Offended by thankful prayer?

Yesterday, I read a news article about a high school football coach who is in trouble for bowing on the field after his team played to thank God. He didn’t make a big deal of it nor was he trying to put himself in the limelight. It was his habit to thank God for everything and he had been doing this for a long time.

Those who protested said this was “unconstitutional” as he was a public servant and should not be ‘religious’ in a public place. The reporter was not impressed, saying something like it is okay to bow the knee and protest the American flag, but not okay to bow the knee and thank Almighty God.

Sports figures can be seen raising their hand or saying words of praise to God during and after games. When I see it, I sometimes offer a prayer too, asking God to bless them for their thankful hearts. Reading of the protests against this coach is disheartening, but this is not new. It happened to King David way back around 1000-900 B.C.

“And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house. And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, ‘How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!’ And David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.’ And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.” (2 Samuel 6:14–23)

David celebrated the return of the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. He was tremendously excited and filled with joy, expressing his emotions in exuberant dance. Instead of being joyful with him (“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15) his wife berated this godly king for making a fool of himself.

Today’s devotional reading says David was celebrating God’s choice of him to be king, but that does not fit with the context. Clearly, David was rejoicing because the ark was restored to Jerusalem. His mention of God’s choice was in defense of the accusation Michal made against him, saying he had the right to dance before the Lord since the Lord had chosen him to be king. Further, his exuberance was for God, not for the people over whom he was appointed to rule.

The news article about the football coach indicated he has like-spirit. He was kneeling before God; his actions had nothing to do with the people. He wanted to honor the Lord, not bow to the opinions of the crowd or the players. However, he is going to suffer abuse because of it.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, Your Word predicts increasing antagonism against Your people. However, You also said that Your people would be blessed when harassed for righteousness’ sake, when others revile us and utter all kinds of evil against us falsely on Your account. You tell us to rejoice and be glad, for our reward is great in heaven — for the prophets also were treated this way before us. (Matthew 5:10–12)

My prayer for this coach is that You will keep him in Your care and bless him for his faith and love shown toward You. Give him wisdom and keep him faithful to You, no matter what the protesters think or do. I’m almost chuckling to realize that if he danced like David did after the football games, no one would interpret or protest that as a ‘religious’ display! The players do it all the time.

Family note: My husband’s surgery yesterday went well. He was in the doctor’s office for 3 hours instead of 6. They got all the offending tissue removed on the second attempt, leaving him with a ½” X 1” wide hole in his face that includes part of one nostril gone. He slept very well last night and feels good today. Tomorrow’s reconstruction surgery will be another hurdle. We need to get up early as he must be at the hospital at 6:15 a.m.

Wonder and awe

While driving today, I began thinking again about all that God has done for me. He saved me. I wonder why me? How amazing is His grace. As I thought of it, my heart was filled with awe. Nothing changed externally. I was not singing nor praying, but struck silent with the marvel that the Creator of the universe should send His Son to die for me.

And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:18–19)

Tonight’s devotional reading describes what happened to me today, and again I am in awe of the way You align my circumstances with Your words. Just as Mary treasured in her heart the events of her life, I also ponder and treasure the goodness of You.

Spurgeon’s words are more than one hundred years old, beautiful but strange to modern ears. Writing them in my words brings home the delight of worshiping You and having You affirm the wonder that fills in my heart.

I must never cease to wonder at the marvel of You. I cannot draw a line between holy wonder and genuine worship. When my soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of Your glory, even though I do not express it in song, or bow my head in humble prayer, yet this wonder simply and silently adores You.

You are to be worshiped as wonderful. You considered this fallen creature when You could have easily swept me away in destruction. You undertook to be my Redeemer and to pay my ransom. How incredibly marvelous!

As my mind considered earlier today, I again think of Your great redemption. What a miracle of grace that Jesus should forsake the throne and royalty above to suffer ignominiously below — for me. My soul loses itself in wonder. Then wonder becomes a practical emotion. It leads me to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It causes in me a godly watchfulness. I do not want to sin against such a love as You have shown to me.

Feeling Your presence in the gift of Your dear Son puts me on holy ground. You move me to great hope — since Jesus has done such a great thing for me, heaven itself is not too great for my expectation. How can I be astonished at anything after being astonished at the manger and the cross? What wonder is left after seeing Your dear face?

I feel that far too often I fail to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem who told others what they had seen and heard. However, I can more easily be like Mary and join all those who worship You before Your throne, treasuring You in my heart and being in awe of all that You have done.

Solemn worship?

The church I attend is a denomination that onlookers would dub as “strict” in that its members don’t drink or dance, at least in the sense of parties and drunkenness. Since my former life before Christ involved dancing and an alcoholic spouse, abandoning that lifestyle is not a problem for me. However, I’m convinced that Christians need to carefully consider what the Bible says about these things before lumping every form of both into the category of sin.

For instance, I attended a writer’s conference in Chicago where a young woman worshiped God in interpretative dance. The music and her movements offered a celebration of creation and the Creator. It was a stunning presentation.

My fingers keep wanting to type ‘performance’ instead of presentation, but after reading a section in Recalling the Hope of Glory this morning, I know that is not the correct term. Author Ross is talking about the celebration of redemption in Exodus 15, a song that Moses and the people of God sang after crossing the sea in their escape from bondage in Egypt. The chapter begins with, “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD. . . .”

Their celebration was inspired by a great act of God, which Ross says is the first criterion that makes this joyful “party” different from a secular celebration. Their music and words communicated that God was being praised, so it was not a performance. That means that those involved were not admiring the singers and musicians, nor giving them applause, nor critiquing their performance (how often do these things happen in today’s churches), but all were focused on God and worshiping Him.

Verse 20 says, “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.”

As the others celebrated and praised God with song, these women celebrated with dance. Their actions also fit the above criteria. Moreover, this was a dance as Ross says, “consonant with purity and righteousness (not distracting or suggestive, and not mixing the sexes).”

Again, the worshipers were caught up in worship, not in the dance or the dancer. This dance was spontaneous, and even though the one I saw was a prepared ‘performance,’ it too was genuine in that the dancer and those involved were filled with praise to God.

We attended a church in California whose choir seemed to perform spontaneously each Sunday. We know that they practiced, but it didn’t seem like it. Each time they sang it was an outburst of joyful praise in response to God as He was proclaimed in the other parts of the worship service. This too sits in my memory as how music and voice can be worship not performance.

In any church the worship team could be ‘performing’ rather than worshiping. I suppose if they did that, the congregation would find worship more difficult. I suppose the worship team could be filled with a sense of the glory of God and the congregation, or at least some in it, were not caught up with that same praise and more inclined to view those up front as performers, even be evaluating them. However, when the worship team is filled with a love for God and the desire to praise Him, the effect can be utterly amazing in a heart that is also ready to focus on the Lord and bless Him.

When that happens in my church, the music and singing take second place to the Spirit of God. He not only motivates those leading the worship, but also fills me with joyful praise—and sometimes I even feel like dancing.

In the mood for a party . . .

I’m in lofty territory. My devotional book is about worship; the theme for the Bible class I teach is the glory of Christ. As I read and study, I’m challenged to make these incredibly truths applicable to ordinary life.

The book defines true worship as: “the celebration of being in covenant fellowship with the sovereign and holy triune God, by means of the reverent adoration and spontaneous praise of God’s nature and works, the expressed commitment of trust and obedience to the covenant responsibilities, and the memorial reenactment of entering into covenant through ritual acts, all with the confident anticipation of the fulfillment of the covenant promises in glory.”

That is a mouthful! I know that God wants my worship, but human as I am, I tend to ask, “Is there anything in this for me” and if not as blunt and selfishly as that, then “What practical purpose does worship serve in the life of a Christian?”

That second word is significant: celebration. Remembering the last birthday, or wedding, or anniversary, or home team victory, or personal win produces a faint hint of the emotional delights of what God gives us in the celebration called worship. Before, during and after these lesser events, my heart is elevated and that ‘bright mood’ or whatever way it can be described, affects everything. I’m more cheerful with myself and others, more energetic, joyful, eager to get at things. Reading this definition makes me realize that true worship is that too.

I’m sad about the times I’ve wasted opportunities to worship by falling into rote, routine and ritual. For me, those modes are not only boring but produce the opposite mood. Instead of celebrating, I’m (at the least) in a hurry for it to be over. When I’m not celebrating, those other ‘C’ words so easily come into play—complacent, complaining and critical.

With this book and the study of Christ’s glory, my heart easily fills up with worship. As I read 1 Timothy 3:16 this morning, its truths put me in celebration mode. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.”

God came to earth and took on human flesh. Jesus is fully God, yet fully human. He knows what life is like for us, knows our temptations, sorrows, limitations and struggles. While He did not sin, He knows our battle against it. I’m awed by his willingness to leave the “glory He had with the Father” to do this.

At the same time, I cannot imagine the affront to His senses as He experienced this world with its sights, sounds and smells. For Jesus, coming here was no holiday. Compared to the perfections of heaven, earth, even at its best, would be to Him an ugly, noisy, smelly place.

I know that in a small way only. A couple years ago we took a short trip to southeast Asia and experienced a culture totally unlike the ‘glories’ of living in our homeland. While we wanted to be there, we didn’t anticipate great culture shock, but shocked we were. At the same time, the people we were involved in that place certainly celebrated that we came.

Our trip was a small thing. Jesus coming into our world is a big thing. God manifested in the flesh; that is glory. He did that because He loves me; that is glory. Just thinking about it has me in a party mood—I’m ready to celebrate!