worship as a weapon (part one)
I was raised in a “hymn singing” church. So many memories of Dale Emery playing the pipe organ accompanying our congregational singing. So many memories of organ preludes calling us to worship, special anthems ushering us into heaven’s sanctuary, postludes sending us out; a divine soundtrack of sorts, playing in the background of our everyday, ordinary lives. Yet, playing the pipe organ seems so inadequate a description for what Mr. Emery was doing. For this kid, looking up into the choir loft was like looking at an astronaut seated in front of the command center flying the space shuttle; mesmerizing!
My high school music teacher once told me that few people have heard an actual massive pipe organ played to its fullest virtue, a machine only the most talented of musicians can master. It requires superior hand-eye and even foot-eye coordination, as well as, the ability to play on multiple keyboards at once, while also pulling out stops, pushing buttons, and turning pages! All of this in addition to the actual skill needed just to play the music!
There’s no doubt in my mind that the church of my youth is directly responsible for my love of music; classical music, sacred music, worship music. And music was in our home growing up. My father played the piano and his old reel-to-reel player often filled our house with music (think Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey!). I sang in choirs all through my growing up years, performed in musicals during high school, sang in college and even had a short stint in a barbershop quartet called; Glory Bound!
I’m an avid fan and follower of Michael W. Smith, Stephen Curtis Chapman, D.C. Talk, Toby Mac, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, GLAD, Brandon Lake, Skillet and so many more! Truly music has been, and continues to be, a significant influence in my life.
But it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I was reintroduced to the notion that, for the believer, worship is a weapon. While not specifically listed among the pieces of spiritual armor described by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:14-18 alongside the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, I do see it nested in verse 18: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” What is singing but a “…kind of prayer and request,” set to music. Come on!
Think of the Israelites marching around the walls of Jericho. Once a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. On the seventh time with the priests blowing their trumpets and the whole army gave a loud shout; a festal shout! Elevation Worship captured it this way in the lyric of their song Praise; “…I’ll praise when I feel it and I’ll praise when I don’t. I’ll praise ‘cause I know you’re still in control. Because my praise is a weapon, it’s more than a sound. Oh, my praise is the shout that brings Jericho down…”
I think about the “midnight moment” in Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas are in Philippi, where they meet Lydia who responded to Paul’s message, was baptized and opened her home to them! Once, on their way to the place of prayer, Paul casts out a spirit from a slave girl and the spirit left her. Her owners were displeased, to say the least, and had them brought before the authorities who had them stripped and beaten with rods, severely flogged and thrown into prison, into the inner cell, their feet fastened in stocks.
The text then records the following, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” God’s supernatural power and intervention came directly on the heels of prayer, praise and worship! Question: what was the hymn that Paul and Silas were singing? Answer: I Lift Up My Hands, of course, because their feet were in stocks! Sorry, I couldn’t resist!
Psalm 149 captures it this way, “Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people…let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp…let his faithful people rejoice in his honor and sing for joy on their beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands…Praise the Lord.” May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands; praise is like a double-edged sword in our hands, kind of like the sword of the Spirit in our spiritual armor!
Makes me think of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles chapter 20! More on that next week in Part Two of my “Worship as a weapon” post. For now, I invite and encourage you to spend some time thinking about the role worship has played in your life. Have you relegated worship to a couple of songs at church on Sunday? What does your worship look like the other 167 hours of the week?
There’s so much more to worship than just what happens in church on Sunday. Sadly, for most, the adversary has succeeded in keeping it locked in the Sunday-morning-church-box simply reveals just how wily his scheming really is. Don’t you think it’s time to remind him that he’s a defeated foe? Maybe it’s even worth singing about! Put on your favorite, go to worship song – crank the volume – lift up holy hands and let it rip!
I’ll see you, down the road.
