This Is Our God

On and off for the past couple of weeks, I've had that old Chris Tomlin song floating around in my head, This Is Our God. One of the things I really like about that song is that it falls under the category of songs that Paul describes this way in Ephesians 5:19-20:

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

or this way in Colossians 3:16:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

People have been singing songs since - well, forever, probably. While musical styles vary from culture to culture, there's not a music-less people anywhere in the world. Creation itself is singing God's praise, and we (as a part of God's creation) can't help it either. Oh, sure, we use music for other forms of expression as well, but it's always been a part of church culture since the church began.

Why is that? I think there's a lot of reasons, but I think one reason is that a melody can help you remember things better than you can without it. Musical intelligence, they call it. :) (I like that, but I'm biased.) :) So singing a song about God on a Sunday (or a Monday!) can help you remember the truth about who God is as the melody runs through your head later in the week. Knowing the same songs as people around you helps you remember that truth in community. That's a big piece of it, too, I think. And in some ways, songs can also help us remember other things by association - I mean, think about it - "that song" comes on the radio, and how quickly do we drift down memory lane?

Last night as I thought about the healing that God has done in my own life, and how much of it, in some ways, there still is to do - I remembered the words of a song that spoke great truth into my life at a time when I really needed to hear it. The song is called "Before You Call" and you can find the lyrics here. The words come from Isaiah 40:11 and 65:24:

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

While they are still speaking.... I love that. Even before we cry out to God, He is already listening, and He hears all of it, even before we're done explaining... We worship a God who knows us. This is no small thing.

Worship. Declaring the "worth-ship" of God. Getting our eyes off ourselves and remembering who God is, both in and of Himself, and in our lives. That's what I love most about that Chris Tomlin song... it reminds me of who God is to me, to our community, to the world - it reminds me of how big a God I serve, and how worthy He is of my love and adoration. And it reminds me to go to Him, because He is who He says He is:

a refuge for the poor and a shelter from the storm - Isaiah 25:4
a father to the orphan and a healer to the broken - Psalm 68:5, Malachi 4:2
a fountain for the thirsty and a lover for the lonely - Zechariah 13:1, Isaiah 55:1, Psalm 68:6, John 3:16

and He is oh, so much more...

I was reading a couple of weeks ago in Isaiah, and these words jumped out at me:

Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? - Isaiah 50:2

The answer to that, of course, is no. He is God. Of course He can ransom us and rescue us. In fact, He has, is, and will. So let us trust in the name of the Lord, and rely on our God (Isaiah 50:10) - for as we sang together last night: He is more than enough.