Merge Worship

Here’s part 2 of the study on Psalm 138. I’m trying this out this week and will return to mainly blogging about worship leading stuff next week.

“May all the kings of the earth praise You, O Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.” Psalm 138:4&5

If you’ll remember from the previous post on this chapter, this was most likely written while Israel was in captivity. It’s interesting that after the psalmist made his choice to worship personally, his next step is to pray that all the rulers would do the same. This is a worshiper not contented with just worshipping on his own, but someone passionate about seeing God’s fame proclaimed in every place.

He not only prays that they would praise the Lord. He prays that they “hear the words of Your mouth”. He is praying here for a pagan king to hear and respond to the voice of God. Perhaps the Psalmist had Proverbs 21:1 in mind. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases.”

If, as some scholars say, this was written during the Babylonian exile, then we see the answer to this prayer in 2 Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:1.

"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of His people among you—may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.' "

I find that fascinating. That this psalmist; this “composer of sacred songs” (as defined by Webster’s) would help be a catalyst for this kind of social change. Going from a society devoid of faith, to a king proclaiming his “appointment” to rebuild a place of worship for “THE Lord, THE God of heaven” (emphasis added) and crediting God for being the one to "give him the kingdoms of the earth".

I pray that God would use songwriters of this generation to write songs that stir the faith of the church to believe in the power of God to change the hearts of kings.

I was reading Psalm 138 this morning and thought it might be a good exercise to try and go through this chapter in 3 parts and dissect it some. Hope it's has fun to read as it is to write. This is my first crack at this kind of blogging, so we'll see how it pans out. I'm not wanting to depart from my usual, worship leading focused stuff, just was struck by this passage. I will be posting part two on Wednesday with part three coming on Thursday. Here we go:

"I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing Your praise. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your Name for Your love and faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word. When I called, You answered me; You made me bold and stouthearted."~~Psalm 138:1-3 (NIV)

Some people have said that, based on verse one "before the "gods" I will sing Your praise", that the psalmist (probably not David) was most likely exiled in a foreign land when he wrote this. Some believe it was written during the Babylonian exile.

Imagine the scene of being in a place that was unfamiliar to you. Almost everyone else is worshiping a false "god" or idol. You are surrounded by people who most likely ridicule your faith. The psalmist declared that even in the midst of all that that he would not be stopped in his pursuit of praising God. He said he would sing the praise of God before all these other "gods". When faced with things claiming to be bigger than God Himself, the worshiper responds by offering praise to the one true God and to Him only.

Many times in our worship service we will use verse 2 to inspire worship. God has exalted His Name and His Word above all things. Above principalities, power, disease, sin and death. The worshiper here is taking comfort in knowing that although he is surrounded by falsehood and oppression, God is exalted above all those things. That despite what present circumstance would seem to say; God is still filled with love and could still be called faithful.

Have you ever been in a circumstance that would threaten to rob you of the desire to worship God? Surrounded by people that worship other things? Overwhelmed by your present predicament? The worshiper in this passage says that worship happens regardless. Maybe he took his cue from David who penned these words after pretending to be insane before Amibelech to preserve his own life:
"I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth."~~Psalm 34:1
He also echoes the sentiment of David further down in Psalm 34 by declaring that the Lord not only heard, but answered and made him "bold and stouthearted".

I don't know about you, but I've found myself in some situations in the last year that required me to be stouthearted beyond my capabilities. It is in times like these that worship can be a catalyst for life-changing connection with God that can fill us with that that we need most. Wherever you find yourself today, take some time to sing out with all your heart. He's ready. Not just to hear; but respond and make you bold and stouthearted.