It is interesting the continual topic we have had for decades on what is worship (musically speaking) to our Lord. We have camps that say only Psalms are the proper method of worship, camps that say hymns are the only method, camps that say lyrics without music are the only method, and so on. I don't know if I have a particular camp, personally. I'm still trying to figure that out, I guess. I love hymns, but I also love modern worship songs, as well. What I find interesting with all the disagreements among the camps as to who is right or wrong, and who is the "true worshipper," is that music has always been progressive, stylistically, lyrically, and instrumentally (In Scripture, not all instruments were created on the spot. It took time, and experimentation, failure and success. The Greeks had a style. Hebrews had a style. Jews had a style. The Egyptians had a style. Every culture was different in their on respect). I wonder if we realize that even the music and worship in Scripture was considered "contemporary" and "new?"
If God finds the work of our hands to be worship to Him, can He not find the words of our mouth to also be worship to Him? Does God intend that the only true worship that comes out of our mouth to be that of Psalms and hymns, or can He be blessed by any form of worship that we utter from our mouth, that brings, glory, honor, and praise to Him, where it is due?
I love this Psalm:
1 Praise the LORD.
[b] Sing to the LORD a new song, [/b]
his praise in the assembly of the saints. 2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
[b] 3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and harp. [/b]
[b]4 For the LORD takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation. [/b]
[b]5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds. [/b]
[b]6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,[/b]
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them.
This is the glory of all his saints.
Praise the LORD.
I also love this Psalm:
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
[b] 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals. [/b]
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
Interesting isn't it? Back in the days of David, they were dancing, playing trumpets, clashing symbols, tambourines, and different stringed instruments. What's fascinating about this is that the "world" was playing these instruments and so were the followers of God. What's also fascinating, is that there were times of quiet, mellow music, but there were also times of "loud" music in worship to God, as well. Would you not consider the clashing of cymbols loud? Or even the trumpet, perhaps(especially considering that they weren't made like they are today)?
How about the singing on their bed? Wouldn't that be a little... "unorthodox?"
May we consider this, too?:
Psalm 148, says:
Praise the LORD from the heavens,
praise him in the heights above. 2 Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 [b]Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars. [/b]
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for he commanded and they were created.
6 He set them in place for ever and ever;
he gave a decree that will never pass away.
[b]7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and maidens,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. [/b]
14 He has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his saints,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the LORD.
"Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars." My reflection of this Scripture would be that one of the reasons God created them was to shine, and do it brightly. So what are the sun, moon and stars going to do? They are going to shine their brightest.
"Praise the Lord...lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,"
Lightning - bright, and fierce.
Hail - whether small or large, they fall hard
Stormy winds - loud, fierce, and very strong in nature.
Yet, God finds this all to be "Praiseworthy."
I find it interesting, the conflicts we all have if someone sings at the top of their lungs, bangs a drum with all their might, or worship and praise the Lord with what ever ability God created them to have.
I could only imagine if David were living today and him being bashed for his lyrical writing in today's culture. Do you know that he had to start from somewhere? David didn't just pick up a pen, or knife, or whatever he used to write with, and come up with the greatest song there ever was. He grew in his passion for lyrical writing. As he matured in his daily life and matured in his walk with the Lord, so did his writing, and his want to give God the glory the way he did. We are all very much the same. Sure, Jason Upton may not have the "greatest" of songs, but he is trying to ultimately get to a place of true worship.
We also have to remember that God created each of us uniquely. I wonder if there were reasons behind people creating new instruments throughout Scripture? Were they "bored" of the same old instrument?" Did they want to add more musically diverse flavor?" Did they not like the harp being played anymore, so they created the trumpet? They were given the unique gift and ability to create these fine instruments. Who gave them this talent? Was it not God? What did they do before instruments? Did they not just sing/say words? Were not some of God's people uniquely gifted to create poems, and songs in a unique fashion that others could not? Cannot an individual back then, or even now, worship God in a way that he knows how, and God be pleased by it? If David could play the harp, and God loved that, but I could not, does that make me a person who doesn't know how to truly worship?
Are we saying that true worship is only inspired by David, or any of the latter and current day hymn writers, or can God be worshipped, by His created, in the way that He created each and every one of them?
It's interesting that we say we should ONLY worship with the songs of "these certian individuals," without recognizing that they were individuals, all different and unique from one another. There was one commonality and that was that they loved the Lord. Could we not also, in our own individuality, worship the Lord with the gifts that He created us with, in a manner of worship that was pleasing to Him???
Again, Jason Upton is growing and maturing just like the rest of us. There will be individuals that aren't as far along in the Lord as Jason is that will be ministered to by Jason's maturing lyrics and find it to be a way of worshipping the Lord where they are at in their walk with Him.
After all, for those of us that are mature in our walks with Christ enough to understand where David was coming from as he battled on the physical fields of war and also the spiritual fields of war (when it came to the fighting of temptation, lust, and demonic activity), do we not find the Psalms to be a ministry to us in our times of distress, and triumph?
Are we saying that David is the ultimate "hero" of worship, or was he just like one of us - a sinner, and one who struggled with many of the same things we do? I wonder if David made mistakes as he wrote? Do you think he "erased" lines that he decided wouldn't fit, when he wrote things down? Do you think he maybe wrote a song when he was 10, but changed it around lyrically when he was maybe 15 and had matured in the Lord? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but all I'm trying to say is that he was an individual like the rest of us, and worshipped the Lord in a way he knew how. David himself even said to sing to the Lord a new song. In our worship, if all we sing are hymns, or David's psalms, and that is it, are we singing to the Lord a new song?
Just some long drawn out thoughts.
:-D
