Sunday Afternon Reflections: Psalm 124 and Deliverence Driven Worship

Have you ever been enticed by a commercial filled with astounding testimonials?  A dozen women claim weight loss miracles.  A “paid legal spokesperson” shares a gripping tail of financial compensation.  An investment firm parades a long line of millionaires before your eyes.  A work from home business coach has a room full of students pull out eye-popping checks.  At this point, I’m not only enticed I am hooked and ready to grab my check book.  But, then, inevitably, the commercial concludes with these reality-recalling words, “Individual results may vary; the results of those in this advertisement may not be typical.”  Suddenly I’m putting the checkbook back in the drawer.  Sure a given diet program may work for some people, but why would I buy into a program that may not work well for me?  Sure a particular lawyer may get some great verdicts, but what if I don’t have a case?  Sure an investment firm may bring in some huge revenues for some big investors, buy why would I hand over my life savings for a remote possibility?  A work from home enterprise could make a handsome income for a handful of people across the country, but why would I pony up a $500 start up fee for a dribble of extra income? 

Maybe you have felt this way about Christianity and being a member of a church.  You may have thought to yourself, “This Christianity thing just seems to work for certain people – those people who are naturally more spiritual or disciplined; but, it’s just not going to work for someone like me.”  Maybe you regularly attend your local church, but, as you look at the well rounded family two rows ahead of you, it seems that Christianity just works better for a select few.  You sing along and pay attention during worship services, but it is as if others Christians have more to sing about than you do.

Psalm 124 doesn’t allow us to nurture such self-pity.  Every one of God’s people has the same reason to praise God with a song of thanksgiving – God saves his people.  The saving grace of God is the same for all of God’s people rich or poor alike.  The righteousness of Christ is equally bestowed on all of God’s people weak and strong alike.  Eternal life is the same for all of God’s people popular and outcast alike.  All who believe have the exact same motivation worship God.  And, since, as believers, we all have the same reason to worship God, we have a motivation to worship God together in unity.  Psalm 124 is a corporate song of thanksgiving that begins with one person declaring that the Lord is on our side.  Then, suddenly, the psalmist turns the Psalm from a solo to a chorus so as to highlight the fact that worship is the corporate work of God’s people because all God’s people receive the same gift of salvation equally. 

“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side –

               let Israel now say --” (v. 1)

With the song leader’s invitation to the people of Israel, everyone joins in singing the Psalm:

“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters.” (vv. 2—5)

This language harkens the reader back to the Hebrew’s flight from the Egyptians and miraculous rescue as they crossed the Red Sea.  God rescued his people from the vengeance of the Egyptians and the Pharoh by miraculously parting the Red Sea in order for them to pass through to safety, then, drowning the Egyptian army.  This divine act of salvation was for all of the Hebrew people regardless of social standing, wealth, ability, talent, skills, age, gender, or religiosity.  All the Hebrew people were led through the Red Sea – all were saved.  So, all the people of Israel owe there very existence to the saving power of God; because God delivered his people through the Red Sea.  Thus, every Israelite or Jew has a very real reason to join in and sing Psalm 124 no matter their social status.  No one can opt of worship by claiming, “Hey God, I wish I had a reason to worship you with the rest of the people on their way to Jerusalem, but my crops just haven’t been great, ext . . .”  Imagine a band of pilgrims made up of rich and poor, old and young, influential and seemingly insignificant, men and women, weak and strong, sick and well singing Psalm 124 in unison.  When we say God saves, we clearly mean that he saves all his people equally with no strings attached. 

Now, you may be thinking, “This is all well and good for Ancient Israelites who were tangibly rescued from a very real enemy, but my family is tearing itself apart and God hasn’t rescued me from the vicious biting worlds of my sister and brother-in-law.”  Or, “I wish I could claim to have been rescued from my enemies, but the guy in the cubical next to me has been making daily life a living hell ever since I beat him out for a promotion.”  Or, “I would praise God too if he led me through the Red Sea, but in reality I’m drowning in a sea of debt.”  Whatever the case, there are things that plague our lives which keep us from seeing ourselves as having received God’s deliverance as the Hebrew people were delivered from Pharoh. 

What is the solution?  We need to see our lives in the context of eternal salvation.  In the Hebrew context the Jews were harassed and pursued by the Egyptians after they were freed from slavery right up to the Red Sea.  Ultimately, Egypt’s derision couldn’t negate God’s deliverance.  The same is true for us in Christ in the scope of eternity.  For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God has delivered us bondage to sin and death.  Yet, this does not mean that Satan, the world, and our very own flesh will not pursue us up to the point in which we pass through the grave into the riches of eternity.  Now, with this perspective, all the things that pursue us in this live pale in comparison to the infinite joy of eternity.  As Paul wrote, the sufferings of this world amount to nothing more than a “post momentary affliction.”

Debt can’t bankrupt the riches of glory.

Illness can’t terminate eternal life.

Family unrest can’t eliminate the peace of Christ.

Political strife can’t invade the New Jerusalem.

The thorns and briars of daily labor can’t spring up in on the New Earth.

If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and that God the Father has raised him from the dead, then you will pass through the grave from death to life as the Hebrews passed through the Red Sea into fellowship with the LORD.  Having been released from slavery what did the Jews do, they praised the Lord; therefore, “let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”  Join the long historical chorus of God’s people who have sung these words:

“Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth!  We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken and we have escaped!  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”  (vv. 6—8)

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Book Review: Average Joe: God's Extraordianry Calling to Ordinary Men, by Troy Medeer, Multnomah

I had such high expectations for “Average Joe: God’s Extraordinary Calling to Ordinary Men” by Troy Meeder from Multnomah.  I expected to hear how the Gospel drives the lives ordinary men far beyond the human ability of ordinary men.  I was looking forward to reading about God’s work in our lives’ calling  and vocation, about sanctification as a work of God in the grit and grizzle of our daily lives, about how God has fashioned us into a priesthood of believers regardless of our life status, and about how God connects us as the communion of the saints.  In a graceless world where men are constantly told to pull themselves up by their boot-straps, dig deep within themselves, get some more discipline, and try a little harder, I was eager to read about how Christ dwells within each and every Christian ordinary Joe.  I was expecting to read about how we are to die to self and live in Christ – to dig deep into Christ.

On page four the book went horribly wrong; Meeder writes, “Average Joe is the best of who we are.  This book is a challenge to look deep within yourself, to better understand the man God has made you to be, to find contentment in the life God has blessed you with.  I will finally urge you to leg go of your boyish or unrealistic dreams and replace them with the wise passions, wisdom, and disciplines of a man.  It’s time to make sure that integrity, honor, and moral steadfastness describe who you are.”

As a pastor and chaplain who has counseled many men, I have witness how a paragraph like the previous one sounds good on paper, yet oppressed men with a harsh “be a man” religiosity.  Our average Joe-ness is not the best of who we; our best is not about us, it is Christ who lives within us.  As men, we have nothing within ourselves to dig deeper into.  That is why we are Paul calls us to “set our minds on things above” as opposed to spiritual naval gazing.  As men, integrity, honor, and moral steadfastness elude us when we seek to make it on our own.  Instead, Christ is our righteousness and the fruit of our lives is fruit cultivated by the Spirit.  The Content of Average Joe presents a macho Christian life that is inappropriately anthropocentric (man centered).  And, the world-view of Average Joe could best be described by the phrase “moralistic therapeutic deism.”  In other words, Meeder presents a Christian lifestyle in which moral behavior makes us feel better about our lives all the while God approves of our moral effort yet is presented as scantly involved in the transformation of our lives (Phil 2:12-13). 

Instead of introducing us to Christ and examples of how he changes the lives of average every day men, Meeder launches into the body of Average Joe, “I want to introduce you to some average Joes.  These men who have changed the world around them.”  This leads into a 5 chapter section titled “Guts, Grit, and Sand.”  The content comes off just like it sounds – just man up (the Nike approach to Christian living).  The most disheartening thing about this section – apart from the man centered approach to faith – is that many of Meeder’s main points could be made by people of many other religions or world views.  For example, in chapter 4 Meeder concludes with these points: 1) let your yes be yes, 2) your handshake is your bond, 3) the body of Christ is a tapestry of living creatures all joined together by the blood of Jesus, and 4) everyone needs a little manure in his or her life.  With a little smattering of Jesus here and there, apart from point 3, there is not too much about Meeder’s view of life that differentiates Christianity from most moralistic world views.  Another example, in chapter 5 Meeder argues that the Christian man must have a “mark” to aim for and then he just has to stay the course.  Sounds great, but how many men (and women) are able to keep an eye on the “mark” and then stay the course?  This is exactly where we struggle with the faith – this is exactly where we need Christ in us as opposed to digging deeper within ourselves.  And, there is nothing about these points that exults the uniqueness of Christianity – these points could be a part of a business management seminar. 

In the end, as I read this book a few times, I kept thinking about all the men I have counseled who burned out trying to live the faith by manning up, digging deeper within themselves, and trying to get that all elusive life discipline.  When these men came to the end of themselves and a macho approach to the Christian faith, they counterintuitively surrendered and they got to know Jesus who in turn transformed their lives.  Meeder’s book could be significantly more Gospel driven with far less moralism.

I received this book free for review from Waterbrook/Multnomah Press.
Pleas rate this review so that I can grow as a book reviewer, and possibly win some prizes for my work!

Sunday Afternoon Reflections: Mothers' Day and the Church as Our Mother

Early on in the history of the Church it has been said, “As God is our Father the Church is our Mother.”  This “doctrine” has been affirmed by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants alike.  Among this chorus, John Calvin also affirmed this doctrinal turn of phrase.  John Calvin titles chapter 1 of book 4 of “The Institutes of the Christian Religion” “The True Church . . . as Mother of All the Godly” (Battles’ Translation pg. 1011).  In the Henry Beveridge translation of Calvin’s “Institutes”, in the summary of the argument of Book 4 Chapter 1, we read:

“With her God has deposited whatever is necessary to faith and good order . . . The Church is our mother, inasmuch as God has committed to her the kind of office of brining us up in the faith” (pg. 2279).

Commenting on Ephesians 4:12, John Calvin writes:

“This is the universal rule, which extends equally to the highest and to the lowest.  The Church is the common mother of all the godly, which bears, nourishes, and brings up children to God, kings and peasants alike; and this is done by the ministry [of the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers]” (pg. 282).

So, how true is this phrase, “As God is our Father the Church is our mother”?  After all, just because a few famous people say something that doesn’t make it true – even if a mass majority of people claim a truth that doesn’t make it true.  And, Scripture doesn’t explicitly refer to the Church as our mother.  In fact, Israel, which prefigures the Church in the New Testament, receives its name from the patriarch Jacob whom God renamed Israel (Genesis 32:28).  Yet, there is one lone passage which paints a word picture of the Church as our mother.  Isaiah pictures Jerusalem as a mother nursing the Jewish people with consolation; and, as with Israel, Jerusalem prefigures the Church in the New Testament:

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.  For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounce upon her knees.  As one who his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (66:10—13). 

(In Galatians 4, Paul – explicitly using allegory – depicts those who have faith in Jesus as children of Sarah.  This passage seems to be a stretch due to its explicitly allegorical nature, but a quick Google search will show that this passage is the preeminent Catholic and Easter Orthodox proof text for affirming that the Church is our mother) 

In Isaiah 66:10—13, God paints a word picture of Jerusalem as mother to the Jewish people without directly calling Jerusalem “mother”.  Given that the Church is defined as the gathering of God’s people in all times and in all places; and by extension, given that Israel and Jerusalem prefigure the Church in the New Testament: Isaiah 66:10—13 teaches that the Church is our mother.  This divinely inspired word picture makes beautiful sense.  When we are born again, we are born into the church.  As the children of God our faith is nurtured and cultivated in the church.  Spiritual food is prepared for us within the church.  When we read what the Bible has to say about godly motherhood, we see a lovely picture of what the Church is to be to those who believe in Jesus Christ. 

So then, mothers, on this Mothers’ Day, please realize what an honor God has granted you-all.  By living out your call to be godly mothers, you-all have the opportunity to exemplify what the Church is to be as it nurtures and nourishes us in the faith.

With everything written up to this point, attempting to brush a single Scripture passage aside, couldn’t someone still object to the wonderful phrase, “As God is our Father the Church is our mother”?  Couldn’t someone say that this phrase paints a picture of a spiritual-single-parent-God who is somehow deficient in his character or attributes so as to need to provide us with a mother in order compensate for his heavenly parenting deficiencies?

God does not need the Church in order to compensate for some sort of deficiency – God has no deficiencies.  God is neither male nor female, and while he explicitly has told us to refer to him in the masculine as Father, he still claims for himself those attributes we (in our limited earthly wisdom) have decided to call motherly attributes.  For example:

 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will no forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). 

I believe this is why, when speaking of himself, God mixes female imagery and the masculine singular pronoun in Isaiah 46:3—4:

“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.  I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” 

In Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 even Jesus refers to himself as a mother hen longing to gather the people of Jerusalem under his wing.  Jesus’ words recall Deuteronomy 32:10—12 in which God refers to himself as a mother eagle caring for Israel as little eaglets:

“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.  Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them upon its pinions.  The LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.”  (Although, one could argue that this text be taken to refer to either male or female eagle parents.)

Commenting on the phrase “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2b), the Dutch Annotated Bible commissioned by the Synod of Dort notes that this phrase pictures the Spirit as a mother bird sitting on her nest awaiting her young to hatch. 

And, in the one passage which clearly depicts the Church as a nursing mother (Isaiah 66:10—13), the passage concludes with God claiming for himself the motherly attributes which he had previously ascribed to Jerusalem:

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (v. 13)

So, how are we to make sense of this?  If the church is our mother, then why does God appear to claim the very same motherly attributes for himself?  The key is the prepositional phase “inasmuch as” in Beveridge’s words, “The Church is our mother, inasmuch as God has committed to her the kind of office of brining us up in the faith.”  In other words, the Church is our mother inasmuch as God has made her to be our spiritual mother.  James 1:17a says that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.”  This includes the good and perfect gift of the Church as our mother.  Paradoxically, God the Father cares for us as a mother cares for her children by giving us the Church as our spiritual mother. 

Mothers, please don’t error in assuming that only fathers bear the image of the Heavenly Father in their fatherly role.  The Bible makes it deliberately clear and obvious that all people are created in the image of God – mothers and fathers alike.  So then, mothers, on this Mothers’ Day, appreciate that you-all have the opportunity to wonderfully reflect the image of God as you live out your calling as mother. 

Happy Mothers’ Day.

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Sunday Afternoon Reflections: Psalm 123 and Focused Worship

Every event has a focus.  And, everyone anticipating an event looks forward to something as the focus of their attention.  When I would go to the Iowa Sate Fair, I looked forward to the plethora of deep fired junk food.  When I went to the 4^th of July fire works show in Nashville, I was looking forward to the explosive grand finale.  When I go to a concert, there’s that one song I am looking forward to hearing.  When I go out to my favorite restaurants, I salivate as I look forward to my favorite dishes.  When I go to a ball game, I look forward to seeing my team whoop on the rivals.  When I go out to see the latest block buster movie, I look forward to rich cinematography.  We look forward to events. We long for meaningful experiences. 

OK, so what about the event of corporate worship?  Some of us look forward to good advice that will help us to manage our relationships; we want our families and friends to function in a way that gives us greater happiness.  Some of us look forward to dropping our kids off in a great kids’ program; we want our kids to turn out right in order to make us proud.  Some of us look forward to a soul stirring worship performance; we don’t want to be bored.  Some of us look forward hear some pleasant thoughts and good words; we want to know we are alright in order to feel better about ourselves. 

What are we to look forward to in worship?  What did the pilgrim in Psalm 123 look forward to as he anticipated worship?  The beginning of Psalm 123 gives us a direct answer:

“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the Heavens!” (v. 1)

With everything we tend to look forward to as we approach worship, all pale in comparison to God.  Why would we look forward to a modicum of self-help advice when we could come face to face with truth of God?  Why would we settle for a spiritual baby sitter for our kids when they could be getting to know God?  Why would we put up with a so-so performance when we could be speaking directly to God?  Why would we accept simple platitudes designed to boost our self-esteem when we could hear the Word of God?  When we gather together for worship, we gather together for a grand corporate conversation with God.  Worship is a God-centered dialogue among God’s people.  We hear God’s call to worship.  We respond in praise and adoration to God.  God calls us to confession, and we offer our confession to God.  In return, we hear God’s words of assurance.  We respond with praise and thanksgiving – through song and tithing.  We ask God to help us understand his Word, and his Spirit helps us to understand the Word as it is preached.  We pray and ask God to help us to apply the Word to our lives.  God sends us out to love and serve him.  We sing praises to God in thanksgiving for the Word, and God sends us out with his benediction.  Worship is a God-centered dialogue. 

That may all sound well and good, but, all too often, when we gather together, we approach God inappropriately.  We look to God, but only as a cosmic genii in a bottle.  We approach God, but we do so with all our bargaining chips in hand as if we are approaching some heavenly negotiator.  We have all come to God in worship with good intentions only to find ourselves focusing on our own long laundry list of wants (and sometimes a few legitimate needs).  To offer a parodied caricature, at times, we can come to God like this:

“Ye, God, thanks for all you do.  You’re great and all.  So, by the way, while we’re talking, could you help me with my home refinance so that I get that 3.98% rate?  And, you know my son; could you help him to fit in at school?  I’d love for him to get in with a great group of friends who could boost his self-esteem.  And, could you bless my folks with an awesome anniversary trip to Hawaii?  I’d also sure love to do well on my presentation tomorrow – a great presentation would help to advance my career.  Then, I might get a raise and be able to buy that ski boat I have wanted for years. . .” 

Well, verse 2 of Psalm 123 sets us in our proper place preventing us from assuming that we can approach God as equals (or, more true to our nature, preventing us from assuming that we can approach God as his superior). 

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look tot eh hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD God, till he has mercy upon us.” (v. 2)

When we gather together in worship, we are servants addressing the sovereign King of the universe.  We don’t look upon our own lives with the self-centered expectation that God will address us and our requests. 

So, what do servants look to from their king?  At least four things: 1) the king’s word, 2) the king’s provision, 3) the king’s protection, and 4) the king’s honor/reputation.  First, a king issues commands, gives orders, makes covenant promises, offers commendations, gives advice, shares wisdom, makes judgments, and gives blessings.  And, good servants don’t just listen to the words of their king; good servants are moved to action by the words of their king.  So too we look forward to hearing God’s Word and living out God’s Word.  Second, especially in more ancient times, servants are completely dependent upon their king for their daily sustenance.  So too we look forward to our daily bread for the hand our Heavenly Father.  Third, (picturing the epic battle scenes from the Lord of the Rings) a king provides shelter for his subjects who posses no castle of their own.  King Jesus provides himself as a refuge from sin, death, and the Devil.  Fourth, a good king’s name and reputation rests upon his servants as they serve in his kingdom.  So too Jesus Christ gives us his righteousness and grants us the honor of bearing his name as we serve in his kingdom. 

But, there are a couple of problems.  First, serving a king puts a person at odds with all other authorities and rulers.  This was definitely true of the Jewish pilgrims singing this prayer on their way to Jerusalem.  In biblical Palestine there would have been all sorts of people from non-Jewish tribes who despised the Jewish people and their worship.  Ancient pilgrims singing Psalm 123 would have been in danger of being harassed on their way to Jerusalem for worship.  So the Psalmist prays the concluding two verses of Psalm 123:

“Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough contempt.  Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.” (vv. 3&4)

But, this prayer raises a second problem, why would God have mercy up us?  If we take an honest assessment of our lives, we realize that we are worse than wretched servants in God’s kingdom – we are treasonous rebels in God’s kingdom (Romans 5:10).  We pay God lip service and then we worship other things with our lives.  Our jobs become our hope and salvation in uncertain economic times.  We pay homage to a royal court of entertainments that offer us a refuge so we can escape from the grind of daily life.  People lord over our lives as we eagerly seek to please them like we’d become a court jester.  We dishonor God by claiming to serve him while at the same time we serve all sorts of false gods. 

So, what hope is there?  When we are condemned by those who scoff at us and hold up our sin before God, what are we to say?  As we have said before, there is no hope in the Psalms apart from Christ.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the Psalms.  Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And Romans 5:6—10 says,

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

When you approach worship you will be scorned.  You will be scorn yourself as you dredge up old sins, shame, and guilt.  Those around you will scorn you by implication, minimalization, depreciation, and marginalization.  The Devil will scorn you with lies and accusation.  These three will scorn you by holding your sins against you and then calling your value into question. 

So, what are you to do?  Take your sins and throw then in the face of your accusers and claim Christ as the one who has saved you from those very sins.  If you hear a little insidious voice saying, “You thing you’re the kind of person God wants worshiping him, aren’t you the same scum who . . . ?”  Respond by saying, “Yes; I am that person, and Christ died to pay the price of those sins!”  There is no accusation that overpower the saving work of Christ.

 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

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Joe Satriani, "God Is Crying", Holy Week, and the Attributes of God

Recently, I have been listening to Joe Satriani’s latest album “Black Swans and Worm Hole Wizards”.  Over this Holy Week, I have been particularly drawn to track 11 “God Is Crying”:

http://www.myspace.com/joesatriani/music/albums/black-swans-and-wormhole-wizards-16732530 
(Above is the link to the album “Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards” on Satriani’s MySpace page.  Scroll down to track 11 and click on the play icon.  If you do not have a MySpace membership you can only listen to about three songs in their entirety; if you have a MySpace membership you have unlimited access to listen to whole albums that are posted on an artist’s page)

For those of you who may not know much about Joe Satriani (a.k.a. Satch, the Professor, the Extremist), he is a rock and roll guitar virtuoso, innovator, and technical genius.  He has released 13 studio albums, sold over 10 million albums, and he has had 15 Grammy nominations (he has the 2^nd most Grammy nominations without a win, after Brian McKnight).  He is a guitar player’s guitar player. (Most of the content of this paragraph was taken from Wikipedia.)

Through Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday – looking forward to Easter – among other things pertaining to the atonement, I have been reflecting on God’s sorrow over human sin, Jesus weeping at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:1—43, esp. v. 35), and Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:28—44, esp. v. 41).  And, so, I have been listening to “God Is Crying” by Joe Satriani.  By Satch’s own admission on a Facebook video podcast, this song “is not what you would expect given the title “God Is Crying””, which you may have gathered for yourself by listening to the song on his MySpace page.  You may have expected to hear a slow, moody, lilting, haunting melody line, or you may have expected to hear a series of scale runs, some with a smooth descending legato, and others with punctuated staccato evoking the image of streaming or falling tears.  Instead, as Satch describes it, “God Is Crying” is an “intense” and “explosive” song with a “heavy groove.”  In an A flat minor key with 4/4 drive, the song is powerful and aggressive.  And, I would also describe the song as being a bit angry.  Overtop of the drive, Satch lays down a soaring melody line with heavy use of a wha peddle (made famous by the Dunlop Cry Baby Wha peddle). This is what makes this song so interesting to me during Holy Week: the song seems to depict God’s crying, weeping, sorrowful tears mixed with intense power and anger. 

Now, it’s not that Satch isn’t capable of playing a slow song with a dark, somber, smooth tone (he is known for being able to play such songs alongside blazing fast technical masterpieces).  Two examples of Satch’s slow, easy, moody, haunting, and lilting melodies come to mind from his last album “Super Colossal”:

First, “The Meaning of Love” (track # 8)

Second, “A Love Eternal” (track # 12)
http://www.myspace.com/joesatriani/music/albums/super-colossal-8120159
(Actually, the song “Slow and Easy” from the album “Engines of Creation” came to mind first, but I couldn’t find a link to an online sample.)

As to those songs filled with legato and staccato scale runs that fall like tears, two songs come to mind:

First, “Made of Tears” from the album “Super Colossal” (track # 9)

http://www.myspace.com/joesatriani/music/albums/super-colossal-8120159

Second, “Wind in the Trees” from the album “Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards” (track # 10 – as you listen to this track try to picture a willow tree being moved by the wind.)

http://www.myspace.com/joesatriani/music/albums/black-swans-and-wormhole-wizards-16732530

In the March 9, 2011 issue of Guitar World Magazine Satch was asked about the song “God Is Crying”; these are his comments:

I was thinking about God – the concept of God actually.  Where is he?  Why do we need him? . . . But I started to think, what would happen if God came down to earth?  Not just as a spirit, but really came down here physically and walked around and took a look at what we’ve done to the world.  And, all I could think was, he would cry.

In a heightened way, from Advent and Christmas through Lent and Easter, Christians are confronted with the reality that God, through the Second Person of the Trinity – Jesus Christ, came to earth and took on the form of a man – he took on the form of a lowly humble servant (Phil. 2: 5—10).  And, Jesus wept (John 11:35).  He didn’t just weep over what we had done to the world (though this surely is part of what causes God sorrow).  He wept over us and our corrupt sinful nature, which causes us to commit sin and defile God’s precious creation.  Surely the way we twist and distort culture causes God sorrow; surely the way we pollute and abuse nature causes God sorrow; surely our broken homes and our chuck full prisons cause God sorrow; surely wars and poverty cause God sorrow.  Yet, it’s the sinful heart of man caused Jesus Christ to weep. 

Here’s the good news, God didn’t just weep and wring his hands in the far distant recesses of heaven; he did something about our sinful predicament.  (This is where I think Satriani is intuitively on to something in his song “God Is Crying”.)  When God did something about our sinful existence, his sorrow over sinful mankind was joined with his omnipotent power.  When God redeemed us from our sin, his love and mercy stood side by side with his just wrath. 

In a Facebook video podcast, Satch said, “It [the songs juxtaposed title and heavy grove] makes sense when you think about it.”  Well, I thought about it, and it does make perfect sense.  The genocidal slaughter of 800,000 in Rwanda causes me to weep, while at the same time it gave rise to appropriate anger at the perpetrators of such atrocities.  As human beings we all experience such a mix of emotions on a regular basis.  Now, amplify that instance of Rwandan atrocity by the whole of human history; and, then, try to imagine viewing that sum total of human history from God’s perfect perspective.  (An impossible exercise, yet a valuable exercise in the hermeneutic of “how much more then does God . . .”) 

Is there some way of making sense of a God who is at the same time sorrowful, wrathful, loving, merciful, compassionate, angry, omnipotent, holy, and just?  The key to this question is the doctrine of the simplicity of God.  This is not simplicity in the sense of a simple back woods country bumpkin.  By the simplicity of God we mean that God is one and his attributes are united in a simple whole.  God is not a conglomeration of attributes that are linked together like so many Legos.  God’s attributes are inextricably united in the oneness of God’s being.  Where one of his attributes is, there all his other attributes are.  And, the cross is the best place to see the beautiful commingling of God’s attributes.  In his love, compassion, and mercy God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die to save sinners.  God’s holiness and justice is maintained when Jesus Christ died to pay the price of our sin.  The right wrath of God against human sin is satisfied upon the cross.  God exercises his omnipotent power by vanquishing sin, death and Satan through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

So, what about Satch’s musings and questions about God?  God did come into our midst as a man, and he did cry.  But, he did so much more than weep over the human condition: he did something about the human condition; He sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

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