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)

 .

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!