Worship Devotional VII
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 1/2/2020
Weekly Worship Devotional
This week's songs are about the love of God in our lives. His love awakens us to life, truly satisfies our deepest longings, remains firm and steadfast through all of life's struggles and changes, brings us through dark times, gives us hope and strength and peace and joy and victory, will never be separated from us, and is better than life itself.
(Note: This post is somewhat long. I'd encourage you to read through it now, and then if you don't have time for everything at once, maybe listen to the songs later, and then read some of the Scriptures another time, or whatever you can work out. But if you can, please do find the time to consider and reflect on what we are reading and singing about).
As we go forward in this new year, I think it's fitting to sing confidently about the love God has for us. No matter what things happened in this past year, or what may be happening now in this season, or what will happen this coming year, His love remains true, steadfast, and unshakeable. Because of this truth, we always have hope, no matter how dark things seem.
Here are the songs:
This song has a lot to say about God's love—how it is deep and wide and fierce and strong and mighty. The idea behind the use of the word, "furious," is this: God loves us so much that anything that would stand against us or wish to harm us makes Him angry—even furious. Think of how a parent loves their child; they would be angry toward anything that comes against them, all because of the love they have for them. It makes sense that God would be furious toward sin and falsehood, then, because His love for us is eternal, and greater than we could ever fathom.
Because of God's furious love for us, He has promised to always be with us. This is a powerful and awesome reminder for us, especially when we are in the midst of trials. This song reminds us that He is near to us in the valleys of our wandering and searching and breaking and loneliness, and His love will stand firm throughout our lives.
3) Build My Life by Pat Barrett
Knowing His love for us is strong and unshakeable leads us to conclude two things: He is worthy of all our praise, and we can build our lives on His love. This song is all about praising God and declaring the security and strength we have in Him.
4) Jesus Firm Foundation by Jason Ingram (& others)
This last song is a modern take on the old hymn, "How Firm A Foundation," and is a declaration of the strength and certainty of our faith and salvation in Jesus. It is an opportunity to rejoice because we who believe in the name of Jesus Christ have the only true hope, peace, love, and life.
There are many places in Scripture that speak about hope in trying times and about the love and greatness and righteousness of God. Here are some to meditate on:
Exodus 20:5 & 34:14
Deuteronomy 4:15-40 (esp. vv.23-31), 5:7-10, 6:10-16, & 31:6
Psalm 63 (esp. v.3), 78 (esp. vv.19-22 & 58-59), & 85
Romans 8 (esp. vv.30-39)
Hebrews 12:28-29 & 13:5-6
Nahum 1:2-7 (esp. vv.2 & 7)
In choosing songs for us to sing as a congregation, I often find common themes that connect the songs and provide topics or specific points to meditate on. Different songs might provide different perspectives or contexts for these topics. Here are a few themes/topics for us to think about that I've identified that connect the songs from last week and for this month:
Trusting in the Lord and holding onto hope in the midst of trial and hardship
The steadfast love and faithfulness of God
The sovereignty of God, even in the midst of tough questions that arise from difficult circumstances
As we dwell on these topics, reflect on and sing these songs, and read and grow from these Scriptures, may we learn more about how deep and true the love of God is. Be encouraged! He will never stop loving us. I look forward to singing about this wonderful truth with you all Sunday!