Psalm 134

A simple revelation.

I was looking for a psalm to do a responsive reading with tomorrow, and I was looking through these great writings and came across Psalm 134, which when you read it, is a tribute to the power of God and... I was thinking about how someone may perceive things like:

8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of men and animals.
9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings-
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan and all the kings of Canaan-
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel.

I didn't think it would come across as a "good thing" to someone who is inexperienced in the "words" and "ways" of God, and the stories in the Bible, in general. These words were great praise from David, for God provided for him to be King, and David new what it meant to be powerful, and what it would mean to be "struck down". This is a little beyond me, honestly. I don't know what it is like to have the weight of an entire kingdom on my shoulders and my success. Then I ... deleted those lines and just read the first part:

1-4 Hallelujah! Praise the name of God, praise the works of God. All you priests on duty in God's temple, serving in the sacred halls of our God, Shout "Hallelujah!" because God's so good, sing anthems to his beautiful name. And why? Because God chose Jacob, embraced Israel as a prize possession. 5-12 I, too, give witness to the greatness of God, our Lord, high above all other gods. He does just as he pleases— however, wherever, whenever. He makes the weather—clouds and thunder, lightning and rain, wind pouring out of the north.

And I add in

"and he looked at the sin in our lives, he saw the disobedience, even when we knew better. He took into account how we have called on him for help, and then abandoned him when we were back on our feet. He looked at the times where we have chosen to walk along the path that Satan provided, instead of God's... and he threw all of that hurt, all of that pain and sadness caused by our unfaithful love and cast them as far as the east is from the west. Gone from his mind and judgement, and he sacrificed, essentially, his own life, to tell Satan that no matter how many times we turn away from him, God will STILL love us, and will STILL make a way for us to love him again."

There are more and more songs being sung that simply recount the love of Christ and the story in the gospels ("True Love" - Phil Wickham) and I begin to realize how I live in this reality, and the psalms become alive and real in my life.

This may be such a simple and overworked concept, but as I attempt to create a space in worship for people to get to know God, and find out more about him through their words, the songs, and actions within the worship service, the more I have to go back to how I got to this point and knowledge of God. How did I begin to understand what the Psalmists meant when they say "ascribe greatness to the Lord"? When did I learn the word "ascribe" in this context?? Did it just become a powerful verb, or what? I can guarantee that I never learned that word in a vocabulary test. Even now, I look at it... and try to remove it from the context of the pslams. It's difficult...

Ah well. It is my prayer and my seeking that God would speak to my heart and shape my understanding so that this Anchor worhsip service would be accessible to everyone, from everywhere. That all people would worship God, together.

Loooove, Lindsay