Worship Wars

660- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.” (2 Sam 22:3) David continues his high praise of God his Deliverer, as he keeps spouting words associated with strength and protection. Some of them almost seem redundant. In verse two, he spoke of God as his “rock and fortress,” and here we see the words, “stronghold and refuge.” Pretty much the same concept, just using different words, but let us remember, this is a song, and songs are useful tools to teach and help us remember. I am married to a teacher and my daughter is a teacher and both have very effectively used songs as teaching aids in their perspective fields of Math and Spanish. Perhaps remembering this fact about songs will be helpful when churches experience “worship wars” over what style of music to use in church. Some want all hymns, some want all praise choruses. Personally, I believe there is a place for both because both are great tools to teach us about God, ourselves, His Law and the Gospel. When written in accordance with Scripture, they help us remember vital truths for our Christian walk. David's song hammers away at the concept of God being our reliable strength and shelter, something we all need to remember as we daily battle with the devil, the world, and our flesh. This concept found in David's song has been brought forward to us in the classic hymn, “Rock of Ages. ” Several years ago, Graham Kendrick did a masterful job of combining that hymn into a praise chorus that helps all who sing it remember these rock solid truths. In his rendition, Kendrick uses the classic verses of the hymn and adds a praise chorus after each verse to help us remember that Jesus IS our Rock. It goes like this: Rock of ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood, from Your wounded side which flowed. Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power. Then he adds the repetitive praise chorus: “My Rock, My Rock, My Jesus my Rock. This praise chorus is repeated after every verse of the classic hymn. It's a wonderful example of combining the two styles to drive home a vital truth. If you have time some day, I would encourage you to “Google” it and give it a listen. After all, I don't think we can hear it enough. Jesus is our Rock!