I’m in Europe right now with my bride of 30 years, seeking to communicate how much I love her for the glory of God.
But here’s a great quote from a great book, Engaging with God, by David Peterson. He is describing how the worship of heaven seen in the book of Revelation should influence the songs we sing now.
Singing the praises of God and the Lamb is undoubtedly an important Christian activity. It is a way of affirming fundamental gospel truths together and of acknowledging God’s powerful but gracious rule over nature and history. Together with teaching and various forms of exhortation, it can strengthen Christians to maintain their confidence in God and in the outworking of his purposes in a world devoted to idolatry and every kind of God-rejecting activity…The hymnic material in the book of the Revelation, however, should alert us to the importance of singing God’s praise in a way that is truly honoring to him and helpful to his people. Do our hymns and songs concentrate on praising God for his character and his mighty acts in history on our behalf? Do they focus sufficiently on the great truths of the gospel? There is always a temptation to focus too much on the expression of our own immediate needs…It is not good enough to sing certain items merely because they make the congregation feel good! (p. 278)
What an awesome thought–that all through eternity, the depths to which the God of heaven reached to rescue worthless rebels will be the theme of our continual rejoicing! The reason we do not continually rejoice in it now as we should is that we only see through a mirror darkly. If we saw the incredible worth of the Lamb and the redemption of people from every tribe, nation, language and tongue which He purchased with His own blood–if we saw this in perspective as we ought–would not our own worship now be transformed, as well as our very lives? Thank you for posting this great quote! In Christ,
Phil
I have to say that I have enjoyed reading your blog. I just came upon it through TheRebelution.com . Keep up the good work and have fun in Europe!! I`ll be adding a link to your blog in mine.
Thank you for sharing that quote. I think it is so important that what we sing focus on Christ, His character and what He has done. All to often the focus gets shifted to our wants and desires – thank you for sharing this! I have enjoyed reading your blog.