| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net “I don’t feel like singing”. Why do we sing praise songs to the lord? Is it for Him? Is it for us? Is it just tradition? Why when we go to Church, is the first portion of our Worship Service devoted to singing? Are we trying to work up spirituality? Will God somehow owe us something? What if you are having a bad day? I mean nobody always feels like singing. Why then, would we? Let’s turn the Spiritual Switch. Who was the first king of Israel? (I promise to put this all together). Way back when, Israel was slave to Egypt. Then came Moses at the direction of God, to deliver them via plagues, Red Sea crossing, et all. He (Moses) was not a king, but a Judge. God subsequently appointed lots of Judges to lead His people. Not to govern, but to set standards, to relay God’s Words, and to settle disputes in a Godly manner. One of these was Samuel. He was a righteous man who loved God, but during his life, the nation Israel wanted a king. Their reason? “Every body else has one. They get to have parades and such with their king as a figurehead, and we don’t have anything. We want a king.” At first, God said no, cause they had Samuel. Samuel didn’t like the idea cause he wanted his son to succeed him as judge. God did let them have a king, who was ----- Saul. Why do you suppose the people chose Saul? I asked some kids that question last night, and their answers were wonderful. “Because he was a good man; or, because he did what was right”. I wish that were true, but the fact of the matter is, they chose him cause he was tall. “Head and shoulders above the rest”. Perhaps the most handsome. “Wait till the other nations see our king”. Nugget: Man looks at the outer appearance, while God looks at the heart. Lo and behold, Saul got into some bad stuff, and became a not nice person. He was even tormented by demons. Imagine, hearing your King in his upper room in the still of the night, screaming and contending with demonic forces. What do you suppose he did? How did he deal with it? Well, David (the little, not so good looking runt of a young man that killed Goliath? The one who would succeed Saul as king) would come to Saul at night playing his harp, and singing praise songs, at which time the Evil Fled. What kind of Power are we talking about? You see, God Inhabits Praise. And Evil and Light can not occupy the same space simultaneously. When we praise God, He is there, and our bad thoughts, our evil imaginations, our insecurities, our fears and doubts cannot remain. Selfishly, that’s our reason, but let’s not forget, He Is Worthy. Perhaps when we feel badly, is exactly the time to sing. God Bless. |
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