At least once a month I either share a favorite new (or old, or old made new) worship song, or talk about my worship experience, or I talk about the virtues of worship (even when you don’t feel like worshiping God). Truly worship is my hobbyhorse, my obsession, the heart of my (undiagnosed, except by hubby) obsessive compulsive disorder.
One of the things that I love to do when I hear a new worship song that touches me (either by it’s lyrics or it’s tune) is listen to it over, and over, and over again (if you ask our oldest daughter about ‘Shout to the Lord’, she will tell you I turned her against it, due to my excessive overuse of the ‘repeat’ button). By doing this I can really get a feel for the emotions the song makes surface in my life.
The next thing I love to do is research the story behind the writing of the song. This provides deeper meaning from the lyrics on the page, and again allows me to connect deeper, more intimately with it’s message.
Then, finally, I check out how the lyrics fit with what the Bible says. Some songs are full of emotion (much like David’s psalms), some are direct quotes from scripture and some are ‘feel good’ songs (I, personally, do not have a problem with that. I love jellybeans, and do, on occasion eat a few. The problem comes when I lose my understanding of moderation, and eat a steady diet of them).
So, recently, I was checking out the song “Allelujah, Thine the Glory” by the group The Museum (who ‘borrowed’ the chorus from the hymn written in 1863, by William P. Mackay, then added their inspired verses). It is such an easily singable piece of music, with strong biblical theology throughout each verse.
The chorus is also from Psalm 85:6, which says, “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?” When I was hunting for the story behind this song I came across the following video, in which the lead of the group tells of the inspiration for the song.
It is a story you can hear for yourself, but I asked a few questions of myself after watching this:
What will our churches today do to avoid becoming lifeless and dead?
Can we, this generation of christians, choose to have joy, even in hardships?
Are we willing to do what Christ will ask of us (as individuals, as a local church, as a part of the world’s christian churches), if we choose to say to Him, revive us again?
Can we start focusing on our God, rather than on ourselves, and our petty issues with each other?
For God to have the glory, we, his church need to be revived. But God will not force it on us, we need to choose to get into His word (and start spreading the love that He placed within us).
surgery as soon as possible. Without surgery, my dad could be a paraplegic by Christmas.
The website, freedictionary.com, defines ‘disowned’ as “to refuse to acknowledge or accept as one’s own.”
God is bigger than any church, any denomination, any method of expression, and any pastor.
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It is a song based on David’s Psalm 103. It is a song of what God has done for us. It is a ‘bedtime’ Psalm. It reminds me of kid’s picture books like Robert Munsch’s “Love you Forever” or “Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam Mc Bratney. Books that tell a child how very loved they are and how far their parent is willing to go to love them. This Psalm is the same, it tells of how desperately our Father God loves us, and how far He will go to prove it.
awe, and commitment that a parent feels when their newborn is placed in their arms. Second is how that beautiful, innocent, miraculous bundle of joy turns into a surly, snarly, stubborn teenager.
mean to those younger than her, she has hissy fits, she leaves the house without telling anyone where she is going, and she might spend days without saying a single word to her father. Then, one day every week she goes out in public to say how much she loves her Daddy. And you know what, because her father is God, He welcomes me back … every time. Because my Father God knows I am going to be surly (it’s a given, just like our kids), but He sees in my the enormity of what I can become, and He isn’t going to give up on my until I see it too.
One year and a bit later we got the confirmation that I was pregnant again. I felt so thankful, so blessed by God, but I did not offer that baby back to Him (immediately). There have been many times, over her nineteen years, when I have been confronted about the sacrifice that I have held back from God. I have never been directly confronted by individuals, so much as confronted by my own guilt for holding back my daughter from the God who gave her to me. I would be awakened to my guilt when I was reading, or listening to a speaker, or singing a hymn or worship song (try singing “I Surrender All” when in a position of NOT surrendering).
itsawonderfilledlife 