[Worship] Worship Songs And The Daily Walk

["David Arivett" <darivett@cox-internet.com>]

Hello I wanted to share with the worship group an article on "Worship
Songs And The Daily Walk" 

I pray that it is a blessing to you!

David Arivett
www.songsofdavid.com


Worship Songs And The Daily Walk

In the book of Amos, God speaks through the prophet Amos and says to the
children of Israel," take away from me the noise of your songs! (Amos
5:21-34) God had become really tired of all their worship songs, solemn
assemblies, fasting, and religious rituals! Why???  God said to them,
(and to us!) that he doesn't want to hear our songs or melodies if we're
not honoring Him with our everyday lives. "But let justice roll down
like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream"! Bottom line
is this.God doesn't want to hear our songs if we aren't walkin' the
walk!

The prophet Isaiah wrote a song, (Isaiah 5:1-7) about the vineyard and
the owner (God), to confront the worshippers of his day and encourage
them to take inventory and pass judgment on themselves! He concluded the
last four lines of the song with a brilliant wordplay in Hebrew: 

God looked for justice [mishpat],
But behold, bloodshed [mishap];
For righteousness [sedaqah],
But behold, a cry [se-aqah]!

In Micah 6:6-8 the prophet states, "God has told you, O mortal, what is
good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness, and to walk humbly before your God?  Do justice, love
kindness, and walk humbly. Sounds simple enough? But this is where
shoe-leather meets the road!!!! This is the very essence of discipleship
and practicing Christianity.

As worship leaders, (and worship lovers!), we tend to focus on and
emphasize the importance of worship. And this is indeed a great thing to
make worshipping God a priority! However, it's so easy to worship when
the music is crankin', the crowd is participating, and the Spirit is
moving!!! There are great emotional highs that we can experience in
worship, but the danger is that we focus so much on our worship in the
sanctuary, that we forget to worship in our daily lives!!




In addition, being a worship leader or even being on a worship team can
be a wonderful thing. Finding new songs, introducing them to the
congregation, or getting the worship band, team, choir & orchestra to
all gel at one time is a amazing and glorious experience! The danger is
that we learn to live primarily for that experience instead of letting
our whole life be open to practicing love and walking humbly with God! 

More importantly the familiar maxim, "talk is cheap" is extremely
poignant and applicable here. We need to be very careful that we don't
become intoxicated with our own importance as worship leaders. Our
culture has become so obsessed with "celebrityism" that it has rubbed
off and crept in to the church world! As leaders we must be especially
careful not to become puffed up with pride and think we are, (along with
the pastor) the most important players on the field! But walking humbly
before God, and stressing the equality of all people can destroy this
arrogance, and promote justice and equality for everyone! Everybody
matters to God!  

Jesus continues this emphasis on walking humbly by rejecting the sharp
social boundaries of the established social and religious order of His
day. His vision for the Kingdom of God was a kingdom where all the
nobodies become somebodies!!!!! He subverted the teaching between the
righteous and sinner, rich and poor, men and women, Pharisees and
outcasts! Being one in Christ also has profound social implications. All
those who are "in Christ" are "one body". This new humanity in Christ
completely destroys social boundaries and this equality in Christ
creates a new social reality!

Moreover, Christ's emphasis on loving God and one another was the very
centerpiece of His teaching! If there is anything clear about what Jesus
taught, it was this!!!! On the other hand, Jesus had very little to say
about corporate worship! This doesn't mean He didn't think corporate
worship was important but rather that being a true follower of Him meant
that in addition to loving God, (which implies worship) that loving your
neighbor, (implies humility and equality) was more important than
anything else!!! Jesus did quote the words of Isaiah, "These people
honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me"! We can sing
and talk about God but God asks much more than mere "lip service"!! 

Let me share with you a few words from a song "I Will Follow You". (
This is the free download worship song of the month from Songs Of
David!) 

People talkin' all about Jesus,
and everything that He has done,
But it's easy to talk, a lot harder to walk,
and really do just what He said;
It's time for people who call Him King of Kings, 
and Lord of Lord's,
To start loving each other,
Reach out to the hurtin,'
Live in peace and one accord!

Below are some practical suggestions specifically for those in Music
ministry:

1)Try to apply a key phrase from a song from your Sunday worship set to
your everyday life. For example, the song, "More Love, More Power".

This song is a prayer, addressed to God, asking for more love and power
in our lives. Meditate daily on the words and make it your prayer for
the entire week. Constantly look for ways to apply it right in the
middle of your normal daily life and relationships with others.

2)To help remind you of the equality of all people and to promote
humility in your life meditate on the following phrase (from a sermon by
the late Francis Schaeffer) "With God, there are no little people or
little places"! Keep this saying in your heart and mind as you deal with
other people.

3) Make the great love chapter I Corinthians 13 a daily reading and
devotional for an entire month, seeking to apply and put into practice
what it says.


If we as worship leaders, singers, and musicians, could spend as much
time and emphasis on our daily walk as we do on our musical preparation
for Sunday morning worship, there could be a dramatic change in our
lives that would spill over and touch the lives of others. It will have
an impact in our worship times, both individually and corporately. And
God might be more inclined to listen in on our songs at worship time! By
the grace of God we can do it!!


Written by David Arivett
Copyright 2002 
Songs Of David
www.songsofdavid.com



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