Coffee With The Lord

I’ve joked to young men contemplating marriage that there is only one appropriate response to their wife, once they marry… “Yes dear!”

Well there is really only one appropriate response to God regarding His revealed will… “Yes Lord!” (or the word “Amen!”).

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia provides this explanation of the word “Amen”: “A particle expressing affirmation, equivalent to ‘so be it.’ It is used as a solemn formula by which an individual or the whole nation confirms a covenant or an oath.” Webster does a great job of defining the term in modern usage: “An interjection used to express solemn ratification or hearty approval.”

My Bible reading from Deuteronomy 26-27 emphasized both the rationale for the use of the term “Amen” and then provided examples of its use by God’s people 12 times…

“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised… This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today…” (Deuteronomy 26:16-19; 27:9-10 ESV)

Then what follows are the rehearsal of 12 commandments to guide God’s people as they enter the Promised Land, each followed by the appropriate response… It goes like this: The command is given, and then these words: “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen! … Amen!’” (27:15-26)

As a Christ-follower there is only one appropriate response to God’s will… “Amen!” and the obedience that appropriately follows! Jesus put it this way… “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Read it in John 14:15, 21, 23-24 – it’s reinforced!) So… when it comes to God’s revealed will in my life – whenever and wherever or however it is revealed and I become aware of it I want my response to be “AMEN!”

Ever hear someone say something uplifting and profound and find yourself saying under your breath or quietly within… “That’s for me! Me too! Count me in on that one!”

Well that happened to me this morning as I read these words from Psalm 101 in the Bible…

“I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to You, O LORD, I will make music! I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless! I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me! A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil” (from Psalm 101.1-4)

What a life commitment in our culture! My heart is drawn to these words! I make them my own. How about you?

My post this morning is especially designed to provoke thought among those who are responsible for planning and facilitating what we call “worship services” in our “houses of worship.” As I read Psalm 100 this morning during “coffee with the Lord” this thought entered my mind – What if we planned and structured “worship services” specifically to achieve the goals this psalm speaks of? (I think many do, but there’s always room for improvement, right?) Here’s the psalm… then a few reflections…

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

What if we deliberately sought to facilitate…

• The joyful sound
• Gladness in “service” (a biblical synonym for worshipful acts)
• Preludes to worship that were characterized by the congregation singing praises
• Contexts that encouraged an awareness of Who God really is – His character, His holiness, His goodness, His faithfulness, His love!
• Contexts that encouraged reflection of who we are in relationship to Him – our Creator God, redeemed by Him, the object of His care and concern.
• “Worship services” that were characterized by thankful entrance into His promised presence, praise, gratitude, and “blessing His name” (i.e. eulogizing Him for who He is).
• All the while keeping in focus this core reality about our God… “The Lord is good! His steadfast love (His covenant love) endures forever! His faithfulness endure to ALL generations (those generations past, and present – your children and mine, and those to come by the grace of God).

You know what I think… I think our services would become incredibly uplifting and transformative! The awareness of God’s presence among us would become profound and real – like the Shekinah cloud of God’s glory among the community of Israel above the tabernacle and temple and within the “holiest of all”! Gotta tell you, I long for that – the “manifest presence of God”! To borrow the words of Isaiah 6… “And the seraphim… called to one another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory!”  Thankfully I’ve been in a few “worship services” like that!