May 13, 2017
Worship: Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman
Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don't try to figure it out
Just listen to what I'm whispering to your heart
‘Cause I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be
And it feels like the end has started closing in on you
But it's just not true
There's so much of the story that's still yet to unfold
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and SEE, and you will be amazed
You've just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
God's plan from the start
For this world and your heart
Has been to show His glory and His grace
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of
His unfailing Love
And the story has only begun
We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we're living
Is just the beginning of the beginning
Of this glorious unfolding
We will watch and SEE, and we will be amazed
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We'll SEE the glorious unfolding
Just watch and SEE (unfolding)
This is just the beginning of the beginning (unfolding)
Publishing: © 2013 One Blue Petal Music / Primary Wave Brian (BMI) All rights admin. by Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Writer(s): Steven Curtis Chapman
Lyrics: http://www.klove.com/music/artists/steven-curtis-chapman/songs/glorious-unfolding-lyrics.aspx
Take a rest from the fight
Don't try to figure it out
Just listen to what I'm whispering to your heart
‘Cause I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be
And it feels like the end has started closing in on you
But it's just not true
There's so much of the story that's still yet to unfold
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and SEE, and you will be amazed
You've just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
God's plan from the start
For this world and your heart
Has been to show His glory and His grace
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of
His unfailing Love
And the story has only begun
We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we're living
Is just the beginning of the beginning
Of this glorious unfolding
We will watch and SEE, and we will be amazed
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We'll SEE the glorious unfolding
Just watch and SEE (unfolding)
This is just the beginning of the beginning (unfolding)
Publishing: © 2013 One Blue Petal Music / Primary Wave Brian (BMI) All rights admin. by Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Writer(s): Steven Curtis Chapman
Lyrics: http://www.klove.com/music/artists/steven-curtis-chapman/songs/glorious-unfolding-lyrics.aspx
Witness:
It has been about two weeks since I have sat down to journal. There are many reasons for this. The busyness of my schedule which is shortened by my lack of sleep which keeps me in bed longer and constantly fighting fatigue while I am awake. Then there is a Band of Brothers project, food shopping, picking up some of my grandkids, all which filled my waking day. Now getting ready to go to work looms ahead of me in less than an hour.
I heard this song earlier while I was cooking my dinner. Songs like these not only bring up my present state of being alone because my wife left me two years ago, they also remind me that God has not finished writing my story. I know in one sense my life has been written on God’s heart from eternity. Such a thought is too wonderful for me to comprehend. Therefore, I choose the metaphor of God of writing my story in the present tense. Perhaps it might be better to say that God is unfolding His plan for me every moment of my life. I can choose to wallow in sadness and be paralyzed by my present situation, or I can decide to trust the sovereign, steadfast love of my Savior. I can watch with amazement or apathy. I can see my future as boring or blessed.
I can serve the Lord with gladness or settle down with gloom. My desire is to walk with the Lord in whom I hope all the day long (Ps. 25:5). And when the fog of anxiety, boredom, depression, doubt, or sorrow seek to blur my vision and keep me from seeing His Story clearly, may I see through it all with the eyes of faith and the glorious light of God’s Word which cuts through the thickest of fogs! However, in the end, it is not me doing this by my own strength, but Christ’s (Gal. 2:20, Phil. 4:19).
WORD:
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Ps 26:8-27:1
8 I love the house where you live, O Lord,
the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But I lead a blameless life;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground; in the great
assembly I will praise the Lord.
NIV (’84)
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Ps 26:8-27:1
8 I love your sanctuary, Lord,
the place where your glorious presence dwells.
9 Don't let me suffer the fate of sinners.
Don't condemn me along with murderers.
10 Their hands are dirty with evil schemes,
and they constantly take bribes.
11 But I am not like that; I live with integrity.
So redeem me and show me mercy.
12 Now I stand on solid ground,
and I will publicly praise the Lord.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Ps 26:8-27:1
8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:
10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.
KJV
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Ps 26:8-12
and the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.
ESV
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What drew David to worship? What was the fountain from which he purified himself and the desire that fueled his passion? What was the ground from which his purpose grew? I believe verse 8 furnishes the answer to these questions.
“O Lord, I love the habitation of your house” ESV
Love was the basis, the fuel, the ground, and the fountain from which a purified praise rose heavenwards. David’s affection was not so much in the building itself but in Him whose special presence dwelt there.
“and the place where your glory dwells.” ESV
William A. VanGemeren observes:
Our minds want to apply this verse immediately to church attendance, and that is an appropriate application. Certainly, it puts to shame those who attend worship every week out of a sense of duty. They go because it is the duty of all Christians to go to church. This attitude is less prevalent today than earlier times. Many opt out of regular attendance and go only on Easter and Christmas. Others go weekly for the show that is held there or because their friends are there and it affords a break from their busy schedules. Fill in the blank for the reasons we go to church. If it is anything less than love for God, which brings a desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be led by Him to worship and praise our living Savior who died for us and to give thanks to our Sovereign and loving God and Father, then it is an inferior reason to go. It is idolatry!
Robert Newton lists these reasons for Church attendance:
Psalms 26:8
I. REASONS FOR LOVING THE HOUSE AND WORSHIP OF GOD.
1. Because we love Him whose house it is.
2. Because of the exercises there performed: prayer, reading, and exposition of the Word, praise.
3. Because of the company we meet there: God's children, angels, God Himself.
4. Because of blessing received there: pardon, guidance, comfort, joy.
II. HOW THIS AFFECTION SHOULD BE SHOWN.
1. By regular attendance.
2. By entering heartily into the services.
3. By using our influence to bring others.
4. By contributing to maintain the house and worship of God.
(from The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc. and Biblesoft, Inc.)
However, we must not limit our application to the corporate meeting in a central place on Sunday each week. In David’s day, many lived too far away to attend the tabernacle services except on religious holidays as prescribed by the Law. We do not have that same excuse. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that there would come a time when all who love God will worship Him in spirit and truth.
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:21-24 NIV
Thus, a central place of worship and outward rituals become less of an issue (“neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem”) and the inward attitude, purity of devotion, and unhypocritical worship more of the issue (“in spirit and truth”). By this, I don’t mean to nullify the importance of corporate worship, but I do not want to limit to that either. Our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Therefore, whether in corporate worship- led by His Spirit (Ephesians 5:19-20) or in private devotion- led by the same Spirit, we worship the Father in spirit and truth.
The Unseen War
In a place where no one can see
War is waging inside of me
Between my flesh and spirit
Clamoring, but you can’t hear it
Bitterness which you can’t taste
Fills my soul and seeks to lay waste
Empowered by the sons of hell
It leaves behind a noxious smell
There’s pain that you can’t feel
But it is present, and it is real
Inside of me the battle is fought
Every day it engages my thought
The flesh lives by only five senses
Through them, it commits its offenses
But my spirit reduces it to a wraith
When it calls upon the Lord in faith
For not by sight but faith we walk
With words of hope and trust, we talk
To our gracious Savior who hears
And rescues, empowers, and cheers
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