pneuma kai alētheia | spirit and truth
•WHAT A WORSHIP LEADER THINKS ABOUT BETWEEN SUNDAYS•
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness and delight; come before His presence with joyful singing. Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with a song of thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, bless and praise His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy and lovingkindness are everlasting, His faithfulness [endures] to all generations. Psalm 100:1 – 5 AMP
We have many tools with which we can navigate this life. As one of those tools, I believe that music is an extremely powerful one. For me, the music I’m listening to affects my mood and mindset. For that reason, I have to be very mindful about what I’m listening to, even if it’s passive listening. I can be encouraged and empowered by the music, or driven deeper into a pit of melancholy despair.
I remember, when I was a teenager, I was in the midst of a rather dark time and I had this one CD (yes, CD! Oh my!) that was excessively gloomy. I would listen to that on repeat and just bawl my eyes out. And it was not a pretty cry! I’d go deeper into a sense of hopelessness and discouragement. Definitely not in the right direction.
I say that to remind us that our battles can be won or lost by what we set our focus on. So, with music, is the focus on Jesus and who we are in Him and His promises? Or is the focus on how the world done us wrong and poor us? The two songs below are great examples of songs that can be powerful tools in our arsenal against the enemy.
Here’s a great article from Lisa Bevere that really drives home the concept of winning battles with music, with our praise:
News flash: you don’t have to be a worship leader to worship, and you do not have to be a singer to sing. You only have to be a child of God, which is a good thing, because there are many battles we win in song! There is such power in praise. I believe that when we sing God’s Word, we make the enemy shake and tremble with fear. As we wield words of adoration and gratitude—often spoken as songs—heaven is accessed, and an audience in the courts of our Father is granted. The combination of musical instruments and song has the power to alter the very environment that surrounds us.When we sing, God is magnified. His dominion is declared over our situation. So when we choose to praise Him in the midst of battles unseen, He fights for us.There was a time when the choir of Judah defeated three impossibly large armies that had assembled to destroy them. As God’s holy people shouted and praised their invincible God, He threw the enemy armies into confusion and caused them to slaughter one another. And what was their strategic battle cry?Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever. (2 Chronicles 20:21 NIV)What army can stand against the power of enduring love? Not one, because love cannot fail.Another one of my favorite examples of God fighting on our behalf in the midst of a battle is told in Isaiah:And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down.
Every stroke the Lord lays on them with his punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm. (Isaiah 30:29–32 NIV)Our part in this equation is to open our mouths and sing! But not just any song will do. We are to sing in unified joy with all our strength and might as God routs the enemy.As you open the gates of your heart through intentional gratitude and thankfulness for what God has done, you come in contact with all that He is. Our songs in the night move Him into our day, and the enemy’s progress is arrested as we are brought into God’s presence. What a magnificent thought!I challenge you this week to ask God where you can step out on the battlefield with your worship. Let’s sing our battle cry in praise!
Verse 1
I have this confidence because I’ve seen the faithfulness of God,
The still inside the storm, the promise of the shore.
I trust the power of Your hand, enough to seek Your kingdom first.
Beyond the barren place, beyond the ocean waves.
The still inside the storm, the promise of the shore.
I trust the power of Your hand, enough to seek Your kingdom first.
Beyond the barren place, beyond the ocean waves.
Chorus 1
When I walk through the waters, I won’t be overcome.
When I go through the rivers, I will not be drowned.
My God will make a way, so I am not afraid!
When I go through the rivers, I will not be drowned.
My God will make a way, so I am not afraid!
Verse 2
You keep the promises you make; there isn’t one that is delayed.
So I will not lose heart, here I will lift my arms.
And start to sing into the night; my praise will call the sun to rise,
Declare the battle won, declare that it is done!
So I will not lose heart, here I will lift my arms.
And start to sing into the night; my praise will call the sun to rise,
Declare the battle won, declare that it is done!
Chorus 2
When I am in the fire, I will not feel the flame.
I’ll stand before the giant declaring victory.
My God will make a way, so I am not afraid!
When I am in the fire, I will not feel the flame.
I’ll stand before the giant declaring victory.
My God will make a way, so I am not afraid!
Bridge
Before me, behind me, always beside me;
No shadow, no valley where you won’t find me.
No I am not afraid!
No shadow, no valley where you won’t find me.
No I am not afraid!
This Week’s Hymn: Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King by John Wyeth, Robert Robinson, Thomas Miller
Verse 1
Come Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise!
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.
Come Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise!
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.
Verse 2
I was lost in utter darkness ’til You came and rescued me.
I was bound by all my sin when Your love came and set me free.
Now my soul can sing a new song; now my heart has found a home;
Now Your grace is always with me and I’ll never be alone!
I was bound by all my sin when Your love came and set me free.
Now my soul can sing a new song; now my heart has found a home;
Now Your grace is always with me and I’ll never be alone!
Chorus
Come Thou Fount, come Thou King, come Thou precious Prince of Peace.
Hear Your bride, to You we sing. Come Thou Fount of our blessing.
Hear Your bride, to You we sing. Come Thou Fount of our blessing.
Verse 3
O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be.
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wand’ring heart to Thee.
Prone to wander Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wand’ring heart to Thee.
Prone to wander Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.