DOING LIFE GOD'S WAY

DOING LIFE GOD’S WAY

                Every religion has its own culture and this culture is built around what they believe or how they perceive God’s will to be. Even among Christian denominations there is a vast array of cultures from something almost funereal, to a culture of abundant joy and exuberant praise and worship. And being more than cultural, each group has strong religious convictions that the way they worship is the way God wants it.

                But, of course, if we want to do things God’s way then we must take His word as our guide and we must take the whole Word and not just a few texts that support our own view. And when it comes to worship, God has plenty to say about it… and what He says tends to step on conservative toes even as it urges those who are Spirit filled to put everything into their worship holding nothing back. At any rate, it leaves us with our heads shaking wondering how so many opposing views can be derived from the same Bible.

                So how does God like worship to be? What moves Him to respond? Well, we as musicians really do like God’s way of worship, because in reality worship is a lot more wonderful when the handcuffs and the leg irons are taken off and we are allowed to play with our whole heart. So for that reason, we will start with Psalm 33:1-3

                Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with the harp: sing until him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.”

                “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth: make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord the King. Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness shall he judge the world and the people with equity.” Ps 98:4-9

                Make a joyful noise unto the Lord… Enter His gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His name, for the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.” Ps. 100:1, 4, 5.

                “Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary: Praise Him in the firmament (atmosphere, presence) of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts: Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon he loud cymbals: Praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:1-6.

                David knew how to praise the Lord. In fact he danced so wildly that his wife Michel criticized him harshly for it. Now we need to understand that Michel was the daughter of King Saul. So the lives of David and King Saul contain an allegory. David represented spirit filled worship and joy in the presence of the Lord, while Saul represented conservative religion with all of its trappings and its heavy armor. His armor in fact represented the man made protection of religion while David operated in the name of the Lord.

                It is almost humorous, for on the battlefield as David prepared to face Goliath, Saul put his armor on David. And it says: “Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head and he clothed him with armor. And David girded his sword over his armor and TRIED TO WALK…”      1 Sam. 17:38, 39.

                And so manmade religion places heavy burdens upon people so that it staggers their walk with the Lord… so David threw it off and went out to face Goliath saying to Goliath: “You come to me with the sword and spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have taunted.” 1 Sam. 17:45

                Believe me when I say that we are coming into this same scenario again in our day. King Saul represents formal religion with all of its trappings… hiding behind the frontlines and unable to do spiritual warfare because they have a form of godliness, but no power. David represents Spirit filled Christianity with its exuberance… a people clothed in the armor of God rather than the armor of man, who operate in the name of the Lord of hosts and do not back off from confrontations with Satan and those who follow Him.

                Goliath represents the coming present and soon coming pagan religion of the antichrist and the armies of the now forming global kingdom that hate Spirit filled Christianity and despises those who call themselves “Born again” and they want to snuff us out, but it says that we will overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. Rev. 12:11

                The dedication of Solomon’s temple is described as such: The Levitical singers were clothed in fine linen (The righteousness of Christ)  with cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar and with them on hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets in unison when the trumpeters and the singers  were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and glorify the Lord and when they lifted up their voice  accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and when they praised the Lord saying,” He indeed is good for His loving kindness is everlasting,” then the house , the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud (The Holy Spirit) so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.”2 Chron. 5:11-14

                We are currently in a time of 40 days of fasting and prayer as we cry out to God for revival in our church and in our land. Should we not move beyond ourselves and our tendency to wear Saul’s armor? Should we not become worshippers like David? Should we not worship the Lord with shouts of joy and loud crashing cymbals? Should we not come together in one accord to worship the Lord as one?

                As a people that prefer to hide behind Saul’s armor, we need to break the boundaries that have contained us in fear behind enemy lines. Our voices have been silent even as Goliath has taunted the people of God for a very long time. Much of the church is falling away from the foundations of the faith that once animated us. We have been staggering around in Saul’s armor, unable to do battle because we are weighed down with arguments about who believes what and how exactly to turn a phrase so that we avoid all appearances of being heretics. Meanwhile Goliath has kept us at bay and trampled over our rights and our true faith causing us to cower behind our walls of tradition.

                Where are the people who will come at Satan in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel?”

                Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.” 1 Sam. 17:51. Goliath was killed with his own sword, for as the word says, those who live by the sword will die by the sword. But for those who are in the Spirit of God, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Phil 1:21.

                It is time to throw off Saul’s armor and to operate in the spirit of David for indeed the Lord has said that He will restore the tabernacle of David in these last days. (Acts 15:16, 17) It is a tabernacle in which the veils and the walls have been removed. Our faith and power must now come directly from God instead of being mediated to us by dead religion. In the final move of God in this world, Saul’s obstacles to true worship are removed so that a people may praise the Lord with shouts of joy and crashing cymbals. It is time to gear up for battle… and we need to do it God’s way.