That's the Ticket!

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!” (Ps 100:4).

The Super Bowl. The Final Four. The Olympics. A great concert. These are tough tickets. Demand is high. Supply is low. And scalpers have a field day. But those are nothing compared to entering the presence of Almighty God. You may have a fat wallet but big bucks won’t get you into see the Lord. There’s no one to bribe, no “I know a guy,” no Stub Hub to make it happen.

The songwriter behind the 100th Psalm tips us off to the secret way in. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!” (Ps 100:4). If you want access to our holy God, leave your cash at home. The key to entering His presence is an attitude of gratitude. Thankfulness is the ticket!

The psalmist paints a picture of the temple in Jerusalem. It was THE place you went to worship the God of Israel in Israel. The temple sat on the top of plateau in the heart of the city. You literally had to go up to get to God. Once on the temple mount, you had to use one of the eight gates to get in. That’s where you “enter His gates with thanksgiving” (v4). After that you walked through a series of courts or plazas, getting closer and closer to God’s presence as you go. At this point, you’re rolling through “His courts with praise” (v4). 

But you’re not getting past the turnstiles without your price of admission. What you need isn’t a ticket in your hand but an attitude in your heart and and word in your mouth. It’s an expression of sincere “thanksgiving” (v4). The psalmist uses the Hebrew word towdah, which describes a specific kind of song of thankfulness and praise by the entire worship team or choir. This tune is a confession of God’s amazing grace in the face of our own horrific sinfulness. Thankfulness isn’t the only way we praise God but a VERY important way we praise Him!

This isn’t just a generic gratitude and an unexpressed warm fuzzy feeling. This term emphasizes our shocking sin and just how incredibly undeserving we are for all that He’s done at the same time expressing God’s overwhelming and overflowing love and grace to us. It’s a combo confession of our badness and His goodness. 

You do know you’re sinful, right? Talking about sin may not be politically correct but it is biblically correct. Everyone who’s ever walked the planet has fallen short of God’s perfect standard (Rom 3:10-12, 23). If that’s not bad enough, we’re rebels and terrorists against God’s kingdom (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21). 

You do know the Lord’s good, right? Despite our civil war against the throne of God, Jesus goes to battle and defeats our sin for us (Rom 5:8). He does for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived the perfect life we failed to live. He died the death for our sin and rebellion we should have died. He rose to new life we don’t deserve. Yeah, we have EVERY reason to be thankful!

Thanksgiving isn’t something the Pilgrims and Native Americans cooked up back in 1621. God made it a regular part of worship for His chosen people (Lev 7:12-15; 22:29). Repentance and gratitude is meant to be expressed so everyone can hear it. King David wrote a hit song about he loves “proclaiming thanksgiving (Heb. towdah) aloud, and telling all Your wondrous deeds” (Ps 26:7). Did you catch that? Thankfulness proclaimed. Gratitude never goes unsaid. Say it loud. Say it proud.

We see this combo expression of repentance and thanksgiving throughout the OT. At the resettlement of Jerusalem, Ezra told Jewish men to get rid of their pagan girlfriends as part of their confession of sin and worship of God (Ez 10:11). A few years later, the people openly repented of their sin and praised their God when they celebrated the rebuilding of the city walls (Neh 12:27, 31, 38, 40). 

We celebrate Thanksgiving annually by eating a meal. Ever heard of someone celebrating it who WAS the meal? From the guts of the a fish, Jonah sang, “But I with a voice of thanksgiving (Heb. towdah) will sacrifice to You” (Jnh 2:9). The fugitive prophet openly repented of his rebellion and thanked God for His goodness. Can you imagine what was going through that fish’s brain when it heard that coming from its belly? No wonder it barfed Jonah up on the beach! He not only had the ticket out of the fish’s mouth but into God’s presence.

So the kind of thanksgiving the psalmist is calling for here is two-part praise. Step one, admit your sin. Confess your crime. Say it. Out loud. Step two, tell God how amazing He is. Praise Him. Say it. Out loud. Check out the Message’s take on this verse. “Enter with the password: ‘Thank You!’ Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him.” (v4 The Message). Thanksgiving is the password. When it comes to entering God’s presence, that’s the golden ticket!

God's House Band

If you’ve ever played in a band, you don’t do it for the money. For every U2, Rolling Stones, and Maroon 5, there are tens of thousands of bands who come out on the short end of the bar bill at the end of the gig. But God has a plan to take care of the house band at His temple. That’s what we read here in Nehemiah 12:44-47. Each member of God’s chosen people will regularly contribute to the support of the folks who play on the worship team. They’ll stock storerooms full of food and supplies for every person who serves at the temple, all of the priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers. Who says there are no miracles mentioned in the book of Nehemiah? When the people give what God commands, His band doesn’t struggle to eat. 

Remember the setting of the story. It’s 445 BC. After His people spent 70-plus years of captivity in Babylon, God orchestrates their return to the Promised Land in three waves. First, under Zerubbabel (Ez 2:1-2). Second, with Ezra (Ez 7:6-10). Third, Nehemiah led the way (Neh 2:9-11). It’s important to remember the R’s of story. The people return. They rebuild the temple (Ez 6:14-15). They refurbish the walls (Neh 6:15). They repent of their sin (Neh 10:28-39). They repopulate the city (Neh 11:1-36). And ultimately they rejoice and praise God for all He’s doing (Neh 12:31-43).

The very same day as the twin parades on top of the walls and massive party at the temple, Nehemiah took very specific steps to provide for everyone serving in worship. “On that day men were appointed over storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites” (v44). You see, God’s plan to provide for those on the worship team isn’t anything new. He’s had that on the books for centuries (Lev 7:34-36; 18:21-24; Dt 18:1-5). God has given every other Jewish family a specific inheritance in the Promised Land EXCEPT for the descendants of Levi. No, He has a VERY special blessing for them. God Himself will be their inheritance (Dt 18:2). He’s handpicked Levi’s family “out of all your tribes to stand an minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for all time” (Dt 18:5). In return for their service, God “has given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do” (Lev 19:21). 

The LORD blesses His band through the generosity of His people. That’s a perfect example of how He uses us to bless others. God graciously allows us to be part of His process of blessing. Our God is a Lover. Our God is a Giver. In fact, there’s no greater giver in the universe. A couple of chapters back, the people praise Him for placing them under His waterfall of grace (Neh 9:6-37). That’s not just limited to the Old Testament. Jesus tells Nicodemus how His Dad continues to keep on loving and giving. “For God so loved, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God is also conforming us into the image of His Son (Rom 8:29; 2Cor 3:18), conforming us into givers as well. He blesses the band by turning His people into givers. He blesses those around us by turning us into givers too.

The people are still stoked over the epic party God has just thrown. In particular, the band rocked! “For Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered” (v44). The LORD used these men to lead the celebration over the completion of the walls. As an expression of thanks to God for His blessing through His band, people take the time to stock the storerooms at the temple. Along with the singers and gatekeepers, these servants at the house of God are doing everything “according to the command of David and his son Solomon” (v45). This is really nothing new. They simply went back to the way things worked under the musical direction of King David and his worship leader Asaph (v46). Consider it classic rock. 

Nehemiah reminds us of the power and importance of music. God continually commands us to use music as means to praise Him. Why else would He include Psalms, an entire book of the Bible to contain the lyrics of some of the greatest songs of all time? Music has a mysterious ability to touch our hearts like nothing else. Notice how God provides the lyrics but never gives us sheet music. It’s the words that set our minds on the goodness of our God. There’s no form of music that is inherently evil apart from the lyrics. There’s no requirement of certain instruments to be used in church (just do a search in Scripture for pianos and organs and see what you come up with). And when volume is discussed, it’s always loud. VERY loud. But the big point here is God’s gift of music. Crank it up.

Nehemiah wraps things up by describing how the temple staff divvy up the people’s offerings. Since the days of Zerubbabel up until Nehemiah’s era, all of Israel have been dropping off their stuff daily (v47). That’s how things have been done for almost 100 years since the Big Z first started bringing worship back. Once the supplies arrive at the temple, they divide them for each of the singers, gatekeepers, Levites and priests. When God’s people give, His house band isn’t broke. Who says there are no miracles in the book of Nehemiah?

God and the One Percent

The Occupy Wall Street is nothing new. Flip your Bible open to the 73rd Psalm and see a very similar scene. This tune starts out very much like a sixties era protest song that you might have heard at Woodstock. But suddenly the songwriter named Asaph compares glamorous life of the filthy right with the amazing goodness of being in the presence of God. No comparison. Suddenly, the lyrics erupt in worship. Everything else is just monopoly money in contrast to basking in the very glory of the Lord. In an instant, everything changes. God is all I need. God is all I want. 

Right off the bat, the psalmist is completely transparent with his frustration over the haves versus the have nots (v3-5). One look at their lavish lifestyles results in jealousy. He wants what they have. And because of their wealth, they are living large and in charge. “They have no pangs until death” (v4). Nothing really bothers the one percent because they’re able to throw just sick amounts of cash at their problems. “Their bodies are fat and sleek” (v4). This is the ancient way of saying they are in top physical shape. They’re ripped. They’re jacked. Six pack abs. They eat the good stuff and it shows.

The songwriter goes on to tell us how these wealthy folks have no problem in abusing the poor and disenfranchised to build up their portfolio even more (v6-9). They laugh at people living below the poverty line. And if that’s not enough, they have absolutely no use for God. Why should they? They’ve got everything they need. Or at least they think they do.

The lifestyles of the unrighteous rich and famous have an effect on poor and unknown. It doesn’t take long to wonder if following, obeying, and worshiping God has been a colossal waste of time. “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning” (v13-14). The one percent has ignored the Lord and has piled up cash as high as the sky. Meanwhile the ninety-nine has nothing to show for their faithfulness but a beat-down from life. 

But then something happens. Our author walks into the sanctuary of God and it changes absolutely everything (v16-17).  Once in the presence of Yahweh, he sees life from a new perspective. From God’s perspective. God’s presence is a complete game changer. Asaph realizes that what the rich really have is a ticket to their own destruction (v18-20). God opens his eyes to see just how out of whack his own priorities had become (v21-22). He takes the time to admit what an absolute knucklehead he’s been. He confesses his sin. He repents and does a 180 back toward the Lord.

At this point, the songwriter realizes just what God was up to despite his own rebellion. The Lord has been with him the entire time. “Nevertheless, I am continually with you” (v23). It’s not so much about our faithfulness, but His. I’m placing my complete trust in the One who will never, ever give up (2Tim 2:13). It’s not about the strength of my faith. Instead this is all about the One in whom I place my faith. I may wobble and turn away from Him but He won’t ditch me. Ever. Don’t forget Jesus’ famous last words before heading home to heaven. “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Draw a circle around the word “nevertheless” (v23). God has “nevertheless” faithfulness.

And look what God is doing to ensure we’re always in His presence. “You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward you will receive me into glory” (v23-24). He holds. He guides. He receives. What do I do? Not much. I’m just along for the ride. Between here and glory, He directs me. Just how valuable is His divine guidance? Flip over to the 119th Psalm. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible. Consider this tune to be the “American Pie” of Scripture. The big difference between Don McLean’s big hit and this psalm is that the meaning of this song is unmistakeable. I may not have a clue about the day the music died, but there’s no question about Psalm 119. It’s a fabulous love song written to God and His guidance through His Word. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105). Our heavenly Dad lovingly gives us instruction in order to keep us out of trouble. If I stay on His path and I won’t get hurt. 

Asaph asks the musical question, “Whom have I in heaven but You?” (v25). The author realizes that there’s absolutely nothing he wants in heaven or earth more than God. There’s a ton of fabulous things in life and unthinkable riches in heaven, but they don’t hold a candle to God’s presence. King David sang about how the only thing he really ever wanted was to spend every waking hour in the Lord’s temple and simply take in the  jaw-dropping glory of God (Ps 27:4). Another psalmist wrote that he would rather be an usher in the house of God than have a place of honor among the wicked (Ps 84:10). A few hundred years later, the Apostle Paul fired off a letter to his friends in Philippi to let them know that compared to Jesus, everything else in his life looked like a big steaming pile. The one percent can keep the cash. I want Christ. “And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You” (v25). The gifts are nice. The Giver is the best!

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart” (v26). Life is short. Life is hard. Despite anything and everything that comes my way, the Lord gives me the courage to press on. That’s because that no matter what happens, Jesus is “my portion forever” (v26). That’s a reminder of what happened one evening at Mary and Martha’s place. The two sisters invited the Rabbi/Carpenter to swing by for dinner. Martha couldn’t enjoy His visit because she “was distracted with much serving” (Lk 10:40). When she got up in Jesus’ face because she thought He didn’t give a hot hoot that she was working so hard. She wanted Him to tell her sister to get off her keister and help. At this point, Jesus told His host to pump her brakes and slow down. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42). Mary knew what Asaph knew. Jesus isn’t just the source of the blessing. Jesus IS the blessing!

If I need to occupy anything, it should be His presence. Let this be the start of the Occupy Jesus movement.

It Goes to Eleven

...addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart (Eph 5:19).

In the classic mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” a reporter asks lead guitar player Nigel Tufnel about the volume knob on his amps.  Nigel points out that his are louder than the garden variety gear used by most bands.  Instead of simply stopping at ten, “these go to eleven.”  Here in his letter to the folks back in Ephesus, Paul writes about the level of praise and worship that should be heard in a church filled with God’s Spirit.  We should be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (v19).  Our praise should be loud.  

It should go to eleven.

The apostle makes it clear that music is to be a very important part to each believer and every local church.  That truth is impossible to avoid.  He lists three different kinds of tunes we’re to use in our praise of Jesus.  “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (v19).  The first is the word psalmos.  This Greek word gives us the title for the OT songbook we know as the Psalms.  Paul is almost certainly talking about singing these classic number one hits composed by dudes like David.  We see the term used elsewhere for songs of praise or sacred tunes.  But the psalmos literally describes a specific kind of instrumental music.  It’s the plucking the strings on a harp or lyre.  It’s string music.

Hmm.  Stringed instruments?  Sure sounds like that could include...bum, bum, BUM...the guitar.  Sorry to my friends in the Church of Christ but Paul is talking about using musical instruments as part of our worship.  We all know about the worship wars being fought over both styles and instruments used to praise God.  But I think it’s clear that the only thing that God really cares about are the lyrics and our hearts.  Whether it’s belting out great old hymns like “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” or rockin’ to the latest from Lecrae, it just doesn’t matter.  Instruments and styles are just tools in God’s toolbox.  Don’t throw somebody under the bus just because they don’t sing in your style.  Do the lyrics honor Jesus?  Is your heart focused on Christ?  That’s all that really matters.

The second kind of tunes are “hymns” (v19).  This is humnos, a song praising God expressing thanksgiving, a piece of music used to indicate faith or a song of celebration.  It comes from a word that means to celebrate.  Paul is NOT talking about turning to number 489 and singing verses one, two and four from the hymnal.  They didn’t have books like that in the back of pews in the first century.  These are songs of celebration.  Songs that praise God for who He is.  Songs that thank God for what He’s done.  Music was clearly an important component of these first gatherings.

Smart dudes who tuck their shirts in say there’s a good chance that Paul quotes from some of these first century praise songs in his letters.  That’s really not too surprising.  The apostle had a habit of dropping pop culture references into his teaching when it helped drive his point across (Acts 17:28-29; Titus 1:12).  Just as preachers today will use song lyrics in their sermons, Paul does the same.  Look back at Ephesians 5:14.  It probably comes from a hit song Jesus’ followers sang when they got together for worship.  Check out Philippians 2:6-11 for another.  These words celebrate Jesus’ great sacrifice for our sin that results in His glory.  Flip over to Colossians 1:15-20 for one of the greatest lyrics about our Lord ever written.  When believers would sing this tune, it reminded them that Jesus is more God than we can wrap our brains around on this side of eternity.  And in his final letter just before his execution, the apostle drops a lyric about Christ’s unwavering faithfulness despite our continual lack of faith (2Tim 2:11-13).  

Batting third in this lineup of tune types are “spiritual songs” (v19).  This idea is a little harder to peg.  It could mean songs sung with passion and from the gut.  But chances are that the apostle is referring to singing tunes when under the influence of God’s Spirit.  Remember, he’s just told us to “be filled with the Spirit” instead of getting wasted (Eph 5:18).  In other words, don’t get drunk and sing karaoke.  Allow God to fill you to the brim with His Holy Spirit and bust out in song.  This could well be what our charismatic friends call singing in the spirit.  Pentecostals will freestyle their own lyrics while the band plays on.  I admit this can be a bit intimidating if you’ve never experienced this before.  But think of it as writing your own personal note onto a greeting card.  You’re adding something from your heart to what someone else has written.  

Just in case you try to dismiss Paul’s encouragement to sing as not your style, he makes it perfectly clear as he continues to crank it up in the remainder of the verse.  Think of this last part as the face-melting guitar solo toward the end of the song.  He tells us that we should be “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (v19).  “Singing” is just that.  Cut it loose.  So you don’t have a good voice?  Don’t let that stop you.  Consider it practice for that glorious day when you’ll be belting it out in the heavenly choir.  Let’s face it, some of us make a little noisier joyful noise than others.

It should go to eleven.

We should be “making melody” to praise Jesus (v19).  Here Paul uses the verb form of the noun “psalms.”  It literally means to strum the strings.  My personal opinion is that we’re encouraged to both sing with our voices and play our instruments as key part of our worship.  I certainly don’t think the man from Tarsus is limiting us to first century lyres and harps.  Use what works in your cultural context.  An organ and piano.  Nice.  An orchestra.  Awesome.  A rock band.  Sweet.  Two turntables and a microphone.  Fantastic.  A djembe and a pan flute.  Tremendous.  The instruments aren’t the focus.  The One we’re worshiping is.  No matter what we’re using, let’s crank it up.  

It should go to eleven.

Let’s not miss the last three words.  “With your heart” (v19).  None of the above matters if my heart’s not in it.  If I’m not mentally and emotionally engaged as I sing, then I’m wasting my time.  Remember who Jesus.  Remember what He’s done.  We sing to Him because He’s lived the perfect life that we completely bungled.  We sing to Him because He died the death for our sin that we should have died.  We sing to Him because He rose to the glorious new life that we certainly don’t deserve.  We sing to Him because everything we need we already have in Him!  Let that fill your heart.  You can’t help but explode in celebration and thankfulness!!  Let’s crank our passion all the way up.  I’m not talking specifically about volume.  I’m talking about your heart and mine.

It should go to eleven.

So what do you think?  Yeah, you.  Agree?  Disagree?  Do you think guitars and drums are the devil's rhythm section?  Drop a comment below and let's talk.