"Our Heavenly Father loves us with an extravagant abandon. Passionate, undignified worship is our only reasonable response." Matt Redman
It has been awhile since I have written here. Much has changed. We left Nashville with heavy hearts last fall, but God has been faithful to us. I'm currently leading worship at a smallish Georgia church in a "bi-vocational" nature. Boiling down all the "church speak", this means I have a full time job outside of church and lead as an uncompensated volunteer. It's fun but stressful as well.
I have had the above quote from Matt Redman on my FB page and in my heart for several years now. Just this week I was reading in 2 Samuel 6 about the Arc holding the Ten Commandments being returned to Israel. I was struck by David's response and actions.
14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
21 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.
The more I learn about David the more I understand why the Lord said that David was a man after God's own heart. Reading this story I can't help but think about our individual responses to God in our worship. I get to observe the range of responses each week.
The worldly view of David's response, borne out in the comment of Michal daughter of Saul, I propose is not much different than the way many of us respond to someone in a corporate worship setting who raise their hands or sing at the top of their lungs to the One they know redeemed them.
How many times do we think the same thing Michal stated (with the exception of the whole King of Israel part)? I know I've been guilty of that before I encountered what the Lord can do in my life when I'm surrendered and open to Him.
What David then declares says it all about his resolve for the Lord. David said, "I will celebrate" and "I will become more undignified than this..."
Looking back, the faith of David floors me. He knew of God in the sense of His hand on his life, but he only knew of the promise of Jesus. He didn't have the benefit of the back story that we have. We know that Jesus came, that He walked this earth as a man - one of us -, that He poured into twelve men, that He gave is life in exchange for ours, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven with the promise that He would one day return.
Knowing what we know, how can we not worship with "Extravagant Abandon?"
I submit to you this question...
Blessings...
Joe
0 comments:
Post a Comment