The trumpeters and singers joined I N U N I S O N in unison, as with one voice, to ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ give praise and thanks to the LORD. -2 Chronicles 5:13 A devotional series for the choir, the worship leader, and anyone desiring to experience or lead in a deeper worship experience. [See the end of this file for more information on the complete series.] The In Unison series is written by David S. Lampel. #6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T H R E E L I T T L E W O R D S The lyrics of a song popular several decades back said that those "three little words" were "I Love You." Many contemporary Christians get hung up on the difference between thanksgiving and praise or worship. Thanksgiving comes easily to a people taught to be polite and grateful. From our earliest years we are trained to say "thank you" when given something nice. So when God does something nice for us, we are comfortable and immediate with our thank-you. Praise, however, can be a muddier affair. How do we worship an invisible God for being something we cannot see? And how do we separate our praise from our thanksgiving? Where do we begin? We begin with those three little words: "I love You." Notice the period after the three words; notice that this is not the beginning of a longer statement, but the entirety of the statement. It is not "I love You because . . ." If that were the beginning of the statement, we'd be slipping back into the neighborhood of thanksgiving--a worthy enterprise, but not praise. Worship is not loving God because He has done something nice in our lives. True worship is loving God simply because He is God. That is the beginning--and essence--of worship: "I love You." Worship, at its most fundamental level, is nothing more or less than our telling God that we love Him. Psalm 103 shows us the contrast between worship and thanksgiving: Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.-Psalm 103:1 NASB In verse 1, David is worshiping God. Here he expresses the beauty of pure worship: With every part of me, I adore every part of you. Praising God's name is synonymous with praising the entirety of His character. In verse 2, however, he is expressing thanksgiving: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Psalm 103:2 NASB While the word "bless" (literally, to kneel down in adoration) is the action expressed in both, the motive behind each is different. Here his adoration is based on a heart of thanksgiving--for the good things the Lord has done in his life--and the remaining verses in the psalm itemize some of those benefits. _______________________ None of this is meant to diminish thanksgiving. It is good to thank the Lord for His goodness. But the distinction must be made. Sometimes thanksgiving is nothing more than good manners. We thank God for His blessings--but we also thank our friends for a gift, thank the salesman for a good deal on a new stereo, and thank the check-out clerk for returning the proper change. But we worship only God. If we are to lead the worshiping body of Christ, we must lead it with understanding--knowing not only what we do, but why. "Many are our faculties, emotions, and capacities, but God has given them all to us, and they ought all to join in chorus to His praise. Half-hearted, ill-conceived, unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our loving Lord." (C.H. Spurgeon on Psalm 103:1 in The Treasury of David.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Supplement to #6 For the sake of this discussion, I have been using the words "praise" and "worship" interchangeably. But the words do have different meanings in Scripture. Praise Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. -Psalm 150:1 Hebrew 1984. halal, haw-lal'; a prim. root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causat. to celebrate; also to stultify:-(make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (-ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be (make, feign self) mad (against), give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine. Worship "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." -John 4:24 Greek 4352. proskuneo, pros-koo-neh'-o; from Grk 4314 and a prob. der. of Grk 2965 (mean. to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (lit. or fig.) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):-worship. These definitions seem to correspond with my personal use of the words. To me, praise is brighter than worship--more joyous, freely spoken, even louder. Praise is delivered with a big grin on one's face. Worship, on the other hand, is more reverent than praise, quieter, performed with a heart of respect and awe. One does not grin while worshiping--one very often weeps from the sheer overwhelming presence of the Lord. The important thing, however, is not the difference between the two words, but that we do both. Semantics should never become an obstacle to our approaching God--whether it be with an attitude of praise or worship. We can call it whatever we choose--as long as we do it. "Praise is the act of verbalized worship or adoration that declares or acknowledges God for Who He is. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is the act of offering specific thanks to God for things He has done for us or others." (Dick Eastman, A Celebration of Praise: Exciting Prospects for Extraordinary Praise (Baker, 1984), p13) One of my favorite quotations on worship, which I've used on several occasions, is from Brother Lawrence, a 16th Century monk: "The thing we ought to purpose to ourselves in this life is to become the most perfect worshiper of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in IN UNISON is Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Unison was originally written for Music Ministers and Choir Directors to use in conjunction with their weekly rehearsals. It was syndicated in printed form, camera-ready for inclusion in choir newsletters or to be read to the choir as a devotional. It has also been used by Pastors and lay-leaders in many capacities. In Unison is evangelical, and speaks from the position that the choir does not perform for its own pleasure--nor for the pleasure of the congregation--but is, instead, a "prompter" leading and demonstrating the corporate worship for the pleasure of God. Each choir member--as well as every other leader standing on the platform--is responsible to do everything to point the congregation upward to God. In Unison also encourages individual and corporate excellence, based on the premise that after His sacrifice for us, our Lord deserves nothing less. Most issues of In Unison consist of two parts: * The main article has been written to be the "public" portion--either re-printed for each choir member or read to them during a devotional time. * The Supplemental material (accompanying most issues) has been included for the director or leader to use as background to further his or her own study. There is a total of 19 issues making up the complete In Unison series, representing by the following outline: 1. With One Voice 11. Because He Deserves It 2. Up Words 12. A Longing to Be Near Him 3. Loving One Another 13. Excellence: Beginning 4. Demonstrating Praise 14. Excellence: The Debt 5. The Spirit and the Flesh 15. Excellence: For the Prize 6. Three Little Words 16. Excellence: Why? 7. Obeying Our Parent 17. To Be Like Him 8. A Fragrant Offering 18. In Spirit and Truth 9. Worship the King 19. Honesty 10. His Wish, Our Desire ------------------------------------------------------------------- In Unison is distributed free-of-charge, without obligation, in service to our Lord and to His glory. Reader opinions are always welcome, as are insights into the published material. Send all comments to the address below. We always appreciate hearing when someone has been edified by this work. ------------------------------------------------------------------- To receive the complete series via e-mail, inquire with questions, or comment on the material send your request to: "dlampel@dlampel.com" P.S. The articles are currently being converted to ASCII text for uploading. Over the next week or two the entire series will be completed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David S. Lampel "For from Him and through Him Winterset, IA USA and to Him are all things. dlampel@dlampel.com To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Rom 11:36) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/in.unison: inu-006.txt