The Theology of Worship Music – This Is Amazing Grace

The Theology of Worship Music – This Is Amazing Grace

By Jeremy Riddle, Josh Farro, Phil Wickham

The #2 song on the CCLI Top 25 is This Is Amazing Grace. There is an obvious reference to the storied hymn Amazing Grace in this title. Deservedly so.

This song is Christ-centered from beginning to end. It is extremely evident this song is directed toward our Lord. The last line of the chorus nails it, in case there was any doubt: “Jesus, I sing, for all that You've done for me!”

The phrase “The King of Glory” comes from Psalm 24. It is used five times in the short ten-verse Psalm of David. The first six verses contain a clear call to worship from David.

Psalm 24:1-6 (ESV) The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Selah

David gives a strong charge concerning approaching God in worship. Only those with “clean hands and a pure heart.” He gives great motivation for attaining to the status of a worshipper by stating, “He will receive blessing from the Lord.” He encourages us to “Selah”, or pause and think about that for a while.

Here’s the problem. Without the redemption provided by Jesus, and His bloodshed on the cross, we have no hope of “ascending the hill of the Lord.” That’s were the “amazing grace” comes into play.

David continues with his psalm:

Psalm 24:7-10 (ESV) Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

Selah

David knew that one was coming to redeem, not only Israel, but the whole human race from the grip of sin that kept them from true fellowship with their Creator. “Lift up your heads! The King of Glory is coming! He is strong. He is able. He will open the path for us to know God again.” “Selah.” Think about THAT for a while.

Drawing from that inspiration, the writers of today’s psalm, This Is Amazing Grace, pen the declarations, “Who breaks the power of sin, Whose love is mighty, Who shakes the earth, Who leaves us in wonder?” The King of Glory!

They continue: “Who brings our chaos into order, Who makes us sons and daughters?” The King of Glory!

The bridge brings us to a place of complete reverence and awe of “The Lord strong and might, the Lord mighty in battle. (Psalm 24:8)” “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

Worthy is the King who conquered the grave.”

It is amazing when you think of all that Jesus did to provide us with a way back to our Father. He loved us with a love that took Him to Calvary where He died for you and me, so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin. It is reason to worship The King of Glory, Jesus Christ!

Theology of Worship Music – 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

I love the music of Matt Redman. It is creative, heartfelt, and mostly Christ-centered. 10,000 Reasons is no exception. This is one of the great new hymns being written in our day. Besides being fun to sing, it gives voice to our grateful hearts to express how much we love and adore our God.

Drawing from a similar motif found in other hymns (Count Your Many Blessings, O For A Thousand Tongues, etc.) Matt uses a familiar number found in scripture to quantify reasons to praise God. Clearly this is meant to be a number larger than any we could ever equal; at least that’s them impression I have.

The chorus begins with a familiar phrase used by David in Psalms 103 and 104. “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” This is self-talk designed to inspire our soul to obey the commands of our spirit. The saved part of us, the spirit-man, wants to cry out in praise but our soul (mind, will, emotions) are not motivated to do so. But, a spirit rebirthed by the Holy Spirit will override the laziness of the flesh and begin to sing in praise to the One That Loves Us Most.

The verses show a clear progression. Verse one is the body and soul responding to the spirit within: Get up an praise God. Jesus put it this way, “Take up your cross daily and follow Me.”

As we do that with regularity our soul is brought into conformity with Jesus. We begin to learn more and more about the God whom we serve. Verse 2 then lists a few of the attributes he’s learned thus far … rich in love, slow to anger, etc. … then declares, “I will continue in worship until there are 10,000 reasons to give you praise!”

The final verse speaks of man’s mortality. At the same time it speaks of the “blessed hope of the church – eternity with God.” We will continue the song we began on earth, for 10,000 years, then forever!

If there is any criticism it would be that it never mentions Jesus. That is not a problem for me, but for some they prefer explicit mention verses the veiled references of “Lord, His, Your (all capitalized to infer a reference to the Trinity).”

I hope you will introduce this song to your congregation if you have not already. It has been at the CCLI #1 for quite some time. And for good reason.

The Theology of Worship Music – Ground Rules

Greetings!

As a worship leader for 30+ years I have seen many worship songs. I love the creativity of God that He placed in songwriters. Each song, and songwriter, expresses a facet of God’s nature and character that they have seen in their experience. It is not the same for everyone. I believe that is what leads to some of the divisions among the worship community. I believe it is also what has led to so many denominations being formed within the Christian faith.

Since Jesus left earth for Heaven about 2000 years ago there have been many “moves of God” recorded in history. Each “move” had some defining characteristic. More recently those have been labeled “Cane Ridge”, “Azusa Street”, “Healing Revival of the 1940s”, “The Toronto Blessing”, “Brownsville (aka Pensacola Outpouring)”, “The Lakeland Revival (aka Florida Healing Outpouring)”, and others. Before that there were others named “Welsh Revival”, “Moravians”, “Wesley Brothers”, and others.

One of the remnants from each of these has been music. A song, or musical genre, will typically be identified with each movement. Also, it is common for there to be a particular release of God’s nature and character during the season of revival. For example, healing in the 40s, repentance, baptism of the Holy Spirit, laughter, uncontrolled movement, etc. Because it came during “their” meetings these groups have a tendency to remain camped on that particular move of the Holy Spirit and refuse to move with a new wind that God might send.

Please understand, nothing of that was said as criticism. I’m just stating some observations from the vantage point of history.

Let’s get back to the subject at hand. In this blog we will look at what are considered “top” worship songs of the day. There are several sources from which to draw. One of the more reliable and authoritative is CCLI (Church Copyright License Inc.). They track usage of millions of worship songs in thousands of churches. If I don’t get to your favorite song then leave a comment naming the song. I’ll try to work it in as soon as possible.

I hope you enjoy these installments. I’ll try to post frequently to keep the content fresh for you. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. I do not claim to have a corner on the market of revelation.

The Names of God – Lifter of My Head

Psalm 3:3 (ESV) But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

This has been one of my favorite images of God for a long, long time. I have always pictured our Father as one that would come to the aid of the downtrodden; the underdog, the one that seemingly was out of the race. One of the first things that happens when we sense that failure is about to be the result is that we drop our head. Watch the sidelines at a football game. When the other team scores what is most likely the winning touchdown every head on the sideline drops in disappointment. There is no longer the expectation of winning.

Life is hard. Life has times that are called “troubles” for a reason. When it seems that there is nowhere else to go, The Lifter of My Head comes and gives new hope. One vivid example of this is in the life of Abram, later known as Abraham. When God first came to Abram and presented His plan of a son, God gave Abram a visual aid. He said, “Abram, your offspring will be as the sands on the seashore.” Years passed and no son.

God came to Abram again, this time giving him a new name: Abraham – Father of a multitude. God also gave him a new visual aid as well. God asked, “Can you count the stars? So shall be your offspring.” Abraham started looking upward. God had “lifted His head” to see the possibilities that faith can produce. (You can find the whole story in Genesis 14-18)

Another picture of God being The Lifer of My Head is in the story of the woman caught in the very act of adultery. (John 8) It is said that the religious leaders of the day brought the woman to Jesus to see what He would have them do with her. The Law required her to be stoned, but they had heard Jesus’ teaching on love and forgiveness.

After pondering the situation Jesus spoke up and said, “He that is without sin cast the first stone.” One by one, the multitude left the scene until only Jesus and the woman remained. Jesus then asked the woman, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, Lord.”

Jesus then said, “Neither do I. Go, and sin no more.” He had just lifted her head, given her hope of a better day. I’m sure in that moment, especially when they brought her to Jesus, the shame and ridicule that she endured was horrifying. She probably wanted to die. But after the encounter with Jesus, she left, able to hold her head up and look for a new possibility at life.

Jesus is still raising heads today. He still comes to each of us and says, “No one condemns you. Go and sin no more.” Listen to The Lifer of My Head say these words to you, regardless of where you are, or where you’ve been. He loves you absolutely, and has redeemed you completely.

TRUE vs. TRUTH About God

Romans 11:33-36 (ESV)

33  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34  “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

35  “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Take a good look at the above image. It shows one object illuminated with light from two different directions. In the blue light, the image casts a shadow that appears as a square. In the yellow light, the image casts a shadow in the shape of a circle. I recently saw this image with some graphics added for emphasis. I couldn’t find the image I saw, but recreated it below.

It is TRUE that the blue shadow is a square. It is TRUE that the image created by the yellow light is a circle. However, neither shadow properly describes the original image – TRUTH!

I heard an explanation of the scene in heaven described in Revelation 4:1-11.

Revelation 4:1-11 (ESV)

1  After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

2  At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

3  And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

4  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.

5  From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

6  and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

7  the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.

8  And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

9  And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

10  the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11  “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

The minister described this scene and then asked, “How could they do this 24/7 for eternity?” He went on to give his thoughts on the scene. Each time the creatures looked at God they saw something in Him they had never seen before. The only response to the majesty and glory of God is to bow down and cry, “Holy!”

When I considered this scene I imagined God being like a diamond. Even though a diamond is finite in the physical size, shape, and number of sides, as you turn the diamond it presents its various facets that give a different picture of the inner beauty contained in the stone. When light hits a diamond from various directions different colors appear due to the prism effect of the diamond. Using this simple illustration it is not difficult to imagine the variety of “facets” you might see in our God. Each time we see Him there is more to behold, more to worship.

I’m convinced the phenomenon that causes so much division in the Body of Christ is the view we have of God. Someone encounters God and sees a “circle”; another, a “square.” Both are TRUE. Neither is TRUTH. Convinced beyond a doubt, they commit their life to sharing their “experience”, totally unaware that they have only seen one glimpse of whom God really is.

This is the reason that I consider the Bible a more reliable source of TRUTH regarding God, and lean much less on my experience. In our finite, 3 dimensional world, objects of greater magnitude, or dimensions, like our God cannot be fully comprehended with just one glimpse. We can spend a lifetime exploring the vastness of God, plumbing the depths, climbing the summit of every peak, and still come way short of truly understanding Him fully. I believe this is where Paul was when he penned the words found in Romans 11 quoted above.

The primary reason I’m pursuing the study of the Names of God found in scripture is to try to put in some ascertainable format a description of God. I hope you will continue on this journey with me. I welcome your thoughts. I would love to hear your favorite perception of God, or the most recent “revelation” you have of Him.

The Names of God – Adonai

This name of God is intriguing. It only appears by itself one time in scripture. However, it appears many other times represented by the letters YHWH, typically pronounced Yahweh. When you see the word LORD used in all capital letters it is the name Adonai.

This name of God is considered divine. Israel would not even speak the name in order to give it reverence. In Exodus 6:3 God states, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD (Adonai) I did not make myself known to them.”

God chose to withhold an aspect of His nature until this exchange with Moses. God knew that Israel would need an intimate connection with their Creator in order to trust Him as they were led from slavery to a new life in Canaan, the Promised Land.

It reminds me of names that spouses will give to one another. When they become “one” in marriage the bond between them is unique. Many times they call each other by names that only they know. These names are never used in public. They are reserved only for their intimate relationship.

LORD, or Adonai, was a name that God revealed to Israel to give them intimate insight into His character and nature. He would be their LORD. David declared, “The LORD is my Shepherd…” and “O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name …”

Later in the book of Exodus Moses and God have this exchange:

Exodus 33:15-19 (ESV)

15  And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

16  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

17  And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

18  Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

19  And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

God showed Moses, and through him, Israel, all of God’s goodness and proclaimed His name, Adonai, before them. God was saying to them, “I AM Sovereign. I AM LORD.” A sovereign is a supreme leader. In a monarchy it is the king! God is saying that in His kingdom He is the King.

Here is one last thought on this. In the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelations) one of the churches to which letters were written is Pergamos. The word Pergamos comes from a root word that means castle or tower. That sounds like a place where a king would dwell. One of the promises made to this church was this: Revelation 2:17 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Isn’t that something? Not only does God have a name reserved for us (Adonai), He also has given us a name that He will reveal to us that no one else knows. He loves us so much!