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To Please Our Father
By
Denie Riggs
(November
2003)
There is a revival in praise as a new wind of free worship sweeps across the earth affecting people of
all denominations. After decades of
singing songs about God, we are
turning our hearts to seek God’s
desire for worship.
As our hearts cry out to praise and please our Father, we must know what
pleases Him. We find our answers in
the Psalms, especially 148, 149 and 150 where the psalmist commands us to
“Praise the Lord!” I want to
look specifically at Psalm 149.
In verses 1-3 we are given instruction as to HOW
we are to praise Him:
- Sing
to the Lord a new song (v 1)
- Praise
His name with dancing (v 3)
- Praise
with tambourine (v 3)
- Praise
with lyre (v 3) (strings)
Who is commanded to Praise?
In verse two we see: “Let
Israel
be glad in their Maker. Let the sons of
Zion
rejoice in their King.” We know that
Israel
is God’s chosen people. ‘The
sons of
Zion
’ includes all of the rest of us. One
version puts it as ‘all God’s children.’
I like that. That includes
me.
And you.
Why are we to praise?
Verse four…for the Lord takes pleasure in His people.
Wow! Can you believe that we
give God pleasure? I don’t know
about you but I was raised to believe that God was ashamed of me.
I strived for perfection just so that He would not be mad. To know that I
bring God pleasure is awesome, amazing and refreshing.
What is the result of this
worshipping with the tambourine, strings, singing and dancing?
He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. The godly ones will
exult in glory and rejoice in their beds. There
will be salvation, glory and joy, both in the worshipper and those around us.
Verse six tells us two important things.
- The
Psalmist calls this form of worship (dance, tambourine, singing and strings)
the high praises of God. The
Bible is giving instruction as to what God enjoys, and what pleases Him.
- The
benefit to us is in the next part of that same verse… ‘a two-edged sword
in our hands.’ This form of high
praise (dance, tambourine, singing and strings) is a weapon of victory for
us.
In our modern churches, singing with the strings of a piano
is widely accepted. Some churches
permit other instruments like guitars and drums. Worship dance is reluctantly
becoming accepted as a form of worship in our more radical churches.
However, even where there is an acceptance of worship dance, there seems
to be a resistance to the tambourine.
A few weeks ago we had the occasion to attend a banquet in
Nashville
. There, I met a lady who told me
about a huge Praise Parade that recently took place in downtown
Nashville
. She spoke of the music, banners,
flags and dancing that occurred. I
chimed in, “And there were tambourines?”
She said, “No. I
specifically noticed that there were no tambourines.”
I have noticed this same thing in most circles of worship.
I feel that this “oversight” of the tambourine is not by accident.
Our lack of understanding regarding this instrument is because of the
blinding of our enemy.
Why? Why would our use or
non-use of the tambourine make a difference?
I believe that God is revealing a new truth.
In our search to please God in our worship, we need to study Lucifer,
because God created him to be the chief worshipper in Heaven.
Surely it will show us what is important to God in worship.
In Ezekiel 29:13, God, speaking of Lucifer, says “The
workmanship of thy tabrets (tambourines) and of thy pipes (wind instruments) was
prepared IN THEE in the day that thou was created.” (KJV) In
Isaiah 14:11. God says to Lucifer, “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave,
and the noise of thy viols (stringed instruments.)”(KJV)
From these two passages we see that when Lucifer was created, in
him were created the tambourine, strings and pipes.
Every where he moved, there was music and noise.
Those sounds were pleasing to the Father.
Lucifer was cast out of heaven.
When we use those instruments in worship, we are redeeming the sounds
that God created in Lucifer. Surely
this worship pleases the Father.
But wait, there is
more going on here! The
spiritual world is more real than the natural world.
The tambourine is an instrument of warfare.
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 30:32 that God fights our enemies to the
sound of the tambourine. Every time
we strike the tambourine, it is a direct blow to our enemy.
The tambourine gives God’s children victory,
as a two-edged sword in their hand.
When we use the
tambourine, strings and pipes in worship we are redeeming those instruments for
heavenly worship. When we worship in
obedience to the scriptures; we give God the high praises from His perspective; and we receive power of a
two-edged sword in our hands.
Do you want to give God high praise? Do you want to please Him and give Him
pleasure? Dance around your living
room (or your sanctuary) with a tambourine.
Sing to Him a new song. Strike
the strings. There is power and
victory.
And He likes it!
Hallelujah!
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