Rock Music

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,    and the sheep of his hand.

(Psalm 95) 

I love this call to worship - especially today when we all get back to worshipping together. Let us come and make a joyful noise to the Rock. I enjoy a lot of kinds of music aimed at God, as long as they are joyful. They may be quiet or loud, traditional or new, in unison or parts - but if they are celebrating God, His presence, His power, His greatness and His goodness, that's for me.  May we come today to joyfully sing to the Rock. 

The Rock of the Aged

12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
15 to declare that the Lord is upright;    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
(Psalm 92)
If you ever want to be encouraged, go talk for awhile with a follower of Christ who is up in years. Listen to their memory wander back over the faithfulness of God in their lives. They remember events, groups, sermons, and experiences with God and His people. They love to recall and share such times in their lives. And you can see that they still trust in God; He is their Rock, and despite any struggles they have had in life, they see that He is Righteous; there is no sin or evil in His plan or purposes for us.  May we learn and live by these lessons.

Resting on the Rock

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is God,
(Psalm 62:5-7)
Waiting.  It has increasingly become part of our lives in a difficult way. It used to be waiting in line at the amusement park, or the drive-in at Starbucks, in the eye doctor's office, or that "check is in the mail" to arrive.  Some of those are still with us; some we have not been able to do, so we are waiting to be able to do them again. We do not wait well.  David learned to wait well but doing his waiting on the Rock. He rested there, waiting not only for salvation from his enemies, but also to get on with life, to the glory, the purpose God had for him, to accomplish what he knew he had been called to do. This is a very difficult type of waiting for one who truly loves God. Yet it is here that we find our greatest hope and growth - resting on the Rock as we wait.

The ROCK Above and Below me

Hear my cry, O God,
    listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
    when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
    that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the enemy.

4 Let me dwell in your tent forever!    Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

(Psalm 61)

This is one of the Psalms David wrote as King. We find the same crying out to God as in his other "rock" psalms, and in a sense a maturity. The Rock is not only under him, giving him a firm place to stand; HE is also a rock sheltering David from above. David knows he is living before and under The King, in His tabernacle, under His care and protection, and that this will be his position forever. This is the kind of stability we need in times that shake our souls - a Solid Rock upon which to stand, and also to defect the storm falling down our our heads. 

He Put My Feet on a Rock

Psalm 40 

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,    yet they are more than can be told.

As we continue to explore the relationship of David with the Rock, we find this imagery of an experience where God did some life-saving in his life. It is as if David was "going under" calling out to God, when God pulled him up, even gave him spiritual CPR, putting this "new song" in his mouth, leaving David to give testimony and thanksgiving to His life-saving Rock. We can each have that same testimony and life, by putting our trust in Him.  The second segment of this scripture speaks to me so much about what we have been experiencing.  Proud men want us to trust in them, to live a lie about who or what can "save" us. Don't trust in them. Put your trust in God alone. Only He can truly save. 

Solid Rock 2

31 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

Again we find David using the imagery of a rock and fortress for his relationship with God.  It's the lesson we all need to learn and hear over and over again, until we get to the same point he did: "into your hand I commit my spirit"; you are my "faithful God."  Anywhere else we put our trust is "off the Rock", on the sand, falling into a trap. Our Redeemer is the Rock of refuge and Solid Ground. 

Always Pray

18 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,    and my cry to him reached his ears.

This psalm of David is one of great celebration!  David has finally been delivered from years of running from Saul, the Philistines, and many others who were out to get Him.  Repeatedly God had delivered him from their traps, pursuits, and evil designs.  He has learned through the process to keep calling on the Lord, and that He would always be there, waiting to respond and deliver.  Sometimes, when God takes us through a rough time and delivers us, we stop crying out to Him once we are out of our tough spot.  David is writing this psalm to incorporate it into worship, as a principle for us to be reminded of over and over, day after day, lest we begin to become self-reliant.  God is always there, always hears, and alwasy worthy to be Praised.  

The Core of Worship

10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,

“For he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever,”

the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

(II Chronicles 5)

The time had come. After decades of accumulation of materials and preparation and work, the Temple was completed, and God's people were able to come together and worship there.  Three things are mentioned: the Word of God, as summarized by the tablets with the ten commandmants, the Worship of God, led by the singers and instrumentalists, and the Wonder of God's presence, represented by the overwhelming cloud of His presence and power.  This last one is really what brought it all together: God's presence with His people. As we have opportunity to gather today, may we appreciate these great gifts from God: His Word revealed to us: His Worship surrounding us, and the Wonder that God would allow us anywhere near Him. May we humble ourselves before Him. 

The Promise of Comfort and Strength

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
    and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
    and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;    they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40)
It's not fair.  Sometimes we don't say it (like a four-year old), but we think it. We look at life and think God is not being fair.  God's judgment was coming on Israel, and for very good reason. Our of despair some cried out to God - not to confess, but to complain, even as He is offering comfort in their distress (See the rest of the chapter.) Isaiah answers: "Where have you been? How did you miss it?" Our great Creator God is not asleep at the wheel, and He is not deaf to our cries. He does offer strength and hope in the hardest of times - even when we get ourselves in messes we deserve.  Just wait on the Lord - His timing, and His good and perfect will. He will see you through.