Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!”
Revelation 5:11-13
We begin Lent this week at a time our world is wracked by terrorism, war, economic chaos and political strife. It us just the time for worship, for lingering daily in God’s presence, seeing the world in the light of God. Pastor/theologian Eugene Peterson says, “In a world in which we are constantly subjected to dizzying disorientations, worship is the act in which we are reoriented.” Lent of 2016 can be a time for us to reorient ourselves to God and His world as we worship.
Jewish sage Abraham Heschel writes how “Worship is a way of seeing the world in the light of God.” Worship does become a way of insight, a way of seeing God, the world, and ourselves more clearly. To paraphrase poet William Blake, worship cleanses the “doors of perception” so that we are better able to see what is true and real. In worship we see things not as politicians, advertisers, media, and an entertainment culture want us to see, but as God sees. As Leo the Great observed, worship “makes conspicuous” the world as it really is.
Worship shines truth into a world of half-truths and deceit. Worship gives clear vision to see God working all things for His glory and our eternal good. And it is worship that is the focus of Water from Rock’s 2016 Lenten Devotional, “Worthy Is The Lamb”, using on the worship songs from the book of The Revelation. We will find the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, to be a wonderful book for worship, for seeing the world in the light of God. What the Book of Psalms is to the Old Testament, the Book of The Revelation is to the New. It is a book that moves us to worship.
While the prose sections of The Revelation can be difficult to interpret, the worship songs are clear and to the point. These worship songs have been the inspiration for some of the world’s greatest music and art. As you use these songs for daily worship during Lent you will find “Heaven introduced into the present” (Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination) These worship songs will help us see today’s world in the light of God. They will reorient us to God’s truth.
If you have not ordered your copy or copies of the Lent Devotional, “Worthy Is The Lamb: Seeing the World in the Light of God”, there is an order form for you at the end of this eVotional. Also, each day’s devotional reading will be available on the Water from Rock website beginning Ash Wednesday, February 10. The “Introduction” to the Devotional will be available on February 9. I hope you will forward the Lenten Devotional to others.
During the coming days of Lent I invite you to see the news headlines in the light of God as you join in the worship songs of heaven.
Grace and peace,
Tim
P.S. Water from Rock’s 2016 Lent devotional “Worthy Is The Lamb: Seeing the World in the Light of God” is available to order. Order copies for yourself, your family and friends, study group, Sunday School class, church, etc., by using our order form. Lent begins Feb. 10th.