For Lord’s Day, April 4, 2021

Dear Saints,

I heard two things on the Christian radio this week while driving that blessed me greatly thinking about our union in Christ and identity living in Him now as new creatures free from being haunted by our pasts, which I’d like to share with you.

First, in between songs, the announcer said something like this:  “Are you having a difficult day?  Worship through it.”

Amen!  Days are often difficult until the Eternal Day.  Even good days have their challenges to endure until evening.  How can and do we get through? Worship Jesus.  Keep your Psalter handy.  Remember you have Psalm 117 memorized and at the fingertips and strings of your heart.  And keep the version of Psalm 19:7-11 we will sing this Lord’s Day in the back of your mind.  And sing them to the Lord to get through whatever is ailing you.  It’s amazing how quickly singing the Lord’s Psalms to Him will get you to persevere to the other side of your predicament.  And so Satan will hope you won’t do it: so you don’t get through it, or at least not well.  Instead, worship through beloved!

The other blessing was a song I heard, especially these words:  “Grace rewrote my story.”  Wow.  What a blessing. Our story was bleak and black and dead and dying and would end in everlasting tragedy.  It is not a story we want to be our testimony.  Let us be glad to bury it in our resurrection through Christ in us Who rewrites our story.  A whole new, clean and sanctified slate is opened up to us from beginning to end and in all of the middle chapters as we rejoice to know our names are written in the Book of Life.  How glorious to have our story re-written by Christ’s sovereign hand that holds out His scepter of mercy over us.  Whatever our past that tries to creep in and control our present, we can remember that’s not our story anymore! We have a completely edited character profile and re-written future. He has whited out all our sins. And given us a sanctified story written in His blood. Hallelujah!  

Here are the words of the song in a bit more of their context:

This is my testimony
From death to life.
‘Cause grace rewrote my story
I’ll testify

Here’s the song if you’d like to enjoy it for your Christian entertainment and edification: 

Naturally, we don’t use songs other than the Psalms for worship. But this is one I enjoy while driving for meditation! I especially love one of the song’s refrains: “The miracle that I just can’t get over, my name is registered in heaven.”  Indeed this is our new story through Jesus in HIS-STORY.

While searching for the song I also found this one by the same title but it is a different song. I encourage you to enjoy it as well.  You’ll hear an older Christian song within it, “This is my story.  This is my song.  Praising my Savior all the day long!”  Our story is new because our story is now Christ’s.  How sweet it is. 

Speaking of sweet, we’re going to have topical sermons tomorrow as it was a very busy week for Session and myself as you know.  It will help to have more time for researching our exegetical series on Deuteronomy and Philippians and return to them next week.  And there’s something I’ve wanted to preach on per an article I recently read and this gives me opportunity to do so.  As well, Mr. Delgado reminded me of his request the next time I could use a topical sermon breather.  He asked for Proverbs 24:13-14 speaking about eating honey and the sweet experience of its reviving blessing as an illustration of what eating the Word of God does for us every time we taste and see that He is good through His Word. 

Among other Psalms, Psalm 19:7-10 came to mind for worship tomorrow because of verse 10 speaking of God’s Law, testimony, and Word: “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”  Knowing many of you are very familiar with a folk tune (for lack of a better style description) to sing this Psalm section with verse 10 as the refrain, I’d like to do that tomorrow so please plan on it.  As I don’t know it as well as all of you, I searched for it online to get more familiar and practice. I offer this one as probably the smoothest way to say the words (especially “testimony”):

I also found this cute children’s/puppet version we’ll have fun using to teach our little guys with at home (sharing just for fun):

Then I found this gorgeous rendition I hope you’ll be blessed listening to (I plan to look for this to add to my iTunes music library):

Now of course we also won’t use instruments in worship but this is lovely for our learning and listening pleasure. Also, I like the way he uses verses 11 and 14 so please give a listen and I’ll plan on leading us with those extra parts at the end of our singing Psalm 19 tomorrow (we’ll practice in our family worship after dinner this evening).

Beloved, let us prepare our hearts for the sweet worship and fellowship in Christ that awaits us tomorrow on His Holy Day, the Christian Sabbath, during which we celebrate the Resurrection each of the 52 Lord’s Days of the year as we await our own resurrection at His return and the climax of His story and our eternal living of it and Him together. We can trust that if we come preparing ourselves to taste of the Lord in His Word that He will give us a hearty holy appetite and satisfy us with Christ’s righteousness.

Semper Reformanda,
Pastor Grant