The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
March 12, 2006
In
This Issue:
Singing
to God
by
Steve Klein
He
Hit Me First
by
Jim Ward
Singing to God
Psalm 66:4 decrees, " All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You." As we worship in song, we would do well to remember that the person sitting in the pew next to us is not the only one hearing us. Our singing is "to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). We literally "come before His presence with singing" (Psalm 100:2).
One of our main goals in singing should be to please God. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 104:33-34 "I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD."
If you've ever performed in a talent contest, you know how nerve racking it can be. You want to do your best to make a favorable impression on the judges. You know that they will be listening carefully to every note, and watching closely every movement and facial expression. We need to be aware of the fact that something similar happens when we sing to God. God is listening and evaluating our singing. Oh, He is not very concerned with whether or not we are hitting the right notes, or with what expression is on our faces. He is concerned with whether or not we are making melody in our hearts. Are we understanding what we are singing and are we meaning every word we sing? If we are, the singing pleases Him.
All of us have music that irritates us -- whether it is the loud rock music that is despised by many older folks, the orchestral elevator music that the young detest, the rap music that country folks hate, or the country music that city people can't stand. Even so, there is music that God just doesn't want to hear. It is entirely possible for our singing to do more to irritate the Lord than to please Him. In Amos 5:21-23, the Lord told His faithless people, "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs..." When our songs are offered without sincerity, they are merely noise to the Lord.
The last line of the hymn "In His Time" goes like this: "May each song I have to sing, be to You a lovely thing, in Your time." Let us all strive to sing every hymn "with the spirit and with the understanding" so that God will be pleased.
-- Steve Klein
A howl comes from the yard. I investigate. "Why are you crying?" I ask.
"He hit me," the howler replies, pointing to his brother.
"He hit me first," charges the hitter.
"He made a face at me," accuses the howler.
"He wouldn't let me swing," retorts the hitting Pacemaker.
"He wouldn't play catch with me," counters the howling swinghogger. "Enough," I shout, knowing I'll never unravel this. "The survivor will please clean up the blood," I scream wittily. The witty screamer then stalks away...
Retaliation seems almost as natural as breathing, doesn't it? Kids are masters at it, but, then, so are some of us grown-up kids. The desire to hurt people who hurt me is one of my major stumbling blocks.
It helps me, though, to think about King David. He had learned the lesson of Proverbs 24:17: "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles..." He knew that God forbids not only vengeance against an enemy but even gloating over misfortunes that you do not cause him.
For example, though Saul hounded David into outlawry and would have killed him, David would not raise his hand against his king. Once, just for humiliating Saul, David's heart smote him (1 Sam. 24:5). Finally, when Saul died, David mourned and composed a dirge for him and Jonathan his son (2 Sam. 1:17-27).
Again, David showed his great heart at the death of Abner, general under Ishbosheth after Saul's death. For years David and Saul's house struggled for supremacy. Finally, Abner came to David to make peace, but Joab accused him of deceit, and, to avenge the death of his brother Asahel, slew Abner. Rather than rejoice, David denounced the perfidy of Joab. Then the king mourned Abner, saying, "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?" (2 Sam. 4:35).
Solomon, David's wise son, may have had the example of his father in mind when he wrote: "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the Lord will reward you" (Prov. 25:21f). Paul referred to this when he urged Christians in Romans 12: "Never pay back evil for evil to anyone ... If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (vv. 17f, 21).
Human vengeance is as punishable as the guilt of the enemy.
Thinking about David helps me cope with the spirit of revenge - to "turn the other check." I hope it helps you, too.
- Jim Ward
Via Plain Talk, Vol. 14, No. 10, December, 1977
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