Who is Able?

God-in-the-Whirlwind_blog

I continue to plod my way through David Wells’ God in the Whirlwind with a few men in our church and it is splendid. There is a gravitas present that is vital for faith and practice.

Here is a hefty, yet glorious theological dumbbell:

If the greatest commandment is to love God with our whole being, then to come to him in worship is a duty central to living out that love. Worship is not primarily a social occasion as we gather with others to worship, though we are always grateful for the other believers with whom we gather. Worship is not primarily a time for our enjoyment, though being in worship is enjoyable. But worship is primarily and expression of the worth of God. It is a God-centered thing. It is primarily for God and about God; it is not primarily for ourselves and our needs. Whatever social and psychological benefits it has are secondary. Worship is primarily for God.

And that was what stood in Isaiah’s way (Isa. 6:1-5). The seraphim were ceaselessly worshipping but he was stricken and mute before God. Until, that is, God enabled him to join the heavenly chorus. This, though, had to be preceded by the terrible consciousness of sin that overwhelmed the prophet (Isa. 6:5).

This experience was an awful, soul-shaking reminder that the nature of sin cannot be concealed in the presence of God’s holiness. Its nature is exposed. It cannot hide, cannot evade, cannot change its dress, cannot pass itself off as something other than what it is. It is exposed. And that lesson is often learned the hard way. Those men of Beth-shemesh who irreverently handled “the ark of the LORD” were struck down. Those who survived, no doubt now in some awe, asked, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?” (1 Sam. 6:19-20).

The one whom God touches, cleanses with the coal, the divine fire, from the altar (Isa. 6:6-7).

Tolle lege!

A Hymn Worth Singing

“How Sweet and Aweful is the Place” is a hymn you should sing. Isaac Watts strikes the spectacular balance of how Christ’s word is the aroma of life and death.

VERSE 1
How sweet and aweful is the place
With Christ within the doors
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores

VERSE 2
While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast
Each of us cry with thankful tongues
“Lord, why was I a guest?”

VERSE 3
“Why was I made to hear Thy voice
And enter while there’s room
When thousands make a wretched choice
And rather starve than come?”

VERSE 4
’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in
Else we had still refused to taste
And perished in our sin

VERSE 5
Pity the nations, O our God
Constrain the earth to come
Send Thy victorious Word abroad
And bring the strangers home

VERSE 6
We long to see Thy churches full
That all the chosen race
May with one voice and heart and soul
Sing Thy redeeming grace

3 Books Every Pastor Should Read on Worship

Books are some of the best friends a pastor can have. How to know which friends to have is quite difficult, for as the inspired Preacher said, “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecclesiastes 12:12). I recently suggested three books every time-strapped and budget-strapped pastor should read on pastoral ministry, preaching, and prayer.

In light of my post “Preaching Pastors as Worship Pastors” it seems wise to let the next installment of “3 Books Ever Pastor Should Read” be on the topic of worship.

41anShWMyZL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship. This is a Festschrift in honor of James Montgomery Boice, a man who loved to worship. Eighteen different chapters are offered under four parts: 1) The Bible and Worship, 2) Elements of Biblical Worship, 3) Preparing for Biblical Worship, and 4) Worship, History, and Culture. Lig Duncan’s two chapters alone are worth the price of the book as he answers the question “Does God Care How We Worship?” with clarity and power. He helpfully encapsulates Reformed worship as being simple, biblical, transferable, flexible, and reverent. Other chapters of contemporary importance are Rick Phillips’ work on The Lord’s Supper, Terry Johnson’s discussion on singing the psalms, and Bob Godfrey’s evaluation of worship and the emotions. This book covers an astonishing amount of ground on the topic of worship and every chapter drips with biblical conviction. A most invaluable addition to your library.

41NOBZWpRYL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship by David Peterson. Peterson’s seminal study on worship must be reckoned with. He defines worship as “an engagement with God on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible.” He then moves on to show the nature of worship according to the Old and New testaments. He talks of worship in the New Covenant primarily as service and edification, thus he minimizes – somewhat unfortunately – the worshipful nature of a congregation’s public gatherings. He understands this reality, but in some ways is reacting against the Australian milieu in which he writes. Petersons’ tone is irenic and responsible, I don’t know of another resource that will so ably provide a pastor with the biblical foundation for understanding worship.

41BD8kstwuL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_Rhythms of Grace: How the Church’s Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel by Mike Cosper. I bought this book thinking it would be a decent addition to the conversation on worship, but oh how I underestimated Cosper! He brings together the best of all that has been published on worship and then puts his Cosper-like curve on the subject. The “One, Two, Three” framework he offers is quite useful: worship has one object and author (God), two contexts (gathered and scattered), and three audiences (God, the church, and the watching world). Every pastor and church member should read chapter nine,”Sing, Sing, Sing,” which offers uncommon wisdom on the topic and rightly challenges Christians to move from being a critic to a participant. An excellent work not to be underestimated.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice by Bryan Chapell. The prose is dry and the structure is one of a textbook. Yet, Chapell’s historical sensibility and clear grounding in Scripture will help every pastor examine his church’s liturgy.

Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin. The book is directed mostly toward music leaders, but Kauflin’s wisdom is always a joy to hear or read.

Preaching Pastors as Worship Pastors

Preaching Pastors as Worship Pastors

Each week I have the joyful responsibility of deciding what songs our church will sing during gathered worship. Many curious church members have asked why I, the preaching pastor, make such decisions.

In their book, The Deliberate Church, Mark Dever and Paul Alexander offer the following perspective,

You, the pastor, must be theologically discerning in what you encourage and lead your congregation to sing. It also means you must show courage in not allowing yourself to be guided by the musical preferences of the culture or the congregation, or even the passion of a music director, but rather by the theological content of the songs and their edification potential. Edification – building people up – happens when people are encouraged to understand and apply the Gospel more biblically, not necessarily when they are led into an emotional experience or encouraged to identity temporary emotional expressiveness with worship.

Lyrics set to music have formative power because they are memorable. Use songs that fill our minds with God’s character, that form our worldview by God’s truth, and that teach us about the biblical meaning and personal implications of His Gospel. Just as with prayer, so here, everything that happens up front in corporate gatherings is a function of the teaching ministry of the church. As the main teaching pastor, it is therefore your responsibility to shepherd the congregation into the green pastures of God-centered, Gospel-centered songs, and away from the arid plains of theological vacuity, meditations on human experience, and emotional frenzy. The best of the hymns and the best of the more modern worship choruses are those that direct our focus away from ourselves and onto the character and Gospel of God. Practice discerning the difference, and be careful about what you’re teaching through the music you encourage people to sing. If at all possible, refuse to pawn this responsibility off to someone else. God will hold us accountable for this aspect of our teaching ministries as well – even if we do delegate it (Heb. 13:17).

Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel, 84-85.

Preaching pastors – and any installed elders – are charged with overseeing all aspects of the church’s teaching ministry. Songs teach the congregation (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Therefore, preaching pastors ought to ordinarily oversee the selection of songs for their congregation’s gathered worship.

Preaching pastors are worship pastors.