BECOMING A PSALMIST
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Col. 3:16-KJV)
"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Eph. 5:19-KJV)
In scripture, the revelation of who God is forms the very basis for worship. "Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord." (Deut. 6:4) This distinction that "God is one," set the Hebrews apart from all of the polygamous nations of the world. The New Testament counterpart is seen in Jesus Christ's words "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shalt love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, souland strength." Jesus was/is a fountain-head of revelation, concerning the Godhead, and we do well to learn from Him. His disciples is fulfilling his command to baptie in the name (singular) of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, (not titles plural) baptized converts "into the name (singular) of Jesus Christ," at Pentecost in Acts 2:38, with the Samaritans in Acts 8:16, the Gentiles Acts 10:46-48, and Ephesians in Acts 19:5.
God Himself chose a sacred or holy place for His name, and it was His people, Israel, for the land of Israel was consecrated because of the initial relationship between God and the man Abraham. (Gen. 12:1-3) God and the man Moses, to whom God revealed Himself as "I Am," and who in meeting together with Moses caused the very ground on which they stood to be holy ground. As we focus upon God's presence among us and His eternal and unchanging word, we will see through "spiritual eyes," that it was God who put a difference between holy and profane, in His desire to hve a people for His name.
God identified Himself as "the God who brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt." In like manner, the covenant at Mt. Sinai, was the vehicle by which God established Israel as His most cherished possession." (Exod. 19:5) The singing of psalms by the Israelites, originated in their desert places, where they sang psalms of praise to God for their deliverance from out of the house of bondage. (Exod. 15:1-21)
In Moses confrontation with the magicians of Pharaoh's court, who worshipped the moon god Thoth, the magicians attempted to duplicate certain of the divine signs and wonders God sent. (Exodus 7:8-13) But the power of Almighty God was greater by far, and God disarmed the strong man by his outstretched arm. The original sin was the result of the human heart losing it's focus. Likewise, Cain's sin involved his choise of worship. (Gen. chapter 3-4) The highways to Zion begin first in the human heart, for the worshipper is first "a seer" who has had a divine encounter with God. The Hebrew term darash which is translated "worship," means to seek or inquire." (Ezra 4:2, Psalm 24:6)
In life there are things which we desire, and are willing to work very hard to see produced within our lives, and families. The scriptures teach that the commands of the Lord must be stored within the heart. One's ear must be turned to wisdom. There must be an applying of the heart to understanding. But this seeking, this searching after God produces in man "a treasure-trove of understanding of the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge." When true wisdom comes, it bestowed as the "gift of God," and God will be a shield to the one who has desired to know God in this way. (Prov. 2:1-6)
The prophetic gift originates in it's authentic form in praise and worship. The Hebrew term for psalms, is mizmor,"meaning melody or psalm. Another related word is maskil, meaning a contemplative poem, or song. In the Old Testament the song of Moses was sung as a testimony of renewal of the covenant relationship with God. (Deut. 31:19, 31:30,32:47) King David created guilds of prophtic music, and set them ove the Temple worship. (1 Chron. 6:31-32, 25:1-31) As the sweet singer of Israel, David's praise, worship and prayers, were the atmosphere in which he received his psalms, "by revelation." David would pour out his heart to God, and the Lord would literally "open" a dark saying, and by doing this, God was teching David, and the generations to come. The New Testament says: Teaching and exhorting one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs."
The French Camisards had "prophets" who are sometimes referred to as "inspired ones" who claimed Spirit-given revelations, and called their charismatic group of Huguenots "the children of God". Vast numbers of Huguenots met death in local French prisons or were executed on the torture wheel.
Others were shipped off to sea to serve as galley slaves, in the galleys of the Royal French Navy. Not many survived. In the Cevennes, which was the ancient stronghold of this branch of Huguenots, they went into battle chanting Marot's version of the sixty-eighth psalm, "Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered, and it's been said that every man became a lion.
BECOMING A PSALMIST
In many of the psalms concerning Mashiach/Christ,
the people of God are invited to sing praise to God;
such as in Psalms forty seven, sixty eight, and the ninety fifth, and in many of the prophesies of Isaiah it is declared, that not only the watchmen, and ministers of the word, "should lift up the voice, and with the voice together sing;" but that believers "should break forth into joy, and sing together." (Isa. 52:7-9; see Isa. 26:1, 35:1, 2, 54:1) Music in ancient Israel, and even in New Testament times, was partof family gatherings and celebrations. (Gen. 31:27, Luke 15:25) It was used to celebrate military victories in Exodus 32:17-18. The Hebrew people sang praise to God as they worked in Isaiah 16:10. Music was also part of life in the king's court. (1 Chron. 15:16, 23:5; 25:6-7)
Moses and Miriam, and the women together with her, sang songs of praise on the shores of the Red Sea, after God miraculously delivered His peole Israel. Deborah sang with Barak; and Jeremiah prophesied that "women" should come dancing, and young men and old men together and "shout for joy in the heighth of Zion." They will rejoice in God's bounty, even the young of the flocks and herds. (Jer. 31:8-12)
The strength of the French Huguenots was the result of their belief that God was sovereign in every area of life, and that He had made them more than conquerors through Christ. In the sixteenth century the Huguenots of France were known for their psalm singing. They drew inspiration from the Psalter, and it's psalms became their battle cry. They sang as they ate their meals, or as they engaged themselves in work, as well as when they worshiped. They sang as they rows in the galleys of ships in which they were imprisoned, and they sang in the fires of persecution, through charred lips. They sang when they went out into battle. When in the midst of battle, the psalms were chanted whenever sentries took their posts. The chanting of certain psalms signified certain things. Chanting Psalm 3 was a signal for danger. Whenever a Huguenot heard this psalm, he knew an attack by the enemy was imminent. James speaks of praising God when he says, "I will pray with the Spirit, and I will sing with the Spirit also. (1 Cor. 14:15). When Paul and Silas were in prison, they both prayed and sang praises to God. (Acts 16:25).
The hymn "All Hail The Power," often called the "National Anthem of Christendom." The hymn first appeared in the November, 1779, issue of the Gospel Magazine, edited by Augustus Toplady, author of "Rock of Ages". The song's text has been translated into almost every language where Christianity is known.
The hymn's author, Edward Perronet was born at Sundridge, Kent, England, in 1726. He was a descendant of a distinguished French Huguenot family who had fled to Switzerland and later to England because of the religious persecution in France.
God wants us to know Him as our holy Father, and Provider, who is providing for us faithfully even when circumstances seem like our needs are going unmet. He longs to see us mature into people who believe, by faith, that all our suffering is to Him a "beautiful censor" which sends forth the fragrance of our living sacrifice, as a sweet-smelling odour to Him. Paul wrote to the Philippians in Philippians 3:10, stating:
(a) All believers who are redeemed through the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua/Lord Jesus, will suffer persecutions! When He was on the cross, we were "on His mind" as the old song says. We were in Him, and one with Him. His sufferings and death were our sufferings and death. "The world is crucified unto me and I unto the world" We are crucified with Mashiach/Christ, risen with Him, and seated with Him in glory.
(b) We enter into participation or fellowship with Christ when we honour God by loving Him with all of our heart, mind and strength. He lived to do the will of the Heavenly Father. We glorify God when we "esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches that the treasures, honor, and glory of this world" Identifying with Yeshua/Jesus and His Gospel, we will find ourselves despised, rejected of men, persecuted and scorned for our belief and our witness of Christ and the Gospel. But we must "count it all joy" to suffer for His name, for if we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him.
(c) There is a fellowship of we have with other like minded believers who also suffer for His name here on this earth. Who suffer for His glory and according to His Divine will and purpose in order that they may minister called the people of God. The Apostle Paul wrote "The God of all comfort comforts us in all our troubles and tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." (II Corinthians 1:3)
Suffering for God is the highest privilege which can be accorded as His creation. The Philippians knew this by experience, for they were graciously granted not only to believe on Christ, but to suffer for His sake. (1:29) In the words of Reuben Saillens:
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the solemn watchword hear;
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone;
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, each soldier to his post,
Close up the broken column, and shout through all the host:
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long;
Tom & Alana Campbell 5214 South 2nd Avenue, Everett, Wa 98203-4113 Telephone (425) 252-2981
Et 1'on verra dans un moment
Abandonner la place ;
Le camp des enncmics epars,
Epouvante de toutes parts,
Fuira devant sa face.
"That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings..."
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.
If while ye sleep He suffers, away with shame and fear;
Where’er ye meet with evil, within you or without,
Charge for the God of battles, and put the foe to rout.
Ye that are brave now serve Him against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.
Make good the loss so heavy, in those that still remain,
And prove to all around you that death itself is gain.
This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song.
To those who vanquish evil a crown of life shall be;
They with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.