WORSHIP REFLECTIONS are weekly devotionals based on worship songs/hymns. Our hope is that this content encourages your love and adoration of Christ Jesus as you grow in closer communion with Him through personal worship.
Steven Brooks, Director of Worship Quest Ministries, presents this worship song devotional based on the song "I Will Wait For You (Psalm 130)".
In Habakkuk 3:17-18, the prophet Habakkuk rejoices in the Lord, even though all around him seems to be going awry.
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
A theology of resurrection (the empty tomb, renewal, personal transformation, healing, miracles) must stand together in worship with a theology of suffering (the cross, intercession, trouble, sorrow, struggle).
As we gather for congregational worship, we join together in participating in worship that is both “now” and “not yet.” The Kingdom of God is both “now” (among us), and “not yet” (to come in its fullness one day in the future). Our worship should reflect this tension. This is what Jesus taught.
Because of Jesus’ resurrection, all things are being made new. Because of the resurrection, we are a people of praise, thanks, and joy. Joy is the major theme of Christian worship. But suffering is the minor theme, and is everywhere – from those being slaughtered by radical groups today, to the struggles you and I will have with relationships, jobs, and emotional and physical health. Jesus said we will have trouble.
This is the “now” and the “not yet” of the Kingdom of God, and we live in the tension.
I once heard that Praise brings heaven to earth; lament brings earth before heaven. Together they express the suffering of the world before God and proclaim that one day we will lament no more! Thy kingdom come.
Let’s look for a moment at the Israelites of Moses’ time and the Apostle Paul and his missionary partner Silas in light of the “now” and the “not yet.”
In Exodus 14:10-12, the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
And then in verse 31 of chapter 14, Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Paul & Silas, on the other hand, while sitting in prison in Acts 16, after the crowd attacked them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods, were sitting in prison, shackled by their feet, praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. Maybe Paul and Silas were singing something like,
Out of the depths I cry to You
In darkest places I will call
Incline Your ear to me anew
And hear my cry for mercy, Lord - -
Were You to count my sinful ways
How could I come before Your throne
Yet full forgiveness meets my gaze
I stand redeemed by grace alone - -
I will wait for You, I will wait for You
On Your word, I will rely
I will wait for You, Surely wait for You
Till my soul is satisfied - -
So put your hope in God alone
Take courage in His power to save
Completely and forever won
By Christ emerging from the grave - -
Now He has come to make a way
And God Himself has paid the price
That all who trust in Him today
Find healing in His sacrifice - -
After a mighty earthquake that released their shackles and opened the prison doors, they were asked “what must I do to be saved?” Those around Paul and Silas, saw them worshiping in very difficult circumstances, saw God’s mighty hand, and believed in the Lord.
As followers of Jesus, it’s okay to express different emotions in worship. It’s okay to express sadness and frustration with God. It’s natural for us to feel these emotions, even as Christians. But let me make a clear distinction. Sadness and frustration is different than grumbling and complaining. We must not complain in a way that implies that we blame God for our problems or difficulties. God is not responsible for bad things that happen in our lives. We are responsible because we, the human race, invited sin into this world. And problems and difficulties of this life are a direct result of sin. This is not the way God designed his creation. But we must now live with the consequences.
Expressing lament is an appropriate expression of worship. We see this throughout the Bible. Psalm 13 is an example “How long, O Lord?” “Will you forget me forever?” The song “I Will Wait for You” touches on this theme as well. “Out of the depths I cry to you, in darkest places I will call.” “I am full of sorrow.” But if you continue to read Psalm 13, you’ll notice the Psalmists response. After expressing his sadness and crying out in frustration to God, he says, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” And the author’s of “I Will Wait for You” encourage the Christian to “Put your hope in God alone” because in Him “your should will be satisfied.” Wow! What a wonderful expression of praise. These song writers exclaim, there is so much wrong in my life and I’m frustrated God that you have not answered me yet, but I know that you are a good God; that you are the God who is in control, seated on the throne; and so, even though my life is difficult right now, yet I will praise.
This doesn’t mean we pretend that everything is okay. We can be authentic. But worship is about God, and God is always worthy of worship and praise.
And so, as we wait, we sing “I will wait for you, surely wait for you; on Your word I will rely.” May that be our prayer in this hectic, trouble filled world.