1 Corinthians 2:1-2
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The apostle Paul was brilliant. Anyone who has studied his life knows that this was his reputation. Even as he shared the gospel with Agrippa, Festus referred to Paul’s “great learning” even though he thought Paul was crazy (Acts 26:24). Paul had the ability to make lofty arguments and persuasive rhetorical presentations.
Yet, as we look at Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, a people who would have certainly been impressed with high reasoning, Paul said that he was intentional among them not to make such arguments. While he was there, all he really wanted to focus on was Jesus Christ crucified.
On Good Friday, I wonder how many of us are content to know nothing among the world other than Jesus Christ crucified. We do not need great and lofty arguments for the existence of God or the reliability of God’s word—though such arguments exist. We do not need wonderful philosophical rationales to respond to the problem of pain or evil, for God’s design for marriage, or for the age of the earth—though such rationales exist. What we need most of all is a grasp of the truth that Jesus Christ, God’s chosen and promised Rescuer, came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died in our place to pay the price for our sins. And, yes, he rose from the grave proving that he did all that he set out to do.
What is there to know about Jesus Christ and him crucified? Jesus is God the Son. He was born of a virgin and never tainted by human original sin. He was fully God and fully man. He lived out a perfect human life, never failing and always perfectly pleasing God the Father. Then he willingly went to a Roman cross, but not to pay for any crime he committed. Jesus died on that cross, and while there, bore the wrath of God for every sin that God would ever forgive. Jesus was a perfect substitute, offering himself as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.
Do you know Jesus and him crucified? Have you put your trust in his death on your behalf? Have you acknowledged your sin, believed in Jesus, surrendered to Christ’s lordship over your life, and asked him for mercy? If not, Good Friday would be a great day for you to trust in the crucified and risen Savior.
God Said They Will Think We’re Nuts (1 Corinthians 1:18)
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
It is funny how often God tells his followers something very directly, and for some reason, we fail to believe him. In the Old Testament, God promised Israel judgment for disobeying his law, and the nation refused to believe. In the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples exactly what he would do including his death and resurrection, and they could not believe. And here, God tells us how a great portion of the world will view the cross of Christ, and we do not believe him.
God is clear that the cross of Christ will have two dramatically different effects on those who hear about it. For some, those who are being saved by God, the cross of Christ will be the message of life and hope. Those whose hearts are awakened by God will see the cross as wonderful, glorious, the only hope they have to be forgiven by God.
To others, the cross will be utter folly, foolishness. I do not think we use those words enough in our modern culture to get the significance. To those who are separated from the grace of God, the cross will be stupid, backward, idiocy, moronic—pick your pejorative term. Those who are not in Christ will, according to the Scripture, think it offensive and crazy.
What happens when we finally believe God here? I suppose it depends on our own commitment to God and his glory. When committed to Christ, we will willingly and openly share the good news of salvation with everybody. We will know that many people in the world will think we are nuts. We will decide that this is OK if we can only speak the truth and glorify our God by sharing the story of our Savior and his offered grace.
If we find ourselves wavering in our commitment to Christ, we will be more and more offended that those who are not in Christ think badly of us. We will be bothered deep down that the world calls us crazy. We will strive to be seen as smart, as sophisticated, and as appealing. We might, if we are not careful, try to play down the things about the cross that offend the world for the sake of being accepted by the world.
Christians, let this day, as we approach the day when we most remember the crucifixion of our Lord, be a day when we believe our Savior. Yes, the world will think we are crazy. And, yes, by the grace of God, others will see that the cross is the only way for sinful humanity to enter the presence of God and be forgiven. Let us not hide from the scorn of the people who think us foolish. Instead, let us faithfully proclaim God’s word about God’s only plan of salvation, and let us do so without shame. God is still God. He knows the world will think his plan crazy. But, in the end, God will be glorified. In the end, all will see that Christ is the only Savior, that Jesus is the only name under heaven whereby people can be saved.
Don’t Gloss Over the Resurrection (Romans 6:5)
Romans 6:5 (ESV)
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
One of the weaknesses that I see in modern gospel presentations is a lack of emphasis on the resurrection. Those who are trying to give more than a simplistic presentation will discuss with great clarity the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and our need to repent and believe. But, somehow, in the midst of our theologically rich discussions of faith in the person and finished work of Christ, we gloss over the resurrection. We will tell people who Jesus was, why he died, how that death is a propitiation, how Christ is our substitute, and many other elements of the atonement, and then we follow that up with, “and he was raised from the dead,” as if that is an afterthought.
I understand the desire to focus on the atonement. I love a discussion of propitiation. But, I wonder how much we lose when we fail to remind people of the significance of the resurrection.
The resurrection proves the claims of Christ. The way that we know the gospel is true is that Jesus is alive. The gospel is not about proving a philosophical point. The gospel is not about overcoming scientific opposition to young-earth creationism. The gospel is not about a discussion of popular morality. The gospel is about this simple fact: Jesus is alive! If Jesus is alive, his claims are true. If Jesus is alive, his work is finished. If Jesus is alive, there is no reason at all for any person not to bow down to him and call him Lord.
The resurrection proves the completion of the work of Christ. Death is the wages of sin. Christ paid that debt on our behalf. How do we know it was enough? How can we tell that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the behalf of others? How can we know that we do not have to add to the work of Jesus to get ourselves to heaven? We know, because Jesus finished with death and rose from the grave.
In the verse above, we see that our entire hope for our entire eternity rests on the fact that Jesus is alive. Our unity with Jesus in his sacrificial death guarantees us a unity with Jesus in his resurrection life. We have hope of life after death because Jesus lives after he died. We have an eternity to look forward to that is far better than anything this life has to offer because Jesus is alive in that eternity now. We do not, as Randy Alcorn mentioned in a post the other day, need a “bucket list,” because when our earthly lives end in the here and now, we will enter into a living eternity because Jesus is alive after his crucifixion.
Christians, let’s not forget the resurrection. Resurrection Sunday is approaching. We will soon be singing “Christ the Lord is risen today, hallelujah!” But let us see the significance of this truth. We have life and hope, not only because Jesus died, but because he also returned to life. If Jesus was not raised, we have no hope. Because Jesus is alive, we have infinite hope, peace, and joy.
Death for Stick Gathering (Numbers 15:32-36)
Numbers 15:32-36 (ESV)
32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Have you ever had someone tell you that they cannot imagine God being a certain way? Usually, that thing they cannot imagine involves the judgment and wrath of God. Most people who are making up their own picture of God in their minds cannot fathom a deity who would judge people, especially not one who would judge people for what we might consider the small stuff.
What then do we do with a passage like the one above. God had made a law of Sabbath rest. The people of Israel were not to do any work on that seventh day, including something as simple as gathering sticks for the cooking fire. And when a man broke this regulation of God’s, the Lord commanded the people to put that man to death. That’s right, he was stoned to death for stick gathering.
How in the world can this be right? It might help if we also knew the two verses which precede this passage, Numbers 15:30-31, which say, “But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.” So, the context of the passage where the man was judged for stick gathering is the discussion of “high-handed” sin, choosing intentionally to rebel against God’s commands.
What we need to understand here is that Israel was at a formative time. The next two passages in Numbers will include two separate rebellions against the leadership of the nation. God chose at this point to show that he is in charge, and that his commands matter. So, when a man chose to ignore God’s clearly given law that he was not to go out and collect sticks on the Sabbath, his life was forfeit. He had, according to Scripture, reviled the Lord. It was as though the man said to God, “I don’t care about your rule. I will have my sticks.”
But the bigger question for us today is just what do we do with a God who would judge people for stick gathering on the Sabbath? Well, we can, I suppose, choose to say that the revelation of God is inaccurate. We can decide that this is somehow not God. But once we do that, we deny his word, we deny any source of authoritative revelation, and our experience of the divine becomes completely subjective. Such a move is unchristian, and will not work. It would leave us with no understanding of the real God, but will replace the true picture of God with a god of our own imagining.
We could, I suppose, try to sit in judgment of God and determine whether this move was really right or wrong, fair or foul. But to do so would be a dangerously arrogant position to take. Under no circumstances are you or I qualified to decide whether what the Creator of the universe has done is right. God has told us that his thoughts are as far above ours as the heavens are above the earth. He has shown us that he is holy, and thus his ways are not ours. It is not our place to approve or disapprove his actions. He is God. We are not.
The alternative is to fear God, bow before him, and get under his mercy. This, of course, is the right move. When we see the man judged for stick gathering against God’s commands, we should see ourselves. How many times have we intentionally rebelled against the commands of God? Don’t be dishonest with yourself here. All of us, every last one of us, has done something easily as bad as what this man did in Numbers 15. We have all chosen at one point or another to throw off restraint and do things our way instead of God’s way. Now, we always think we have an excuse, but we have all chosen, at one point or another, to say to God that we will do things our way.
We deserve the kind of judgment that the stick gatherer received. We deserve even worse. We have sinned with a high hand. And yet God has already shown us grace and mercy. He has given us good things in our lives. He has chosen not to destroy us at the moment of our first sin. And he offers us the mercy and grace of forgiveness through faith in Christ.
The passage above is terrifying, and rightly so. But it is a portrait of us. We have sinned. We deserve death. But God offers us grace. He does not force us to die. He invites all people everywhere to turn from their sin and their self-reliance, to admit their sin, to believe in Jesus, and to ask him for mercy. Jesus took the death we deserve. Anyone who will come to Jesus in faith is counted as having died with Christ on the cross. Anyone who will put their entire hope for their entire eternity in Jesus will be raised with Christ to eternal life, eternal joy, eternal good.
Yes, the passage before is strange. We do not like seeing a man die for stick gathering. But death is the penalty for rebelling against the real God of the universe. We cannot avoid that truthThat God has, however, given us a choice. We my continue to rebel against him and attempt to redefine him and his law, or we can be placed under his grace. Thus, I urge you, turn to Jesus before it is too late. I also urge all of us to see that God is holy, we are sinners, and his grace is truly amazing.
Doubting God (Numbers 14:1-3)
Numbers 14:1-3 (ESV)
1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
The story of the failure of Israel at the borders of the Promised Land is one of the saddest stories in the Old Testament. The people of God have seen his power and experienced his rescuing love, but they still do not know him or trust him. They grumble against Moses, God’s chosen leader for them. But even worse, they grumble against God himself.
Looking at the words the people used, I am caught by the way that they ask, “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?” Their cry of “Why is the Lord” doing this is a big problem. They think God might be leading them to destruction on purpose. They do not trust God. They think he is not altogether good. They think he is not altogether trustworthy. They, as a nation, are doubting the character of God.
In our human experience, we do not like it when someone doubts our character. We are insulted when people assume that we are bad people with bad motives and faulty thinking. But the truth is, we often are messed up. We often do make bad decisions based on bad motives and faulty reasoning. We fail, sometimes on accident and often on purpose. So, for someone to doubt us is not a huge shot off the mark, even if, in the particular circumstance, we are behaving well.
But to doubt God, to question his character and wisdom, that is a much bigger problem. Remember that God is perfect. His perfection is infinite. There is no end to his wisdom or his goodness. Thus, to doubt him is to miss the mark of truth to an infinite degree. The insult is inconceivably large.
What we might wish to learn from the grumbling of the people of Israel is to be very careful when we decide to act as though God has made a mistake. We do not ever want to present God as failing or untrustworthy. God is good. He has never treated us with the wrath that we deserve. Yes, some have gone through dreadful things, and I do not belittle that fact. Some are in difficult situations, and I get that too. But God is not bad. He is trustworthy. He is good. He is right. And we should be very careful not to pretend that he is otherwise.
No Redefining God (Psalm 50:21-23)
Psalm 50:21-23 (ESV)
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”
“you thought that I was one like yourself,” says God to the wicked. What a true thing. It is common to find those who do not desire to follow God reshaping the personality and character of God in their own minds.
Mark Dever tells a story of a conversation that he once had with a student. The student was disagreeing with Dever on his understanding of God. Beginning his description by saying things like, “I prefer to think of God as…,” the student denied key doctrines of the faith such as God’s holiness, justice, or his plan for atoning for sin. When the student finished, Dever said to him, “Thank you for telling me so much about yourself.” Dever knew that the student had revealed his own notions to the class, but the student had done nothing to tell the class what God is really like.
The tendency to redefine God is something that happens inside and outside of the local church. Just watch as people run up against doctrines that do not fit what they want to do at the present time. You will suddenly see people who redefine God’s standards. Who should be baptized? Who should be married? Who goes to heaven? What does God require? These all can change in a person’s view based on what they want at the time.
But God shows us from Psalm 50 that we are not allowed to redefine him. We may think he is altogether like us, but we are wrong. He is who he is. Remember, God even spoke is name to Moses as “I Am Who I Am.” We have no more right to redefine God than we have the right to redefine gravity, the sun, or oxygen. These things are what they are. No matter whether we agree with them or not, they do not change. God is who he is, and our definition of him or our opinion of him will not change him.
At the end of this psalm, God says, “to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” To one who does not assume that his ways are God’s ways, God will bring salvation. To one who does not think that he has the right to tell God what God must be or to do what he thinks God should do, God brings grace. God is great. He does not need us. And we have no right to define God as anything other than what God has revealed himself to be. Only when we see God as he really is will we understand our sinfulness, our need for his mercy, and his perfection. Only when we see God rightly will we repent of sin, cry out to Jesus for mercy, and find the salvation of God.
What then do we do? Allow the word of God to show us who God is. Let Scripture show us a God who is holy and just, merciful and gracious. Allow the Scriptures to show us that we are sinners who cannot add one single thing to God or his kingdom. We cannot do anything for him on our own. Then allow the word to show us that God offers us salvation in Christ alone, by grace alone through faith alone. Let the Scriptures call us to cry out to Jesus for mercy. Then, when all is said and done, be amazed that this very same God allows us to join him on mission as we live out our lives for his glory in his grace.
Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down – A Review
Tony Merida. Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down. Nashville: B&H Books, 2014. 160 pp. $9.48.
Christians often wrestle with balancing issues of social justice and gospel faithfulness. Ordinary is an attempt to challenge believers to achieve this balance for the glory of Christ, and to make this balance a part of normal Christian living.
I found the book to be a helpful reminder that issues of justice are part of the calling that God has given to believers. We are called by God to care for the needy, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and to rescue those in peril. Such actions can take place in a variety of ways, and Merida does a good job of offering multiple ideas to show how these things can happen.
I would also say that this book did not go deep in to the “how to” side of things. While the authors offer several suggestions of categories where believers might try to make a difference, It will take a much heavier work to show individuals and churches just how to practically move into mercy ministry. Thus, the book does a good job of offering motivation and a push in the right direction without offering a one-size-fits-all approach to getting started.
I received a free audio copy of this book from ChristianAudio.com as part of their reviewers program. I was very pleased with the narration of this work.
A Look at Sacrifice (Leviticus 4:22-26)
Leviticus 4:22-26 (ESV)
22 “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24 and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.
Often we skim through the laws of Leviticus and the sacrificial system without applying much thought to our lives. This morning, I battled my own temptation to let these words just fly by as I continued my daily reading plan. But, in walking through Leviticus 1-4, I found the common pattern in the way God allowed his people to make atonement for sin very helpful in understanding the work of Jesus, the perfect sin offering.
In the discussion of sin offerings, there are a few points that continually arise:
· The sacrifice is without blemish.
· There is a transfer of guilt, a substitution.
· The animal dies.
· The sin is atoned for.
The Sacrifice is Without Blemish
In all of the discussions of sin offering in Leviticus, the animal to be sacrificed is to be without blemish. God demands perfection. Only the perfect could cover for the sin of the imperfect.
There is a Transfer of Guilt, a Substitution
In all of these offerings, the guilty party or a representative of the guilty people was to lay his hands on the head of the animal being sacrificed. This was a move in which the person was placing the burden of their guilt on the animal being presented before the Lord. It was a way to ask God to count the animal as guilty of what the people had done.
The Animal Dies
The next item in the discussion that repeatedly comes is that the animal is slaughtered and its blood is poured out and put before the Lord. Death is the punishment for the sin of the people. God will not allow his justice to be mocked. It is a bloody and ugly business to deal with sin.
The Sin is Atoned For
In the end, there is a declaration of atonement. The person who had sinned before God is now declared to be back in a right relationship with God. Something has happened that made up for the guilt of the sin. A reconciliation has occurred.
These are True of Jesus
When we look at the person and work of Jesus in his atoning work on our behalf, all the things we have just seen are present. Jesus was unblemished. Where the animals were only outwardly perfect-looking Jesus was actually holy before the Lord. He is God. He is perfect. He is without sin. He is able to therefore be a sacrifice that no other human could have been.
Jesus stood in our stead as our substitute. He allowed the Father to place on him the penalty for all of the sins of all of God’s children. Jesus allowed the Father to count him as guilty of things that he had not done in order to pay a penalty that none of us could have ever paid.
Jesus died. The perfect Son of God allowed his blood to be shed, poured out as a sin offering. It was a bloody and ugly business. However, only through that blood of Jesus could we have our sins forgiven.
Jesus made atonement for us. All who are in Christ have their sins atoned for. There is no longer any condemnation left for us. God has covered our sin by fully punishing it in Jesus. He can now welcome us into a fully reconciled relationship with him.
And, gloriously, Jesus rose from the dead after making this atonement proving that the work is fully finished once and for all. Our Savior is, of course, infinitely better than the bulls, lambs, goats, and birds that were used in the Old Testament sacrificial system. All that blood and sacrifice pointed to Jesus’ perfect work of substitutionary atonement.
Yes, it is easy to let Leviticus fly by in your daily readings. But, I have found that slowing down and taking a closer look at how this shows us God’s holiness and Christ’s sacrifice help to make this time spent in God’s word very sweet indeed.
God’s Branding (Exodus 34:6-7)
Exodus 34:6-7 (ESV)
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
In our day, branding and controlling one’s message is crucial. Companies spend millions of dollars to try to stay ahead of the impression that the world has of them. Such is also true of individual people, who would very much like to have a sense of control as to how they present themselves.
It is strange, then, that as a society we are not often comfortable with allowing God to describe himself and his ways to us. The world very often wants to bring their own ideas of who God is to the table. People regularly say things that begin with, “I think God is like…,” or, “The God I serve would never….” But what right do we think we have to define God from our own context?
Can you imagine how frustrating it would be for you to have others define you, telling you who you are or what you are like, based completely on what is in their heads? Do you not want to be able to say who you are and what you value? Of course, with you and me, we are sometimes mistaken about ourselves, because we are finite and do not know all of who we are.
However, confusion about his own identity does not mark our God. God knows exactly who he is. God knows exactly what he values and what he will do. And we see God reveal himself and his ways to Moses here in Exodus 34.
Notice, after looking at the above verses, how God has revealed himself. As he passed by Moses, God said his name, highlighted his mercy, and emphasized his justice. Any picture of God that does not include these things is an incomplete picture. Any description that we come up with for God that does not allow him to define himself is inaccurate.
The picture above shows us that God has some clear standards. He has things that he believes make us guilty and require either his mercy or his judgment. Sometimes, our sins will not only impact us, but will affect those who come after us—not that God punishes our children for our sin, but he does allow our influence and the consequences of our sins to last for generations.
If God reveals to us that certain things are sin in his eyes, it would be wise of us to know this and to believe that God, not humans, will determine what is right and wrong. God has the right to define what worship he will accept. He has the right to tell us that there is only one way to be forgiven. He has the right to define gender, sexuality, marriage, and all the rest. God is God, and we are his creatures. We are to submit to his revelation, not to redefine him based on our whims.
God shows us who he is. He is in charge of his revelation of himself—his branding if you will. We have no right to encroach on his message. Instead, we need to believe God is who he says he is, values what he says he values, and does what he says he will do. Let us bow before the Lord who created us and place ourselves under his mercy through the perfect work of Christ.
Biblical Thoughts on Worship and Leading (Psalm 33:1-3)
Psalm 33:1-3 (ESV)
1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
What a neat call to worship is found here in Psalm 33. Those who are righteous are called by God to shout, sing, and play skillfully on strings for the glory of the Lord.
We would do well to remember, first, that none of us is righteous on our own. We would be excluded from this call were it simply our own goodness being measured. However, the Bible teaches us of imputed righteousness. Jesus grants to us his righteousness at the moment of our conversion. Thus God sees us as righteous. This, of course means, that we are now called to praise the Lord as the Psalm depicts.
Both in verse 1 and verse 3, there is a call to shout for joy. I’m not going to argue that this means that our worship services should sound like the cheering of a professional sporting event. However, I will argue that this means there should be a welling up of joy in the hearts of believers that should burst forth from time to time as we consider the Lord and his grace. He is good. The rest of the psalm talks of how God has created all things and how he rules over the nations. God is mighty and magnificent. He is certainly worth our shouting for joy.
The call also is present for us to sing new songs of God’s glory. This is a good reminder. I am one who is given to loving the hymns of the past, especially those high-church hymns, deep in theology, of several centuries ago. But that is certainly not all there is. There should be something about our experience with the Lord that leads us to desire to compose and sing new pieces of music for his glory. We should want to learn new ways to express God’s greatness.
Also present is the call to play skillfully on stringed instruments. I don’t think that this is about the particular instrument in question. Guitars, pianos, organs, keyboards, Chellos, wind instruments, and percussion can all be used to bring glory to the Lord. What I think is key here is the call to play skillfully. God calls those of us who would lead in worship to work on our craft. We should not be sloppy. We should not take this call lightly. We are called to work on playing, to practice and practice, and to strive to master the skillful playing of our instruments so that God will be honored. We want to show his greatness partly through the commitment we have to play his music well. This does not mean that we have to be come professional, virtuoso musicians. However, we owe it to God to play music to his glory and to play that music to the very best of the abilities he has given us.
The call in this psalm is beautiful. It is a call to joyful, musical praise of the Lord. Let us be a people who shout, sing, and play in such a way to declare to the nations that our God is truly wonderful, powerful, glorious, and worthy.
Pastor Travis Peterson 