“The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou
wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) I remember singing those words week after week
during church growing up.
From
elementary school on, I had the Sunday morning liturgy memorized. The words
flowed out of me flawlessly, with no thought required on my part. While
muttering the words each week, I simultaneously recalled what homework I still
needed to complete or daydreamed about what I was going to do with my friends
that afternoon. I certainly was not allowing God to speak to me through the oft-repeated
words.
A
few years after Dick and I were married, we both discovered we could have a
real and living relationship with Jesus. We asked him to forgive us for our
sins and committed our lives to serving Him. Dick felt God calling him into
ministry and completed all the schooling required to be ordained.
My
aunt and uncle were still members at the church I had attended. During a time when they were in the processes
of searching for a new pastor, my aunt asked Dick to fill in at their church one Sunday. Dick
readily agreed and we both looked forward with eager anticipation to attending.
It
had been quite a few years since I had heard the liturgy, so I decided it would
be best if I followed along in the hymnal, just in case things had changed. The
only thing that had changed was me. Though the words were exactly the same as
when I was a child, they now struck a chord deep in my soul. They expressed the
genuine repentance I felt and the great comfort I had received. I could say
them in whole-hearted agreement and with much thought and conviction.
I
was awestruck by the realization that the liturgy was, in reality, passages
directly from the Bible! Having rarely read my Bible as a child or even a teen,
I hadn’t recognized that the liturgy was actually words from God to teach and
guide and draw us close to Him.
Have
you ever found yourself merely repeating words in church but not meaning them—perhaps
during the Lord’s Prayer,
or while reciting the 23rd Psalm together? Sometimes our
voices in unison can even
take on a bit of a sing-song quality—or bear a remarkable resemblance to
Charlie Brown’s teacher—wa wa wa wa wa wa wa!
Next
time are asked to repeat Scriptures, let’s be fully awareness of their timely
and important messages to us from God himself. After all, God says, “The words I speak will not return to
me without producing results. They will accomplish what I want them to.” (Isaiah
55:11)
Be
encouraged!
Pam
