worship 1.0
As a worship leader I have this running dialogue within myself that molds me and shapes me and ultimately effects the way I lead worship and conduct myself in front of a group/congregation. Im not sure exactly where I picked up any of these thoughts? I suppose primarily from the Lord and then secondly passed on through men of wisdom that I look to as mentors. I want to share some of these things that shape me not because I believe I know great secrets regarding worship but mainly to get them out on paper as a basis of where I’m coming from. In short, this is as much for me as it is for anyone else.
1. Ministering to the Heart of the Lord.
“He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel…they were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound cymbals, and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God”
1 Chron 16:4-6
As one who leads worship I know that I stand under a blood line that goes back to my Levite heritage. After David had built the temple the “icing on the cake” if you will was putting into position those who would bring honor and glory to the Lord. He actually employed musicians/artist/dancers/creatives of all kind to bring glory to God 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This was their job, to “minister before the ark of the Lord”. To minister in the presence of a very living God. For us today it is to bless the Lords heart.
First and foremost, before ear pleasing music or crowd engaging entertainment I have to minister to His heart. In a program based western church this is sometimes difficult especially if there is more emphasis placed on a “well put together program” than truly honoring God. The importance of this being number one is demonstrated to us by David’s actions in placing worshipers/Levites in position firstly in the temple.
I want to be a part of blessing the Lord’s heart. I want to garner the attention of heaven.
2. Excellence in Worship.
Excellence versus the Idol of Performance is a sensitive subject. For a long time I would feel guilty if I put too much emphasis on practice and I would feel somewhat “ungodly” to care too much about working out arrangements or parts for a set. My thought was that “we’re just going to trust God and let Him lead us”. This was a “step of faith” and SEEMED Godly except it’s not at all what the Bible teaches.
Throughout the Psalm 33:3 we are instructed to play “skillfully unto the Lord”. When we first meet David he is chosen to minister to the Lord before Saul because he played the harp and played it skillfully. In Proverbs 18:16 it says “A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great”. It is my belief that the Lord blesses us with gifts and the “Godly” thing to do is nurture and sharpen that gift so that it can bring a pinpoint accuracy in blessing Him. If we look at our gift as a weapon, the sharper our weapon is, the easier it is to use, the sharper and more accurate it is, we will be able to hit the mark more clearly and when used correctly under His anointing we will be much more effective in our ministry and our mission as worship leaders.
We see in 1 Chron 23 the different jobs or positions that David had for the Levites. of the 38,000 Levites only 4000 of those were chosen to minister to the Lord with their instruments. They were all able to do the job but for whatever reason only 9% of those were chosen to be the “worship leaders” for the temple.
We can’t let laziness stop us from our potential. It’s time for the modern day Levites to sharpen our weapons.
an honorable death
i’m falling in love with a King who’s trying to kill me.
“unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies…” how terrifying is that thought? how final is that action? there is so much uncertainty in death. there is an unknown that begins past the point of death. i’m not talking about physical death although the idea of dying to self, and the sin-disease this flesh brings into the equation, is most assuredly always more painful than it’s physical counter-part.
“the old cross is a symbol of death. it stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being” -a.w. tozer
“if anyone serves me, he must follow me….”, words spoken by a servant King on his way to the cross. not a man offering a great reward for a job well done, but a man handing over justice in the form of a cross. i find for me, death is something that could happen everyday.
i can’t get away from it. the constant theme of death.
what has my affections? what has stolen my heart? where do i put my hope? that is always the place i need to begin with. Lord you can have it. bring death. a quick and sudden death. lets not drag this out, not this time anyway.
and this is what i find in death, every time. that there is a Kings reward for submission. ”…if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” if i come into alignment with Him, i will receive a Kings reward. Honor. i know i don’t deserve it, but that’s the beauty of it all.
