In Spirit and Truth: Sunday Music Preview

On Sunday our church body gathers to praise God and encourage one another toward knowing him and serving him better.  One of my jobs is sharing music that helps us to corporately adore our Savior and speak truth about our God, so I want to give you the opportunity to see the mindset behind the opening set of music for this Sunday.  I desire for this to more adequately prepare you to adore our God in spirit and truth.

The thought process:

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God” will start us out reflecting and proclaiming the power of God as Creator, Provider, and Sustainer.  Only once we have some context for the one whom we are praising can we rightly sing “Blessed Be Your Name.”  Because he is our Creator/Provider/Sustainer we can trust him even in the most difficult circumstances.

In the midst of suffering, Job expressed, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)  Job knew the context of God as Creator/Provider/Sustainer or he would have been surprised by the Lord’s rhetorical questions through the last chapters: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell me, if you have understanding…” (Job 38:4), and Yahweh goes on and on describing his own sufficient actions and character to Job.  It’s as if he is saying, “Job, in the midst of these horrific times, I am more than enough for you!  I am more awesome than you could ever know!”

As we sing our opening songs this Sunday, feast on the greatness of our God and respond by blessing his name and proclaiming him as more than enough for he is our Creator, our Provider, and our Sustainer.  May his name be praised as we gather this Sunday.

The songs:

I Sing the Mighty Power of God

I sing the mighty pow’r of God,
That made the mountains rise;
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shins full at His command
And all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with His word,
And then pronounced them good
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed
Where’er I turn my eye;
If I survey the ground I tread
Or gaze upon the sky!

There’s not a plant or flow’r below,
But makes thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee
Is ever in Thy care,
And ev’ry where that man can be
Thou, God, art present there.

Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be Your Name in the land that is plentiful,
Where your streams of abundance flow…Blessed be Your Name
And Blessed be Your Name when I’m found in the desert place,
Though I walk through the wilderness…Blessed be Your Name

Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say

Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious Name

Blessed Be Your Name when the sun’s shining down on me,
When the world’s “all as it should be”… Blessed be Your Name
And blessed be Your Name on the road marked with suffering,
Though there’s pain in the offering…Blessed be Your Name

You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say, “Lord, blessed be Your Name.”

Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious Name

Enough

You are my supply, my breath of life, still more awesome than I know
You are my reward worth living for, still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love, and all I have in You is more than enough

Your my sacrifice of greatest price, still more awesome than I know
You’re my coming King, You are everything, Still more awesome than I know.

More than all I want, more than all I need, You are more than enough for me.
More than all I know, More than all I can see, You are more than enough for me

Closing suggestion:

If you desire to meditate on this concept before Sunday, I would encourage you to read from Job 38 to the end of the book.  Simply scan it and find a portion of it to meditate upon in preparation for our time of proclaiming/singing this Sunday.  I’m looking forward to worshiping our God with you!

Legalities:

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God” words by Isaac Watts and music by William H. Monk ©1868 Public Domain CCLI License #11026168 “Blessed Be Your Name” words and music by Beth Redman and Matt Redman ©2002 Thankyou Music CCLI License #11026168; “Enough” words and music by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio ©2002 worshiptogether.com songs | sixsteps Music CCLI License #11026168