicated to worship), Paul gives instructions on communion and he says, “That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.” So we come to the table repenting after sitting in judgment upon ourselves, and Jesus’s response is: “This is my body…this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.” (Matthew 26:17-30) My journey to the table is a type of my journey in worship. In this life so many things just don’t add up. My sins and failings don’t add up to my title as righteous but Jesus’ sacrifice fills that gap and my response is worship. My earthly trials and troubles, suffering and pain don’t add up to the loving-kindness of God, but in my worshipful lament, He meets me there with peace and assurance. This fragmented and fallen world does not add up to all of the promises in scripture but one day, the hope of glory will reveal that every tear will be wiped from my eyes and I will be with Him forever. That is so very encouraging. So I will sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance, I will cry out to the Lord, wailing and mourning, then I will remember again who He is and I will love His active Presence in my life and I will worship Him like never before. For His presence turns my mourning into dancing. * Note: I was able to find a resource that is an hour long lesson on lament in worship that is much more in-depth than I can do justice in this blog. Lamenting is worship is a lecture by Michael Card that is amazing and faithful to scripture. Here are the links to the seven parts of the lecture; they are about 9 minutes each. Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven [1] An immediate unthinking emotional reaction produced by an event or statement to which the reacting person is highly sensitive
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