Our latest series in the Psalms naturally compliments Music Mondays. The Psalms are a compilation of ancient worship hymns from the Israelites. They don't always fit our modern idea of 'worship' though. Many take complaining and frustrated tones as the author pleads with God for justice and victory over his enemies. Some extol the virtues of a human king God has put on the throne. But to be sure, many do match our idea of what worship is, including Psalm 139. We played this selection from Rebeca St. James during our offering and it appropriately matches this Psalms wonder and joy at who God is and how he loves us. Whoever compiled the video selected a fitting image to of a calm sea, as it matches the music of the song and the perspective of Psalm 139. Whatever your week has ahead for you, hopefully you can pause and consider the wonder of our God.
We are starting a new series that will sample the various types of Psalms. There's more than meets the eye with this collection of ancient Jewish hymns. Psalms is a collection of 150 separate writings that were compiled and sorted with purpose. Most Bibles designate this organization indicating where 'Books' I, II, III, IV, and V begin and end. Each of these five sections is made up of Psalms that carry distinct themes and trace Israel's worship development throughout history. Even more interesting are the categories of Psalms that exist. Regardless of 'Books', scholars have come to recognize how each of the 150 Psalms fit into one over several specific categories. Some scholars divide them up differently or use different names, but I prefer the following designations:
Praise Lament Enthronement Wisdom Trust
We are starting things off with Psalm 139, which is a Praise Psalm. It highlights some profoundly wonderful qualities of our great God. And like many Psalms, it brings those truths to bear on our personal lives. The Psalms are full of honest and glorious accounts of what our worship can be. I look forward to exploring this throughout our series.
My apologies to my 4 readers for being lax on my Sermon Snippets. No excuses, I just keep forgetting to post each week. Even though I am a pastor, I find myself struggling with sharing my faith like many Christians seem to. Part of it is due to the fact that I am not surrounded by the unsaved on a daily basis. Part of it is due to the fact that I am perfectly comfortable with that reality. Additionally, I think I hold back from witnessing because of the basic fear that comes with going deeper than talking about the weather, politics, and/or sports. A few different factors have challenged me in this area recently. Not the least of which is Fight Club, a mens' ministry designed to challenge men to become all God wants them to be. It teaches us to think of our 'fields' - the people and relationships and the overall world where God has placed us (1 Cor. 3). We've been challenged to pray for people we regularly and infrequently interact with and also start conversations with them. It's a simple strategy that removes all the excuses we can come up with for why we don't share our faith overtly. So last week I asked our people not to invite non-Christian friends or family to church because I wanted to offer some practical training to our body in this area of witnessing. Along with the field metaphor, I've also come to think of witnessing in relation to a fire hose, a garden hose, and a water fountain.
Sometimes,
we need to share the Gospel like a fire hose doses a fire with water.
Whether someone is facing death or another serious life-decision, we
need to be ready to boldly share the Truth when the stakes are high.
Sometimes, we ought to approach sharing the Gospel like using a garden hose to water a garden or wash a car. Like a dirty car or dry soil, everyone has issues and problems that need the "spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). When your neighbor gets laid off, when your co-worker comes to worked stressed out about their kids, when an acquaintance shares a despairing status update on Facebook - we can be the connection they need between their problems and the hope-giving Good News.
Sometimes, all we need to do as witnesses is to be a drinking fountain. An offer to pray for someone, a note of encouragement, a plate of cookies 'just to be a blessing' - all are examples of giving grace to people and offering them to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8). A drinking fountain isn't meant to replenish someone who is dehydrated. It's meant to quench a smaller thirst. And we can do that spiritually as we plant seeds in the fields around us.
Hopefully this helps your perspective on witnessing and spurs you on to consider how you might be used to spread God's Word. Pray for those people you come in contact with and ask for wisdom to know how best to communicate the hope that is in you.
