{"id":792,"date":"2008-04-29T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2008-04-29T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/?p=792"},"modified":"2008-04-29T08:00:38","modified_gmt":"2008-04-29T13:00:38","slug":"yadah-yadah-yadah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2008\/04\/29\/yadah-yadah-yadah\/","title":{"rendered":"Yadah, yadah, yadah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

1 Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be\u2014 you get a fresh start,
\nyour slate’s wiped clean.<\/p>\n

2 Count yourself lucky\u2014
\nGod holds nothing against you
\nand you’re holding nothing back from him.<\/p>\n

3 When I kept it all inside,
\nmy bones turned to powder,
\nmy words became daylong groans.<\/p>\n

4 The pressure never let up;
\nall the juices of my life dried up.<\/p>\n

5 Then I let it all out<\/a>;
\nI said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”<\/p>\n

Suddenly the pressure was gone\u2014
\nmy guilt dissolved,
\nmy sin disappeared.<\/p>\n

6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
\nwhen all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
\nwe’ll be on high ground, untouched.<\/p>\n

7 God’s my island hideaway,
\nkeeps danger far from the shore,
\nthrows garlands of hosannas around my neck.<\/p>\n

8 Let me give you some good advice;
\nI’m looking you in the eye
\nand giving it to you straight:<\/p>\n

9 “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule
\nthat needs bit and bridle
\nto stay on track.”<\/p>\n

10 God-defiers are always in trouble;
\nGod-affirmers find themselves loved
\nevery time they turn around.<\/p>\n

11 Celebrate God.
\nSing together\u2014everyone!
\nAll you honest hearts, raise the roof!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Psalm 32<\/p>\n

I’m more than a little surprised at how different this Presbyterian thing feels. I mean, I’m not uninformed about American religion — especially among conservative Protestants. At least, so I thought. But now that we’ve attended several PCA churches locally and although their worship “styles” have varied, one thing is consistent and that’s the thing I find most startling.<\/p>\n

Each service re-presents, rehearses, and reviews the Gospel. In my previous life, that might mean something heavily evangelistic. And I intimately know many fundamentalist ministries who are overtly trying to be God-centered (code for “Reformed”). All that aside, this Presbyterian thing is more deliberate, more routine, and, it seems to me, more tried-and-true. Dare I call it liturgical?<\/p>\n

You often hear so-called non-denominational conservative Protestants scolding their more market-savvy brothers for being too man-centered in their worship. “Worship,” you’ll hear, “is not about you. It’s about God.”<\/p>\n

Well, no. It’s not. It’s about both. Presbyterians get that. Sean Michael Lucas<\/a> — fellow BJU alum and, I’m pretty sure, a former student of mine way, way back when because he looks so<\/em> familiar — explains it this way<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Our belief [is] that worship is covenantal would mean that in worship there is a two way movement between God and his people. Some people have even suggested that in worship there is a dialogue between God and his church. God is the one who makes the first move toward us be calling us to worship, and we respond by invoking his presence in our midst. And the rest of worship is a movement back and forth between God and his beloved people, a movement in which God meets us in Word and sacrament and we respond to his presence with prayers and praises.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you have noticed a certain ebb and flow to many Presbyterian worship services:<\/p>\n