Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Worship in a time of suffering


I recently got back from Baltimore, MD and during my time there I sang the song, Blessed be Your name, a couple times. I went to Baltimore to visit a church and this church loved this song. This song was so familiar to them and I don't know why.
It could be that Matt Redman writes really catchy songs. Also, it may be the content of the song. Anyway, I was singing, Blessed be Your name, in the shower this morning and when I came to the bridge, I had to think what the lyrics meant to me.

The lyrics of the bridge go like this:

You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name

(Then you sing again and again and then you shout it)

The first thing I thought of was the story of Job. Job was blessed so much. He had tons of cattle and family (Job 1:1-3). "He was the greatest man among all the people of the East". This guy was set and he was a true follower of God. Then poof one day all was gradually taken away from him. In the midst of losing all of his sons, daughters and being diseased himself, he still praised God.

All this went down like this: Job 1:20-22

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."

22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

That is pretty powerful stuff. Seeing how Job worshipped challenges me to do the same. Job was a man who worshipped in a time of suffering. Jesus was a savior who gave us the ultimate example of worshipping through sacrifice. Christ was the ultimate sacrifice and Job gave us a taste of worshipping when losing it all.

So, what are some things you think of when you sing: "You give and take away...My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name"

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