To praise You forever...

A musician's random musings upon some weighty reflections. Sometimes, we're apt to burst.

To praise You forever

A weight to bear;

To sing Your affections

A tension, divided.

In fading fervor,

And straying fancies,

Still, this ache,

Remains.

Eternity's light

Is as a devouring flame,

An ever abounding work,

To place Thy Spirit

At the root

Of every pursuit.

Love is not to burn,

Though, in heat it delights.

No, love prospers in

Submission.

It deepens in

The silence.

It matures in

Affliction.

To praise You forever

Fruit of broken ground;

To sing Your affections

From refined devotion.

In the quiet,

Through the waves,

Now, Thy love,

Ever-present, upheld,

Flourishes within my heart.

By, yours truly, Spring 2011.

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ~ Psalm 34:1

By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. ~ Psalm 42:8

Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. ~ Psalm 145:2

I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. ~ Psalm 146:2

Treasuring and Admiring the Word

I hope my readers enjoy the new selections of music on my blog. A little of the Hobbits theme, Chopin, and Pride and Prejudice. I thought, perhaps, that lighter melodies would appeal rather than the heavy, dark romantic piano. Although, I still kept those tracks further down on my playlist.

The week has been tiresome, which is strange for one's spring break. My body finally gave way to the continual stress of school and I came down with a very exhausting flu bug. Nevertheless, I am now on the mend! I just need to get my voice back in time for my choral concert next Thursday. The Lord, in all His goodness, has been reviving my spirits as well. Emotionally and spiritually, I have been carrying around some heavy burdens. I tend to place the weight of the world, the souls of those whom I love, the direction of my life, and all my passions upon myself and it leads to nothing but constant vexation. As a result, my family has to suffer for the attitudes that I enter in upon each day. Ah, the discipline of one's character and soul...it is not too much for our Lord to handle and to transform. The reformation of the human heart is exactly His area of expertise! If only we'd humbly receive His grace for daily sanctification.

The devotion-study books from Steve Gallagher that I received for my B-day, has been serving its purpose in bringing me each morning to the Word. I chose to begin the 12 week study on Psalm 119 (A Lamp Unto My Feet) and I'm drawing near the end of Week 2 which has been concentrating on Psalm 119:9-24. The goal of Gallagher's study is not merely just to study this great Psalm, but to encourage a passionate love for the all the words that proceed from God. The aim of the study is actually to build up holy affections and admirations toward the Bible. A word that went straight to my heart was this commentary on Psalm 119 by Charles Spurgeon that Steve quotes:

Some men can perceive no wonders in the gospel, but David felt sure that there were glorious things in the law; he had not half the Bible, but he prized it more than some men prize the whole. He felt that God had laid up great bounties in his word, and he begs for power to perceive, appreciate, and enjoy the same. We need not so much that God should give us more benefits, as the ability to see what he has given.

The prayer implies a conscious darkness, a dimness of spiritual vision, a powerlessness to remove that defect, and a full assurance that God can remove it. It shows also that the writer knew that there were vast treasures in the word which he had not yet fully seen, marvels which he had not yet beheld, mysteries which he had scarcely believed. The Scriptures teem with marvels; the Bible is wonder-land; it not only relates miracles, but it is itself a world of wonders. Yet what are these to closed eyes? And what can man open his own eyes, since he is born blind? God himself must reveal revelation to each heart. Scriptures needs opening, but not one half so much as our eyes do; the veil is not on the book, but on our hearts. What perfect precepts, what precious promises, what priceless privileges are neglected by us because we wander among them like blind men amongst the beauties of nature, and they are to us as a landscape shrouded in darkness!

Are we learning to love God's Word, even the tough parts that we deem "unkind" or "boring"?

When we go to the Word, are we merely just reading it? Or are we reading it prayerfully and in dependence upon God to open the eyes of our heart and incline us towards His holy precepts?

Are there, weekly and daily, affections rising up in our soul for the marvels and wonders found in Scripture?

I want to be so in love with my Lord's Word. But the extent of my desire for it, on most days, seems weak and dull. O Abba, do what you must in my life and in my soul to make room only for desires and longings for You and Your Word.

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law! ~ Psalm 119: 18

Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. ~ Psalm 119:24

Psalm 119: The Instructional Psalm for the Life of a Set-Apart Disciple

The Psalms teach us how to think, live, feel, and pray. Our emotions are shaped and guided by them and they direct us into a pure and holy lifestyle. In the words of John Piper, “the purpose of the Psalms is to be shaped by God.” They renew our minds.
As I've been reading through Psalm 119 this past month, it dawned on me that this particular Psalm speaks boldly of a set-apart disciple. This disciple has nothing to do with trifles. His mind is undeniably focused. Walking obedient in the way of the Lord is his life.
Psalm 119 begins very simply by describing those who walk in the law of the Lord as "blessed." If we turn back to Psalm 1:1, we will find a description of a how a "blessed" man does not walk. We need to keep turning ourselves back to Psalm 1 as we read through Psalm 119 because the two are very intimately tied together.

Purity
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word."- Psalm 119:9
When a disciple is meditating on His word day and night and seeks Him through earnest prayer, a change begins to take place. God begins to grant this disciple "spiritual taste buds" for eternal, holy things. The disciple is suddenly no longer content with earthly pleasures. Such things will not suffice. He begins to see beyond the trifles of this world. His whole world of thinking, feeling, and living is purified as the Holy Spirit cleanses him. The way he communicates in his relationships and the way he organizes his lifestyle all speak loudly of the Holy Spirit's purifying work in his life. He no longer deals with things in a fleshly, self-seeking manner. All his life is taken up by his heart's sole desire to seek and glorify the Lord in all that he does.

Delighting

“Delight comes from significant beholding, searching, and lingering.” - John Piper
What do you delight in? What do you spend most of your time thinking about? Who do you spend most of your time with? Where and to whom is the gaze of your heart turned?
A disciple's sole delight is in God alone. We take note of this by reading how much this "blessed" man of Psalm 119 is very much in love with the Lord and His way.
Psalm 110:24, 35, 47-48, 162-164. Psalm 1:2.
The Lord's words are like honey to his mouth (119:103) and he pants for them (119:131). He considers them wonderful, therefore, his soul keeps them (119:129).
There is some serious delighting going on in this Psalm. And this is where our lesson lies: a true disciple seeks not earthly loves or pursuits, but all his/her energy, time, and heart is invested in the Lord.

Freedom
But what exactly are these pleasures and pursuits of the flesh that I keep mentioning? Anything that your heart seeks rest, enjoyment, and pleasure in. The simplest way to discern where your heart lies is to ask yourself, "When I am tired and exhausted - what/whom do I seek comfort in" or "When I am frustrated and troubled - what/whom do I go to for answers and rest?" It could be things as innocent and simple as watching movies, shopping, playing video games, music, internet, playing with the latest iPhone, texting away, food, particular people in our lives, etc. This list takes in anything or anyone that we're tied to and seek satisfaction in.
I can sense the rising protest already. Does this seem extreme? Is this too hard?
Some of us are called to rule these things out of our lives completely while others are not. The point is that many of us have become slaves to our movies, iPhones, texting, computers, games, music, clothes, hobbies, etc. These are the things that turn our head and take up our time. A disciple of the Word does not live this way. You can't be a disciple AND be tied to this world's toys. We are to be DISCIPLINED in every area of our lives. If you are not disciplined in this area than you are a slave to your flesh.
When we set out to stay our hearts on God and truly walk in His ways, we begin to taste the joys of being yielded to the Spirit and not the flesh. We are suddenly no longer slaves to the mindless pleasures and pursuits of our flesh which are always unsatisfying and leave our hearts empty and minds dull. When we run in the way of His commandments, he sets our hearts free (119:32) to live for eternal pleasures and be no longer slaves to trivial, fleshly toys and pursuits.

Prayer
A disciple prays like the "blessed" man of Psalm 119.
"Teach me, O Lord..."
"give me understanding..."
"lead me..."
"Incline my heart..."
"turn my eyes..."
"confirm to your servant..."
"Turn away reproach..."
(Psalm 119:33-39)
"deal bountifully with your servant..."
"open my eyes...."
(119:17-18)
"give me life..."
"strengthen me..."
(119:25-28)

His prayers are saturated with Biblical thinking and God-centered delighting. We know this because he spends time in meditation and memorization of the word - "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (verse 11).
What are we storing in our hearts and minds? The lyrics to the latest album in our music collection? The lines to our favorite tv shows? The list of things we could be storing in ourselves is exhaustive. True disciples of Christ reflect Him while the rest of us just reflect our latest obsessions.

“We are not going to live if we’re not meditating and saturating ourselves in the Psalms day and night. If our souls aren’t being filled and replenished daily with the Word than we’ll just be brittle and frail and chaff-like (Psalm 1:4)."
“Form the habit of living in the Psalms so much that the world of your thinking and the world of your feeling would be transformed into full-blooded Biblical thinking and feeling.”
- John Piper