My Jesus, my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hand
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You
‘Shout to the Lord’
Darlene Czschech (Hillsong)
The second part of this week’s theme of ‘Worship as Invitation’ is to be found in the fact that every circumstance is an Invitation to worship. It does not depend on good times, feeling close to God, being in the mood…
Darlene Czschech is quite specific about the tough circumstances that made her turn to Psalms 96-101 before writing ‘Shout to the Lord’ as a response to the Psalms and her tough times. She has written extensively on the nature of worship.
“Whenever I've worshiped in times of distress, I've seen God move in amazing ways. I think it's because praising God requires more faith even than prayer. You're not just saying, "Dear God, I'm really hurting. Help me out here. I need this and this." Don't get me wrong, that's completely valid. But worship requires obedience … it requires an act of your will. It's thanking God for things even though they're not there yet. It's appreciating Jesus not for what he can do for you, but for being your Saviour. And there's power in that—power to change hearts and power to move mountains.”
I think this is what Czschech means when she writes
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You
After she recovered from breast cancer in 2014, she said:
Whatever situation you find yourself in, know this: God is present. Worship Him—recognizing and acknowledging His greatness—even in moments of great pain, and you will discover His grace and power is sufficient … To fully trust God during times of immense pain is one of the great gifts of a trial. You find the beautiful Holy Spirit is there, no matter how broken you are or how disappointed you are or how hopeless you feel.
The stance of worship is made possible only through the power of the Holy Spirit. We worship Him in our moments of success. But we also worship Him in suffering, when we are in the wilderness.
Are you suffering? In pain? Discover God's grace in worship. Be honest, but listen. Look up. Take to heart Paul's words: "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us" (Rom. 8:37).
I am envious of Czschech’s certainty. There are many days where I quail before before the opening line of her song, since I feel uncomfortable using the language of ‘my’ about Jesus these days. I always come smack up against this discomfort and unbelief in myself during Lent, since it is impossible to escape from the presence of the Cross during these weeks. I may find it relatively easy to find a God of Wonder in the natural world I can see from my bed every day; but I find it much harder, sitting in the same bed, looking at the same view, to connect to the ever present offer of a personal relationship which Jesus holds out to me.
Can I respond with worship through whatever wilderness this day might bring?
Return just to this present moment and take a breath o my soul.
However wobbly I feel, however uncertain my theology, however distanced from my faith, at my core I do want to pray along with Czschech
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
What is this worship?
It is to be in the midst of an ever exchanging flow of Spirit, God with-in me calling on God with-out me; joining, breath mingling; so that all I am created to be is at God’s disposal, and all my creativity can be poured out as offerings, helping others merge with God’s breath in their turn.
I think that might just be how Kingdom comes about.
when shadows loom. Canon 7d. f3.2. 1/320. ISO 100.
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