Doxology of the Heart

Doxology.  The term is taken from the Greek, doxa, meaning glory.  It is usually used to describe praise to the three persons of the Trinity.  At the heart of worship is the Doxology of our hearts.  Worship is about the heart.  The following from Ralph Waldo Emerson gives us much to think about:

A person will worship something, have no doubt about that.  We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out.  That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character.  Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.

Psalm 139 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart . . ."  That whole Psalm speaks to the above.  I would encourage you to read the entire Psalm and then take some time to let the Lord reveal what it is in your life that you tend to worship, sometimes in place of the Lord God.  Ask, what is it that dominates my passions, my imaginations, and my thoughts.  This is the beginning of worship for us all. Seek to know the true Doxology of your own heart and ask the Lord to fashion your heart as one that seeks Him and loves Him with all that you are.  mjm

A Thousand Tongues to Sing

In Revelation 5 we find the new song being sung and then in verse 11, "... I looked, and I heard around the throne . . . the voice of many angels, numbering  myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'"  The result at the end of the passage . . . "they fell down and worshipped."  

Charles Wesley wrote some 6000 hymns.  Even though we Baptists sing many of them and consider them Baptist Hymns, however Charles was very much Methodist.  Two of the texts we sing this Sunday are from Charles' pen . . . O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing and . . . Amazing Love, How Can it Be? 

The first stanza of O For a Thousand Tongues as we know it, was actually the 7th stanza of an 18 stanza hymn.  (And some get upset when we sing all five stanzas.)   It was based on words from Peter Boehler, a Moravian Missionary who stated, "Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him with them all."  And one would suppose Revelation 5 also is a part of the inspiration.  The 5 stanzas in our hymnal are actually stanzas 7, 9, 10, 12, and 8 in that order.  Charles wrote this hymn about the one year anniversary of his conversion in 1739.  The other stanzas of this hymn reflect on just what Christ our Savior did for us all much as his other hymn,  Amazing Love, How Can it Be?  The love of our Lord Jesus always leads us to expressions of praise and adoration.  I want you to see the text of the original first stanza of the hymn not seen in hymnals today which reflects the connection between the praises of earth and heaven:

Glory to God, and praise and love   

Be ever, ever given;

By saints below, and saints above,

The Church in earth and Heaven.

Hearing and . . . Seeing God's Music

It was requested that I re-post the following blog when we sang again, Sometimes I Hear God's Music, text by the late  J. Paul Williams. I renamed this post because in Psalm 40 it makes clear that when others see us praising that not only will they hear but they will see and put their trust in the Lord.  It is a reminder that music was God's idea.  We see music in all of creation.  We see music in  life and worship.  In Psalm 40:1-3, we see that music is the new song of redemption; a hymn of praise to God.  We see that new song as the perpetual song of heaven where our purpose and occupation will be strictly the praise and worship of our Lord.  Rev. 5:9 - "And they sang a new song saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people, and nation, ...'"

This new song gives the meaning of continuous, unceasing music.  The theme of this song is redemption, just as in Psalm 40.  There would have never been a need for this song if man had not fallen and the Redeemer had not redeemed him.  Note also, the song says we were redeemed or ransomed by His blood.  We were purchased with His blood.  And that purchase was made for men and women, boys and girls, from everywhere.  He has no favorites.  He bought people from every "tribe, tongue, people and nation."  No one is excluded from the blessing of redemption.  It is extended to every part of the earth transcending all cultures, all racial and national boundaries and borders.  It reaches every strata of society to the outermost parts of the earth.  He purchased all that they might worship Him.

The Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that the earthly worshippers of the first century envisioned themselves participating with the angels in heavenly worship when they read and/or sang this song.  They considered themselves vertical, joining the crowd of witnesses, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the one hundred and forty-four thousand and all the overcomers standing on the crystal sea with the harps of God.  

We see again that worship is all about Him, little about us.  He is the initiator, the giver of redemption and we are the recipients.  Therefore every tongue, tribe, people and nation will stand before Him and sing in worship to Him.  All races, peoples, nations, generations, cultures, and different denominations will stand before Him and sing the new song!  Yes, sometimes I hear God's music and I see His song being sung by those who put their full trust in Him and it becomes a witness to Him!  mjm

Our Preparation for Worship

Hebrews 10:22 gives us insight into how we can prepare for worship.  "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."  We find four ways to prepare.

The first is "with a sincere heart".  We need to draw near with a single-minded focus on God and His glory.  Apathy and preoccupation with self can create a hypocrisy that can be fatal to authentic worship.  We must not rush into the presence of God with an insincere heart.

Second is "devotedness".  We are challenged to draw near in . . . "full assurance of faith."  The writer was saying to the people they had to turn loose of the Old Covenant.  In the New Covenant, the worshipper has to come according to the truth that comes by faith alone.  The rituals, self-righteousness, and other works were no longer acceptable.  Only faith alone would now be acceptable to God.

Third is "selflessness".  The Hebrew writer says, "with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience".  Emptied and humbled we must come with a sense of our own unworthiness, with the knowledge that our heart is naturally evil.  

Fourth is "transparent and pure".  This of course indicates a daily confession and spiritual purging in our lives in order to deal with our sinfulness.  The sin of our humanness must constantly be dealt with in order for us to be prepared for worship.  1 John 1:9 talks of this cleansing.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse [keep on cleansing] us from all unrighteousness." This is always a prerequisite to our coming into the presence of God and acceptable worship.  May we always come, prepared. . . for worship.  mjm

Blessings of Praise - Part 3

In review, the first five blessings of praise were:

• Praise puts us in a position to experience and enter into the promises of God.
• God inhabits the praises of His people; He shows up and makes Himself known in their praises.
• Praise becomes a spiritual weapon in tearing down strongholds.
• Praise creates panic and total confusion among satan and his ranks.
• Praise aligns us and enables us to join with heaven in praise to Him!

Sixth, Praise is evangelistic.  Sometimes it is the gospel set to song.  But more than that, Scripture indicates that when God's people praise; "many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord" (Ps. 40:3).  This is one of my favorite verses.  People who have been redeemed and know that Christ is able to save have much to praise about.  In Psalm 40 it says that God puts a song of praise in my mouth.  Jesus is our ultimate worship leader.  Also as I have noted in previous blogs, it goes on to say that many will SEE.  Praise is a song, but it is more than a song.  If people see our praise and our passion for Christ expressed they will be saved.  Praise demands a response when seen and heard.  The "seeker movement" in our churches needs to realize that the lost are not offended by the presence of God; they are convicted and saved in the presence of God.  If we lack relevance it is because the presence of God is absent.  Where praise is happening God is in the house, and people get saved. Praise is a powerful tool of evangelism!

Seventh, Praise is a tool for the purpose of teaching.  Colossians 3:16  commands, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord."  Much of the Scripture I know from my childhood and as a teenager and adult is the Word of God that I have sung.  Music is a powerful memory tool.  Our brains remember what we put to music.  Calvin and Luther used music to teach theology.  Some claim that 80% of church attendees learn theology, not by sermons they hear, but by the songs they sing.  The hymns of the faith teach God's ways.  We should make sure that what we are singing is scripturally sound and rich in teaching the Word.  Praise teaches the Word, the ways of God and who God is.  Song assists us in dwelling in His Word, allowing His word to be at home in our hearts. Teach us O Lord, as we praise!  mjm

Blessings of Praise - Part 2

Last blog we said that first -  praise puts us in a position to experience and enter into the promises of God.  Then second - God always shows up and makes Himself known when His people praise Him!  He inhabits the praises of His people. Now we continue with the next blessing of praise. 

Third, praise becomes a spiritual weapon in tearing down strongholds, satan, and powers of this world.    We are told that the Word of God is a sword.  Praise is God's Word, promises and nature of the Lord expressed.  Psalm 8:2 shows us that praise is powerful and aggressive in cutting down our enemy and contradicting his lies.  Satan has no defense when it comes to praise.  In the midst of praise He is dumbfounded and silent.  The Bible clearly states that praise "silences the foe".  It grieves me that folks don't understand that when the church is in unified praise, it becomes a weapon of war in the Lord's battle against the enemy.  So, praise be to the Lord!

Fourth, related and in addition to the third blessing of praise is: praise creates panic and total confusion among satan and his ranks.  One of the Biblical examples of this is found in 2 Chronicles 20.  I don't have room here to go into all of this.  But, we remember that when the people began to praise there was confusion among the enemy to the point that they began to destroy each other.  In my own experiences in Africa as a missionary, we saw first hand how satan and his demons could not stand praise.  When all of the people would become unified in praise in a particular worship time or place, if there was anyone present who had demon possession or oppression, it became known immediately.  We are not attuned to those kinds of things in our culture and society.  But, it was very real in their experience.  

Fifth, praise aligns and joins us with heaven.  What is going on in heaven as we read this?  Praise.  God is on the throne and He is being praised at all times.  We tend to live and worship in cocoons of our own making, responding emotionally, mentally, and physically to what is going on around us at the moment.  Because of our perspective, we lose spiritual sight of the fact that at all times He is being praised and that when we praise either individually, or collectively when gathered as the church, we literally join heaven in giving praise to Him.  Heaven's view is different from ours.  Heaven knows we have already won.  Praise aligns us with God's perspective.  We need to open our eyes to the spiritual reality of our situations and our worship, realizing that we are joining with heaven singing the new song of victory!  Would that ever change our attitudes toward our worship gatherings as a church!!  mjm

Blessings of Praise - Part 1

We know from Scripture that we were created to praise.  We know that it is to God, for God and for His glory only.  However, we also know from His Word that there are by-products, benefits, or blessings of praise.  In the next couple of blogs we will consider these.  

First, praise puts us in a position to experience and enter into the promises of God.  Remember when the 12 spies were sent to check out the Promised Land before Israel would enter?  Ten of those came back complaining and whining.  The two who came back with  positive faith, Caleb and Joshua, would be the only spies to eventually enter into the Promised Land.  God still works the same and is just waiting for us to receive what He has for us if we are faithful to praise in faith.  Praise puts us into a position to receive the promises of God.  Let's praise the Lord and see Him move!

Second, God always shows up and makes Himself known when His people praise Him!  Psalm 22:3 is a wonderful promise for God's people.  "You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel." (ESV)  "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (KJV)  What in the world does this verse tell us?  It reveals to us that God is wherever the people of God praise Him.  He comes and lives where His people praise Him.  And wherever we find God, anything is possible.  If we want Jesus in the house, we will become a house of praise.  Programs will fail, but the presence of God will never fail.  Praise creates a meeting place with the Creator and Sustainer!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! More blessings to come.  mjm

"With Thankfulness and Grace . . ."

We've discussed the first and middle parts of Colossians 3:16 over these years that I have been writing this blog.  Today I want to look at the last part of that verse . . . "with thankfulness and grace in your hearts to God".

The attitude and frame of mind we are called to in this verse about "word dwelling and singing" is a very different one from the unsaved.  Our "new" song reveals an "attitude of gratitude"; not the anxiety, anguish or apathy found in much of modern music today.  So, what music is acceptable in God's sight? It seems to indicate here that all music offered in worship of God, as long as it glorifies God and God alone, is acceptable in His sight.  It must be music that focuses on Him, not the performer.

Therefore we are called upon not to judge or condemn musical worship as expressed by all Christians.  We can not decide or presume that our own personal bias dictates what is holy and acceptable to God as worship.  Some believers want full and open expression of praise, others prefer much more reserved.    Some members of the body prefer structured liturgical worship while others prefer spontaneity and creativity.  Some prefer no instruments, some prefer only certain instruments, and some prefer all instruments giving praise and undergirding the praise of His people.  To each his own.  We must not judge any of the other believers.  We should have an attitude of "thankfulness and grace" to all. In fact when we go on to verse 17 we see we are to "do it all in His name, giving thanks."  

Musical style is not critical to Christ-pleasing worship.  What is important for the worshipper and the worship leader is that the worship be fully committed to Christ's glory, not committed to the music, the drama, the film, the slides, the lighting, or the fans of a certain way of doing things.  I Corinthians 10:31 puts it most directly: "Do all to the glory of God".  The standard is His glory!  mjm