High Noon

So I was listening to music on my way home (as is usual), and this song High Noon by Andrew Peterson came on. I stopped reading to really listen to the music and words, and while I don't plan on re-hashing the song, it had some profound statements. In the beginning of the song, Christ dies, and takes his last, shuddering breath on the cross. I had always pictured that moment, but a moment that I had never pictured was when the demons MUST have believed they had beaten this Christ, the one that had resisted them all of his life. They must have rejoiced, they must have reveled in his death. Demons rejoiced. But, thankfully, Jesus took another shuddering breath three days later, and the stone was rolled away, and sin was conquered. The shadows had been dispersed, and the battle was won. By our savior. And, unlike those demons, we don't revel in death, but rejoice in new life. However, as with my first post here, I still feel that we do not truly worship our savior as we should. I'm not saying that we should dance like crazy, or revel, but if you wanted to do so to demonstrate your gratitude to God, I certainly wouldn't stop you. And while I don't wish our model of worship to be demons, I feel as if I must point out that when demons were happy, they rejoiced. And we, as redeemed children of our God, rarely even raise our voices in a half-hearted song of praise. I just see something wrong there. So please, I emplore you, engage in true worship of your savior, and give him all you have to give this week, and always. Show him your appreciation of his dying for you with one shuddering breath, and conquering death with another.

Worship and Will - A Clarification of Musical Praise

A calming sensation, eyes shut tight and heart thrown open. The world dissolves, and it's just you, the music, and The Lord.

Is this how you feel when you worship our Lord and Savior? I know it's how I feel. If you haven't felt this way, you're missing out. And, maybe, you're even fooling yourself. I'm not telling you that if you don't feel this that you're not worshiping right, but I will take the time to explain what it is, and what it means. As a musician who plays for the glory of God, I feel as if it is my duty to help lead others into joyful worship of Christ. This covers technical aspects such as actually being able to play the music with which we will worship, as well as spiritual aspects such as being right in my walk with Christ, and other things. But I digress. Having this chance to lead others into worship is a special feeling, and it troubles me when people out in the "audience" who profess to be followers of Christ don't join in the worship. It makes me wonder whether or not they know why they should be worshiping.

I don't wish to make this too long of a post, so I will keep my reasons short. However, I implore you, reader, to think about what I say and truly take it to heart. When we worship, we directly enter the presence of God. Indeed, we are asked in a Psalm to do just that (Psalms 100:2). Can you feel the weight of that statement? The almighty, omnipresent, eternal God, brings you directly into his presence while you worship him. The God who saved you from eternal damnation, who regenerated your heart, who sent his son to die a painful and bloody death on a cross with a nail through each hand and one through both feet, having previously been beaten, whipped, and forced to carry the cross on which he hung, this is the God whose presence you enter. And you don't worship? The extremely short twenty minutes or so on Thursdays that we worship this awesome God through music, and you can't find it in you to worship him? To allow others to worship? I don't mean to guilt you if that is what you're feeling, but I find that if you don't think about it this way then you miss the whole idea behind worship, which is rejoicing in, glorifying the name of, being thankful towards, loving, and giving all you are to our holy and wonderful God and Savior.

Next, I want to talk about our actual singing. I don't want to tell you that you're doing anything wrong, because I don't know your intent. I do know, however, that if you only sing to be able to say "Look at me, I'm worshiping. Aren't I great?" then something is wrong. Also, I wish that when you sing you mean what you say. Singing "I give you my all" or "you are my king" shouldn't be taken lightly. Mean what you say, and if that means not singing a song because you don't really accept the song as truth and need to examine your heart first, then so be it. I want to be in front of honest, joyful worshipers, not people giving lip service to look good. And once again, just to be absolutely clear, I'm not saying anyone that may or may not read this is doing anything with malintent or without the right mindset, but this is a topic that worries me greatly and so I feel I must address it.

With this said, I want to once again ask you to take this to heart. Entering into genuine worship of God is one of the best feelings you can ever experience in my opinion, and this is a feeling fairly easily obtained. Without people that will genuinely worship, we might as well stop playing music for others. And trust me, it gets tempting to do just that sometimes.

Will you join me in genuine worship this week, and past the end of time?