What's Missing?

Twenty Differences Between the Psalms and Modern Worship Songs by Adrian Warnock

There is a major difference between many modern worship music and the Psalms. Too many modern songs speak only of the love of God, and he is seen only as a gentle and loving friend.

It’s not that the worship songs are wrong. It’s just that they can almost completely miss a different side of God’s character. I want to explore that a little today before we focus in another post to an event that happened in 2 Samuel 6 which shocks the modern reader.

In the Psalms God is described as someone who

1. judges (Psalm 1:6)
2. is full of wrath (Psalm 2:5, 12),
3. breaks the teeth of the wicked (Psalm 3:10)
4. is a God of honor and righteousness (Psalm 4:1-2)
5. hates all evildoers and destroys liars (Psalm 5:5)
6. disciplines (Psalm 6:1)
7. feels indignation every day (Psalm 7:11)
8. is majestic and full of glory (Psalm 8:1)
9. rebukes and blots out the wicked (Psalm 9:5)
10. stands far off and hides himself even when someone is in trouble (Psalm 10:1)
11. tests us, and pours burning coals on the wicked (Psalm 11:5-6)
12. cuts off flattering lips and boastful tongues (Psalm 12:3)
13. forgets people (Psalm 13:1)
14. looks down on us to see if anyone seeks him (Psalm 14:2)
15. wants his people to despise vile people but honor those who fear God (Psalm 15:4)
16. requires his people to recognize him as Lord (Psalm 16:1)
17. delivers his people from the wicked with a sword (Psalm 17:13)
18. when he is arroused makes the earth quake, smoke comes from his nostrils, and fire from his mouth, he clothes himself in darkness, and his voice thunders (Psalm 18:7-12)
19. created the whole universe and the heavens in particular to display his glory (Psalm 19:1)and finally, this very awesome God is also someone we can expect to actually answer us! (Psalm 20:1-9)

Today I would challenge you to meditate with me on these things. Allow these words to reshape your age of God. He is not a cuddly but ineffective friend. He is fearful, awesome, powerful, righteous, and yet this God is the same one who has promised to answer you.

I don’t know about you, but reading these words makes me want to repent of treating God lightly, of not respecting him enough, and of triffling with so-called ‘minor’ sins.

Of course this image of God I have painted today is not totally absent from modern worship. But I challenge you to think of a song that clearly focuses on this aspect of his character. And if you write worship songs, perhaps be inspired by these words from the Psalms.

Untameable

Is the Jesus of the Four Gospels the "I AM" of the Old Testament - the same God who ordered the destruction of the Canaanites? I found this interesting comment in The Scandal of the Untameable I Am:by Derek Rishmawry:

.....And this is where the real tragic irony comes in: trying to save Jesus from the scandal of the I AM, we end up missing the full character of the untameable one we worship. We miss the Jesus who tenderly heals and aggressively flips over the tables of injustice, enacting God's symbolic judgment on a temple that ceased to witness to the nations (Mark 11:15-25). The Jesus who tells parables about a God who forgives wandering lost sons (Luke 15), as well one who is a long-suffering but avenging landlord (Luke 20:9-18). The Jesus who weeps over Jerusalem with motherly tears, and yet prophesies the coming judgment of God at the hand of the Romans (Luke 19:41-44). We miss the Jesus who willingly lays down his life as an atoning sacrifice for his wandering sheep (John 10:15, 17; Rom. 3:25), so that he might vindicate the justice of the God who had until then passed over their sins in silence (Rom. 3:26).

Just as he did 2,000 years ago, Jesus still promises, “Blessed is he who does not take offense at me” (Matt. 11:6). The challenge for us, then, is to do more than talk about wrestling with the scandal of the Bible, or Jesus, but to actually do so. Because wrestling with the scandal means not letting it go or writing it off, but hanging on to each and every passage for dear life until Jesus shows up and blesses us in the process.

Read the whole thing at the link.

White-Hot Reveal

“What we see at the cross is the white-hot revelation of the character of God, of his love providing the price that holiness requires. The cross was his means of redeeming lost sinners and reconciling them to himself, but it was also a profound disclosure of his mercy. It is, in Paul’s words, an ‘inexpressible gift’ that leads us to wonder and worship, to praise and adore the God who has given himself to us in this way.”

— David F. Wells, The Courage to be Protestant (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Eerdmans, 2008), page 129

HT: Of First Importance

He is More Interested in You Than In What You Do

"God is more interested in the worker than he is in the work the worker does.  He's more interested in you than in what you can accomplish.... And one expression of God's amazing grace is that he pursues our rescue even though we cannot do one thing for him.  God doesn't need you and me to increase his value and esteem.  In and of himself he is already of infinite value and worth.  The reason he seeks sinners, saves sinners, and sends sinners like Jonah (and like you and me) is that God loves sinners."

   - Tullian Tchividjian, Surprised By Grace, page 89

Mugged By God

"Among the helpful lessons Jonah's story offers at this point is the obvious one: you can't outrun God. It's futile to try. it's impossible to outpace his pursuing affection... God's love has a mugging nature to it.  We can run, but we can't hide."

   - Tulian Tchividjian, Surprised by Grace, pages 50-51 (Italics in the original)
 

Things You Can Stake Your Life On

Here's a great post from The Gospel-Driven Church: What You Can Stake Your Life On:

1. God's words are true.

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
-- Psalm 33:4

2. Even if you let him down, he will never return the favor.

If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
-- 2 Timothy 2:13

3. He is never late.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
-- Romans 5:6

4. He is not slow.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
-- 2 Peter 3:9a

5. He loves you.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
-- 1 John 4:16a"

Thanks, I needed to hear this today!