Psalm 33 – Change is Good

I grew up in a traditional Southern Baptist Church. I pretty much loved it (Probably 'cause I loved our pastor. He was a good one). While I didn’t really live it, I still loved it. We had a pianist that played by herself with brother so-and-so leading us through a handful of hymns (verses 1,2, and 4 only of course). As I think back on it now, it feels kind of nostalgic.

I remember a time when I began to shift the way I thought about worship. Something happened to me when I went to a church that had a drum set on stage and a leader who led with a guitar. I remember how difficult it was as a believer when I began to worship in new ways that seemed right to me. I found myself constantly having to defend the fact that the guitar and drums were really not from the devil (I’m intentionally over-exaggerating).

I remember the first three verses of Psalm 33 to be a chapter that gave me comfort when thinking about this new "contemporary" style of worship.

“Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” – Psalm 33:1-3

Why is it that so many were threatened with this new form of worship? For sure there are those who cast stones at the hymnals and choir lofts. While change can be good, sometimes we do it bad. While I didn’t necessarily feel traditional methods in themselves, were any less worshipful, they had certainly lost their place as a personal preference for me.

Today I’m reminded of how I’m learning to just live what I’m called towards. I’m also reminded of our nature to act like we have the market cornered. And even when our intentions are pure, our actions and words can easily not seem that way. They can quickly provoke a defensive posture in others. Our perspective is everything. And while we’ll always have our own perspective, it’s the way of the Lord that matters. As Andy Stanley put it in his book, “Visioneering”: “WAY is God’s specialty.”

“But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” – Psalm 33:11-12

One thing is for sure, what we must place as a priority in our affections, are the plans of the Lord before our own. No matter our style, method, tradition, philosophy of ministry, or posture in our community… hopefully we’re chasing what we know of God and His ways with everything we’ve got. And whatever we are doing, we do as an overflow of how God is moving in our hearts.

This may come at great cost. We may be called from everything we’ve always known. And that can hurt. I’m reminded in verses 13-17 that many times God uses change to keep our focus on Him and not a model, strategy, or tradition.

“From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.” - Psalm 33:13-17

If we were to think on these last few verses, we could probably find many places of application in our lives that would benefit from a little reorientation. That might demand some change in our lives. That change might just be the catalyst that results in the personal revolution our soul’s been craving.

2 Sam 12 - You're the Man

I can’t read this story without thinking about the Veggie-tale episode where the King is told a story about a guy who had all the “rubber duckies” a man could possible need or want, yet he still stole another man’s most cherished “rubber ducky”. The accusation was made. And when asked who it was, Nathan said to David in verse 7, “You are the man!”

Not quite the same story, not quite the same impact. But I think that is what it’s come to. We become so hardened by our own sin, that we lose perspective on how damaging it is to our walk. Yes, in Christ our sin is forgiven. But left unchecked, damages our relationships because it damages us. It impacts our relationship with God and our ability to worship, hear, and follow Him. It impacts our relationship with others and our ability and willingness to place them in front of our selves. It impacts our actions as determined by our priorities and personal pursuits.

So I guess today, for the first time, I’m reading this story and instead of thinking about how jacked up David became, instead of thinking about the tangled web and taking shots at it from the outside, I turn towards myself. I guess it just builds on yesterday’s reading, but I’m prayerfully seeking were I need to confess and change. Many areas instantly come to mind.

But how do we make that confession and change a reality instead of just a fleeting thought? How do we take it beyond the “I’m sorry I took your rubber ducky”?

This morning I met with the men from our Missional Community Group. We are reading and discussing Tim Keller’s book “The Reason for God”. We landed on the discussion of how we really find and advance through the answers to the questions and the struggles we have (and counsel others with their own questions). One of the guys said, “It all depends on the attitude of your heart, whether or not you really want to find the answer”.

He’s right.

Often we can see all our problems clearly. We can identify and know exactly what our issues are. And as we seek God’s answers… if we REALLY want to know them, we’ll see them. If we really don’t, we probably won’t experience relief from the issues (or even experience insight). Can God show us? Yes. But does He have to? No. Why would He? If we don’t really want to know the answer and/or we aren’t willing to make the change, we may never see it. If God doesn’t withhold the answers and the way, we certainly are experts on withholding it from ourselves… reasoning it away and making excuses.

So a simple question emerges for today: Do we really want to be changed?

God, change our hearts and minds, in spite of our hearts and minds. Today I pray for continued and radical transformation. Give me the desire where I lack the desire, the discipline where I lack discipline, and the wisdom where I lack wisdom. Amen.