Daily Devotion - 2/10/09

The Lord is with us!

Psalm 95 is exactly what it looks like; a song of praise and thanksgiving probably used during temple worship.  But it is also a warning and a reminder to the people of Israel to remember a part of their story that isn't as glorious as parted seas or as awe-inspiring and dreadful as plagues upon the people of Egypt.  It reminds them of a time when they lost the plot of their own story and so spent time wandering in exile in a wilderness of their own choosing.

I remember when I was first introduced to this psalm.  The first part of it had been turned into a praise chorus for our church's "college and young professionals" group and it was sung with great energy as is appropriate and when we sang it, we felt very good about having praised our God. As I considered the words, I realized that this was something that we were supposed to sing regardless of the circumstances of our lives and it was then that I began to understand that there was a big difference between happiness and joy.  The apostle Paul writes about the centrality of joy in the life of the Christian in his letter to the congregation in Philippi when he advised, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say it; Rejoice!" Joy is such a main theme of the letter that Philippians is often called, "The epistle of joy" by scholars because Paul, writing while in chains under house arrest awaiting trial in Rome, calls for the congregation in Philippi, and indeed the entire church, to rejoice with him in his sufferings.  Just as is the case with the psalmist, Paul ties his joy to both the practice of worship and the giving of thanks.

Unfortunately, the broader world does not look to the people of God as a source of joy.  Recent surveys suggest that the last two generations in North America are much more likely to assign terms such as judgmental, harsh, homophobic and xenophobic to the church than think of her as something joyful or that gives thanks for the blessings it has received.  In fact, this may be the greatest indictment the modern and postmodern world can level against the body of Christ; it has lost its joy.

The second part of the psalm also is echoed from with New Testament teachings.  Here the familiar refrain of God as Shepherd is found and the worshipper is called to listen for and hear His voice from among the din of all the other wilderness noise.  The people are encouraged to listen to the Shepherd and to follow Him without grumbling or complaining.  This is the language our Lord uses  when speaking to the people of Israel. When He claims to be the Good Shepherd, He is calling for them to cease their quarreling and their divisions and to listen for His voice.  He calls for them to enter into the grand story of God's redemption and salvation through the Way of the Suffering Servant.  To each generation He issues the same call: come, take up your cross, follow me.  Today, right now, He calls to you and to me: offer yourselves as living sacrifices as your true act of spiritual worship.  The Suffering Servant calls us all into His story, to become the suffering servants to our world and to find our "pure joy" as James tells the church Jerusalem.

Ours is a Way of offering ourselves as servants.  Our servant song, shouted with joy and thanksgiving to a tone deaf world, is the same as Jesus'; self-emptying, God-glorifying and humble.  It is laying down our lives so that God can give it back again.  It is dying to ourselves so that we can be raised up again, both in this life and in the life everlasting.  The plot of our story is to be found in the narrative of the Good Shepherd whose voice we follow. It is in that story that we will find joy over happiness.  It is that story that we will be filled to overflowing and our lives will become like springs of living water.  It is that story we will hear the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 95

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; 
      let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before Him with thanksgiving 
      and extol Him with music and song.

For the LORD is the great God, 
      the great King above all gods.

In His hand are the depths of the earth, 
      and the mountain peaks belong to Him.

The sea is His, for He made it, 
      and His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship, 
      let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

for He is our God 
      and we are the people of His pasture, 
      the flock under His care. 
      Today, if you hear His voice,

do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
      as you did that day at Massah in the desert,

where your fathers tested and tried Me, 
      though they had seen what I did.

For forty years I was angry with that generation; 
      I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, 
      and they have not known my ways."

So I declared on oath in My anger, 
      "They shall never enter My rest."