Old College Try - Psalm 33

I know that this might be more shop talk or inside baseball than I've been doing here, but I think that it might help you see where what the Psalms say about how you, I and more specifically what church music leaders have to think about worship. For a long time now...say since the reformation, there has been a war between two camps of worshipers. You might recognize these. One side (started from Martin Luther's heart for worship) emphasizes the idea that anyone can lead worship. No training required, just belt out what's in your heart and you'll do good. This by itself has spawned many a Neil Diamond G/C/D worship singers....and this terrible strum you can hear here. There it sits. It never goes past that. It's a perpetual childhood. The sad part is, from their position, adherents are actually proud of it. Like being a "child of God" or "those who become like a child" in their context means never growing or getting better. They look down on the other side because of their "pure heart." Proponents view their simplicity is far "superior" to the other side because the heart of worship is the most important. They think anything that isn't super simple or doesn't sounds folksy/country is a "production." Aside from the misinterpretation of those texts, the problem is in this Psalm says

3 Sing to him a new song; [trained enough to write]

play skillfully, and shout for joy. [never stop pushing to be better and training on your instrument]

There isn't no real way around it...growth is a fruit and motive of the Spirit. Musicianship and artistic motivations shouldn't be any different.

The other side (started by John Calvin's heart for worship) emphasizes the Lord deserves the purest, most perfect worship. He hired a man to translate the Psalms (and only the Psalms) into a metered french translation. No harmony...all monophonic, but because of the push for purity, specialized musicianship became primary. The demand becomes for more and higher trained musicians, singers, etc. What once began as an attempt for the purest truth, and purest worship, now becomes this garbage, and this apocalypse. I'm sure the idea is that the bigger the production the bigger the Lord looks. That isn't uncommon theme in church history but when it becomes only that, it really dead ends at nothing about the Lord. Adherents to this camp look down at the simplistic and say things like "if you don't have a full stage and don't practice four times a week, you don't really care about the Lord or His people." They act like all that work will manufacture hearts for God and bring more people to the Lord and proves their salvation. Lest we think this Psalm is quiet on the subject, David says later, (I'll filter it for a more modern context)

16 No [Church/leader] is saved by the size of his [production];

no [musician] escapes by his great strength.

17 A [giant screen, dance routine, or band] is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death

and keep them alive in famine.

Those production aspects become, in church leadership meetings, a matter of manufacturing and maintaining salvation of both the church and it's attendees, but that isn't the reality. The Spirit is the only thing that saves, and nothing or nobody can change or add to that.

You see, one is hiding in a cave or the belly of the ship (ala Jonah), and the other is the Israelites marching forward without the Lord and getting slaughtered (Joshua 7, 1 Samuel 4). The scriptures, and the Spirit both call us out of the safe cave of the easy and known, out into the unknown world where faith and work is required to move forward, but we must stay with Him. We must stay constrained by the word and focused solely on Him and Him being glorified, or we will be lost. We must leave port, but we must be steered by and toward Him.

So I hope this helps think about those things and realize that if those two parts of this chapter are heeded, everything else is preference. What can you and I do sitting with the congregation? We can learn to worship no matter the sound, because the commendation to sing new songs and play skillfully also applies to us in the seats. Don't come with the desire to be entertained and avoid thinking about singing to Him except when it's time to do it together. At my church, I send out the sets the night before in the form of youtube playlists in the hope that at least some will take advantage of it before the service. But you can also buy music your church sings and listen to it during the week. Believe me, worship pastors aren't trying to hid that info from you and I am positive they would be blessed to see you ask about it, and would do their best to facilitate you getting a hold of those bands and songs. You shouldn't be passive, the same as the leaders shouldn't. Put some effort into it outside of Sunday for Him and I'm sure you will see a change in your heart, and hopefully the service. Ok, that's it for now. Till next time...

In Christ,
paul



music for the week (as usual: no claim of being not "offensive" but it is really good):

Effort For The One You Love

Mark 12:41-44 NKJV

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who  were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;  for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in ALL THAT SHE HAD, HER WHOLE LIVELIHOOD.”

We, as humans, try to make some kind of standard, some kind of rule about the volume we give to the Lord. People have much money/talent/time, feel good about giving a lot compared to what the poor give; while those that have little feel ashamed of how few actual dollars they give to Him. The problem is that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the heart of the Lord.

The idea that we some how smuggle in is that volume (how many dollars, time we spend helping others, how complicated or simple a song is) is what He wants. While we may not say it, our love and attention to the world and how it operates bleeds into our thinking. We idolize celebrities that adopt one baby from Africa (when they have enough to build 100 orphanages), metal guitarists who can play a billion notes a second, or the Grammy nominated folk singer who can play the simplest song.

The idea of giving that we get from old testament is our 10%. We act like that was our goal but He instituted it as a minimum standard (Lord knows I'm not perfect at this or any of it). We don't see how He has amplified that, as He has EVERYTHING in the new testament. If you hate a man or lust after a woman it's murder or adultery. There was one temple that God lived in, now we, who have the Holy Spirit, are all temples of God. It was 10% of your money, now it is give of everything until it hurts, not out of pressure but joy to His glory.

Mr Lewis has something helpful to say on the matter...
"I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them."

All that to say I think that it would again be the influence of the world to say that the Lord only wants us to give away our money. He wants us to give EVERYTHING to Him and for his glory. That means if you wanted to read a good book, but somebody wants help moving, you help move them. If there is an option between an easy or simple worship set or song and the RIGHT song or set that is difficult but glorifies the Lord, you do the more complicated and you spend the time and effort to do it.

Again the motivation is what? Are we trying to justify ourselves before God? Earn our way to heaven? If we love, believe, profess, repent to the Lord, accepting His blood that paid the price for our sin, and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we know that justification before God is done. We do these things out of LOVE for Him who saved us when we were lost! And really, if we love Him, what amount of time/money/resources is ever going to be enough?

As for worship, the Lord has gifted us  with abilities, and if we aren't pushing ourselves, putting in the effort, to give back to Him with all we have, we have to ask ourselves if we are being like Pharisees or that widow. That being said if the Lord has gifted you with a love for the simple song, guitar line, or beat, do it the best you can for Him. If He has given you a passion for the ornate (I would say it would be a sin to call an ornate gift to God, "flashy" as if there was something inherently worldly about complexity), be ornate! The common denominator is that it shouldn't be easy. He wants us to give EVERYTHING not just a lot, which doesn't look the same for those rich in talent or poor. How much effort are we giving the one whom we profess to love and gave up His very life to be with us? How much attention and time are we putting in for our bridegroom? The Lord wants our heart totally. THAT is what "leading" worship is about. Being first in line to pour our whole hearts out to God, not necessarily playing a complicated guitar part OR singing a lyrically super simple song that even a five year old could pick up first try. There is no holy musical "worship" genre, only wholly devoted worshipers of the eternal lover of our soul.

-Paul