Psalm 45 – From the Inside Out
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”
As I pray to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, I am reminded of how this feels and manifests itself in my own life.
In the Hillsong United song, ‘From the Inside Out’…the lyrics are
Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out …..Lord.
This is really when we allow God’s holy spirit to consume us. To so closely associate with the things that Christ was passionate about… that they become our passions, to take our will and conform it to His.
A friend and I were discussing tonight….and his concern was that God made us individuals….and while this is true….God’s one desire is for us to be HIS reflection. Not that we are all to be robots….but that Christ would magnify the very things that He placed in us as individual creations, that bring Him the most glory.
His will above all else…..the writer of this Psalm was obviously filled with the spirit of God and used his God given ability and allowed God to enhance them to write this beautiful Psalm which is a picture of Christ as the Bridegroom.
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2 comments:
I couldn't agree more with this sentence, which says it perfectly: "...but that Christ would magnify the very things that He placed in us as individual creations, that bring Him the most glory."
That's why I have a bit of a problem with this turn of phrase ("losing yourself" in service to God). Yes, I get that we need to set aside our selfish natures in order to serve in the way Christ wants us to. But, as you pointed out, He wants us to do so using our own unique talents, personalities and experiences.
I just keep thinking that people see themselves as worthless creations that can only do anything good if they try to completely suppress themselves. That's just not true. God didn't create us as worthless. The problem is, we're selfish. It's that selfishness that we ask Jesus to help us suppress. But I don't believe we should "throw out the baby with the bath water," and it worries me that people believe just that, which is impossible and (I believe) leads only to unhappiness because it can never be achieved.
Why do I think that people misunderstand that lyric or concept of "losing yourself"? Because that's what I understood it to mean for years. It's been so liberating to recently realize that God isn't asking us to be automatons -- he wants us to be ourselves, but he wants to make us better. The only way we can "be all that we can be" is to allow God to fill us with His purpose and put our selfish wants aside.
Ultimately, what concerns me about that phrase of "losing ourselves" is that it's open to wrong interpretations. I think it's accurate in one sense, but dangerously inaccurate in another. Song lyrics and poetry are powerful things. They move us to action. But they're also necessarily brief and the writer has to try to cram a lot of meaning into a short space. The problem, then, comes when people attach an unintended meaning to the lyrics (because, after all, we are the interpreters of any song we hear -- the singer doesn't tell us what it means). This phenomenon has tripped me up personally on many occasions (maybe I'm just stupid? ;)). Anyway, I think song writers therefore have to be very careful about what they write, and sometimes I think worship song writers take the easy way out by writing in a "churchy phrase" because, like a cliche, it's readily understood to some degree by the listener. The problem is, there's no sermon attached to explain its true meaning.
The next verse in Psalm 45 confirms, in my mind, exactly what you (Tray) and I are saying -- that only God can make us great:
"You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever."
God has done wonders in the King's life in blessing him forever, and that has made him "the most excellent of men." He is an incredible individual because he has allowed God to work in his life and because he goes forth "victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness." How telling that "humility" is included in that list!
The word of the song make reference to the very words of Christ.
Luke 9:23 Christ says that, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
I looked up deny this morning in the Greek and the word is aparneomai...and it means to utterly deny or abstain or disown....yourself. I would argue....lose yourself. Not the individual attributes that make you...you, but the very sins that you struggle with. WE have talked about our own struggles...and I would say that some mornings are tougher than others. I must choose THIS DAY....whether I am self-serving or Christ-serving.
In the passage, Christ was talking to disciples and he followed this with, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."...kinda opposite of the 'Talladega Nights' matra "If you ain't first...your last"
These two in and of themselves, dont make a whole lot of sense....but in keeping with Jesus' counter cultural teachings...neither did "faith of a child", "I am the bread" or "no one comes to the Father but through me"...to the culture...these were literally the teachings that led to his death.
I love where you are going, the journey you are on, and the challenges and thoughts you are not afraid to seek out.
Lets keep digging!
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