pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: song


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Our Rock, Our Redeemer

Reading: Psalm 40:1-5

Verse 4: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.”

In today’s 5 verses from Psalm 40 David encapsulates much of our faith. He begins with a reality: “I waited patiently for the Lord.” Seeking God, lifting prayers – these are not a guarantee of an immediate response from God. Patience is often required. As was David’s experience, so too will God turn to us. God will hear our cry. I love the imagery that David uses to describe this in verses 2. God lifted him out of the “slimy pit” and “out of mire and mud.” What great descriptors of the valleys and times of suffering that we all must endure in this life. But better yet is God’s response. God placed David’s feet “on a rock,” on a “firm place to stand.” What joy and relief we find when God does this for us. To feel like we’re standing on solid ground instead of slippery or shifting ground, this too puts a “new song” in our mouths as we praise the Lord for our rescue or redemption or restoration…

The second stanza begins with these words: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.” That does not mean that we won’t face trial and suffering. Again, these are part of life. When we trust in God we do not turn aside to “false gods.” We do not allow our own pride or the “wisdom” of others tell us we’re ok on our own. We trust into what God has done and into what God has planned for us. We recall the many ways – “too many to declare” – that God has lifted us up and set our feet upon the rock that we call Jesus Christ. As we do, may we sing out our praises for the Lord our God, our rock and redeemer.

Prayer: Lord God, your constant presence leads and guides, it rescues and redeems. I thank you for lifting me, guarding me, shielding me, rescuing me, redeeming me, restoring me… Your love surrounds me and knows no end. I rejoice in you, my Lord and my Savior! Amen.


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World-Changing Great News!

Reading: Luke 1:68-75

Verse 68: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because God has come and has redeemed God’s people.”

Photo credit: Shane Rounce

Today and tomorrow we will work from Zechariah’s Song, found in Luke 1. Zechariah is a priest and is the father of John the Baptist. Both he and wife Elizabeth are “well along in years” when an angel visits Zechariah and tells him that they will have a son. He questions the angel Gabriel and, as a result, is struck silent until the baby is born and named eight days later. This song is Zechariah’s joyous response to all that God has done and will do.

In verse 68 we read, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because God has come and has redeemed God’s people.” Zechariah is a priest who serves in the temple so he knows the scriptures, which at this time was the Law and the prophets – the Old Testament. He knows the prophecies both concerning the Messiah and the one who will come to prepare the way. The angel Gabriel tells him that his son will be the one to prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah clearly understands what is happening.

In his song Zechariah praises God for raising up a “horn of salvation.” Mary has come and visited, revealing the good news in her womb to Elizabeth and Zechariah. The “horn” he speaks of is Jesus Christ, told of long ago “through God’s holy prophets.” Then, in verses 71-75, Zechariah shares what this news means to him, to Israel, and to us today. Jesus the Savior will bring salvation and will show mercy. He will rescue us from our enemies and “enable us to serve him without fear.” A world-changing event is under way. Zechariah celebrates joyfully in a song of praise to God. May our lives echo his joy as we too seek to serve the Lord “in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

Prayer: Lord God, what great news Zechariah shares! What joy there is at the coming of your prophet John and your son Jesus. What gifts of mercy and forgiveness, love and grace we receive in Christ. Fill us with joy and trust as we seek to share this great news with others this day and every day. Amen.


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Worship God… Today

Reading: Psalm 66:1-12

Verse 12: “We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”

Photo credit: Eugene Zhyvchik

What is it that gets you through a hard time? What words can or do you sing or listen to when hardship becomes your reality? For the Israelites, Psalm 66 would’ve been a response to these questions. In spite of the current suffering, Psalm 66 would lift their spirits, reminding them of how God was faithful without fail in the past. Again and again God has guided the people through times that have tested their faith. This song would be sung with joy and would bring hope.

Traditionally today would be the day of preparing for the Sabbath, the day of rest and prayer to ready oneself to worship God. Most of us have lost the sacredness of our Saturdays. Most people work 5 (or 6) days a week and today (or tomorrow) is the day to run errands, to get get stuff done around the house… For many, life is so crammed full that even if they make it to church, the to-do list and/or the busy schedule for the rest of the day inhibits slowing down and really connecting to God. Yet even when all of this (or most or some of it) is true, God remains faithful.

Where in your day today do you have time to rest in God’s presence? It might just be 15 minutes. That is ok. Whether walking in the valley, beaming on the mountaintop, or if life is somewhere in the middle – what songs or scriptures draw you into worship and into connection with God? Find a song or scripture or three and listen to or sing or read and pray through them. Worship God. Today. Recall God’s goodness and faithfulness. Think of God’s rescues and redemptions in your life. Sing or say with the psalmist: “We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance” and worship God today.

Prayer: Lord God, draw me into you, into that sacred place where I can dwell for a bit in your abundance. Cover me in your love, fill me with your grace, wrap me in your healing. Amen.


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Over and Over

Reading: Psalm 66:1-12

Verse 9: “God has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.”

Psalm 66 comes from what many refer to as the hymnal of the Bible. The original use of the Psalms was just that – songs of worship. Some were songs of ascent – sung in the way up to the temple. Some were songs of theology – songs that told of God’s truths and character. Some were songs of lament – songs of trial and suffering. Psalm 66 primarily falls into this last category. Even though it is a song of lament, like most of the other Psalms, it has an element of hope. This hope ever remains because God is always present, especially in the trials and sufferings.

Psalm 66 begins with praise to God. Even in times of difficulty, it is good to begin our prayers by remembering God’s power and might. It places us in the right perspective to pour out our hearts to God. The central remembrance here is the parting of the sea, when God saved Israel from Pharaoh’s army. In verse 9 the song sings, “God has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.” That is Israel’s story over and over. It is the psalmist’s story over and over. It is our story over and over.

In verses 10-12 the psalmist recalls God’s “testing” and how God has always “refined us like silver” during these times. The psalmist remembers the times of passing through“fire and water” and how these difficulties“brought us to a place of abundance.” Yes, hardship and trial come. But God is always present, always working for our ultimate good. God’s faithfulness gives us hope. God’s love and grace gives us the promise of a better future. When the inevitable comes – the trial, the suffering, the hardship – may we ever remember God’s over and over presence, love, and grace. Doing so, may we too sing songs of praise.

Prayer: Lord God, time and time again you have seen me through. Over and over you have brought me through the valley and back into abundant life with you. I know that you are faithful. I know that your love knows no bounds. You are so good to me. Thank you, God. Amen.


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Healed and Whole

Reading: Psalm 30

Verse 5: “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30 is a typical Psalm. It displays a range of emotion and a range of connections to God. Scholars believe that David wrote these words after recovering from a grave illness. As we read it we can imagine hearing some of these words from Naaman. They’d be a bit different – he came to know God during his healing.

Our text begins with David rejoicing over God lifting him out of “the depths.” He celebrates God’s healing touch. David offers songs of praise as an expression of his gratitude. In verse 5 he reflects: “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” As we know, God’s time isn’t our time. So a “night” can be a season. In these times when we have suffered for multiple nights, we long for the sun to rise again, proverbially speaking. Afflicted for many years with a skin disease, how bright the sun shown for Naaman as he emerged clean and whole again. We too have each experienced times when the sun finally rose, when we felt healed and whole again.

Psalm 30 is David’s expression of these feelings and emotions. We can read these words as encouragement, as hope, as assurance, as light in the darkness. We too are called to remember our “weeping” for a “night” and our “rejoicing” in the “morning.” Remembering, may we seek opportunities to share encouragement, hope, assurance, and light with someone who is in the midst of a dark night.

Prayer: Lord God, use me today to help another walk in the valley. Guide me to share my experience if your presence so that one in need of your love may experience that today. Amen.


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Pray a Prayer!

Reading: Psalm 126

Verse 3 and 4: “The Lord has done great things for us… Restore our fortunes, O Lord.”

Psalm 126 is a passage that makes a great prayer. Many of the Psalms work this way. That is how and why many were written. In ancient times this song was a sung prayer, often used when going to worship or when traveling to Jerusalem for one of the yearly festivals. For the Israelites these sung prayers functioned like the early hymns of our faith. Both contained truths about God and our relationship with God. I think of songs like Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, Great Are You Lord, and All Who Are Thirsty as ‘modern’ versions of the Psalms.

Psalm 126 is a great example of God’s love and care, both past and present. This is illustrated well in verses 3 and 4. Verse 3 recognizes God’s past work on behalf of God’s people and verse 4 asks for God to continue to work amongst the faithful. The first three verses of the Psalm are reminders of God’s faithfulness and the last three call for God’s faithfulness to work in and among the people as they move forward.

The Psalm is a good one for us to pray too. We can pray it as it is. Or we can use the basic structure to personalize a prayer. To do this we can substitute in a time when God rescued or redeemed or saved us (in place of being brought back from captivity) and we can insert actions or outcomes that we desire in place of sowing, seeds, and sheaves. In doing so we are reminded of God’s faithfulness in our past and we are naming our need for God’s work in our present and future. With this in mind, pray a prayer today!

Prayer: Lord God, I rejoiced in my heart when you called me to Grace. I ask that you would continue to grow my faith as I seek to serve you and this community of faith. Amen.


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Attentive

Reading: Psalm 130: 1-2

Verse 2: “Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications”.

Photo credit: Jon Tyson

The Psalm for today begins at a place of need, a place of hurting – “out of the depths”. This is a place that we’ve all prayer from. Whether death or illness or persecution or unwanted change or… we have felt alone and called out in desperation, “Lord, hear my voice”. And then we’ve longed for a response. At times it’s been immediate. God’s presence becomes tangible, the doorbell rings and God has sent someone heading our way, a song comes on the radio. At times we wait a bit. We do not feel abandoned yet we do not have an answer right then. So we keep on praying and then God answers one day – in a text or note or call, in a verse or devotional that we read, in something we hear at church. Most often in these moments we realize that God has been there all along. We just needed eyes to see or ears to hear.

Some of the time, though, it seems to become an extended period feeling alone, isolated, without love or support. We pray along the lines of the psalmist, crying out, “Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications”. Long enough, O God! Hear the words of my prayer, the need of my heart! We think, if you’ll but hear you’ll listen, you’ll respond God, you’ll be attentive to what I want or think I need. In these moments it is hard to trust, to wait on God. Just as God is faithful, so too must we be faithful. We must be diligent in our prayers, faithful in our daily walk with the Lord, attentive to our place within the relationship. In his time, God will respond, he will attend to our prayers. The Lord will not pass us by. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, in my moments of desperation first lift up me trust in you. Remind me of your faithfulness that has come again and again so that I too may be faithful. I trust in you alone. Amen.


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Grieving Loss

Reading: 2nd Samuel 1:1 and 17-27

Verses 24 and 26: “O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul… I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother”.

Photo credit: Frank McKenna

Grief knocks on all of our doors. It is a part of life that we all walk through. In our passage today David expresses his grief over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. He pours out his emotions of grief in a song. These words will also allow others to grieve these hard losses.

Songs like “I Can Only Imagine” and hymns like “Amazing Grace” and “In the Garden” come to mind as I consider David’s outpouring of grief. Song has long been a means to process and express our grief. The words remind us of our faith in God as well as offering soothing to our pain and heartache.

As David begins he writes, “Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights”. The king and his sons died in battle. “The mighty have fallen”. It is a national loss, one to be grieved corporately. But it is also a personal loss. We can feel David’s grief as he writes, “O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul… I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother”. Saul was his king, Jonathan his best friend.

We too have experienced loss. We too have known grief. Saul and Jonathan were “loved and gracious” – worthy of the lament that David offers. We too have lost those who were loved and gracious. This lament of David reminds us of our time in the valley of the shadow of death. As we join David in his lament may we also pause to remember ours who have gone on to glory. As we do, may the Lord bring us comfort.

Prayer: Loving God who is as near as our next breath, wrap us in your arms as we enter lament. May your love enfold us and may your strength carry us. Thank you for your abiding presence. Amen.


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In His Light

Reading: Psalm 4

Verse 8: “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O God, make me dwell in safety”.

David begins Psalm 4 seeking God, pleading with God. He shifts to righteous living in the middle verses. Today we focus in on the last few verses. For those seeking false gods, David asks God to “let the light of your face shine upon us”. Remind us, O God, that you are still right here. Remind us, O God, of your wonderful presence. When God’s light shines in the world, people are drawn towards the light.

God’s light shines in many ways. Sometimes it is in a sunset or sunrise. Sometimes it is in a delicate flower or in a newborn baby. Sometimes it is in the acts of kindness or words of compassion or forgiveness that we share with one another. Sometimes it is in the hymn or song we sing or it is in the words of life spoken or read. In each of these, and in many more ways, God’s light shines, reminding us and others of his presence in our hearts and in our world.

The last two verses speak of the life of faith. In verse seven David shares that God has “filled my heart” with great joy – a joy even greater than at harvest time. The joy found in a life lived in right relationship with God is abundant and generous, as with the God of a great harvest. In verse eight David writes, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O God, make me dwell in safety”. This speaks of the contentment, the trust, the assurance, the peace that comes from walking with the Lord. Knowing that God is our all in all, there is nothing that this world can bring that is bigger, stronger, or more powerful than our God. There is nothing that can separate us from the love and light of God. In his light we dwell in eternal safety. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: God of light and love, your presence and your love surround me. You go before me, you hem me in. When I wake you are there. When I lie down you are there. Guide me by and in the light of your love. Amen.


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Only with God

Reading: Psalm 70

Verse 5: “I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and deliverer”.

David begins Psalm 70 with a cry for help. Enemies are pressing in on him. They seek to put him to shame, to ruin his life. At times we have probably experienced these situations. If we are living out our faith, it will happen from time to time. Being the light sometimes draws a reaction from the darkness. David turns to God and asks for God’s help. He does not strike back physically or with harsh words. David does not engage them in battle but asks God to take up his cause. It is hard to walk this path. It is difficult to hold the tongue, to stay the anger and hurt. It is also the way of Christ. As we walk with Jesus through these next two holy days, we will see Christ model full trust in God.

In verse four David chooses to seek and to praise God. Instead of hiding his faith, instead of withdrawing from it to avoid those who insult and abuse him, David stands, lifts his arms, and praises the God of his salvation. He sings aloud, “Let God be exalted”! Knowing God’s love and salvation should lead us to praise God as well. In those moments of difficulty, singing a few verses of “How Great Thou Art” or “10,000 Reasons” or your favorite hymn or praise song draws us into God’s presence and reassures us of his great love.

The Psalm closes in honest humility. Turning to God in prayer, David says, “I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and deliverer”. Only with God can David get through this time of trial. Again, as we will see with Jesus, only with God can he face the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, the insults, the denial, the flogging, the shame, and the cross. Only with God. As we too face times of criticism or abuse or accusation or affliction may we too turn only to God. Only with God will we be able to walk the hard and narrow roads of faith and love.

Prayer: Loving God, I rejoice and praise your holy name! Your love for me is so great. You have walked with me, carrying me at times, through every trial. All praise and glory are yours, O God! When the hard days come again, may I trust fully in you. Only with you can I walk the valleys. Amen.