During 2025, Peachtree Church is focusing on the Book of Psalms with a series called Dwell, through which we seek to deepen our conversation with God and open ourselves to hearing his response. The practice of praying three times each day will unite the voices of our hearts and souls as we seek the day when we will see the full realization of the Kingdom of God, promised in Revelation 21:3: “…Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
We will email devotionals twice weekly with Monday’s providing an overview of the Psalm as a whole, and Wednesday’s focused on that week’s Daily Dwell.
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Psalm 8:2
Several years ago, I was scheduled to preach here at Peachtree. As I recall, it was a summer Sunday. I was seated where the preacher usually sits, to the left as you look at the chancel, on the front row. At the time, Wil Brown was our Contemporary Worship Director, and his family was seated on the first row of the nave, immediately to my right.
We were singing some praise song. I have no recollection what the song was, but I remember distinctly that Wil’s daughter was singing without restraint, joyfully, at the top of her lungs. I believe that her voice was louder than Wil’s, even as he was amplified.
A smile crept across my face. I was so impressed with her praise of God and, in all candor, I felt a bit chagrined. My praise that same moment was more than a little bit restrained, because I do not have confidence in my own ability to sing without sounding like a dentist’s drill.
Yet the praise of that child encouraged me to loosen up, to remember that I was—AM!—called to praise God, not to perform before people. My voice did not then, nor does it often, match that freedom. But it should.
In the early 1990’s I was privileged to travel to Seoul, South Korea, with Frank Harrington. Frank was scheduled to preach in several churches, and to speak at the Seminary, and I was along, as Frank joked, to be left behind in case a hostage was needed! In honesty, I believe Frank wanted me to see the vitality of the Korean Church.
And vital and vibrant, their worship was! Thousands of people flocked to the churches, all of them carrying their own Bible and their own hymnal. Did you catch that? All of them had their own hymnal!
When the congregation sang a hymn, it was not the soft singing that we experience more often than not in American churches; these saints sang at the top of their lungs, almost shaking the windows out of their frames! When they joined in a creed, or the Lord’s Prayer, it was not with a low murmur, but with the confidence of their convictions. I not only heard them, I FELT them!
I think that we today could stand to learn a lesson or two from our young friends who sing to God without inhibition, and from sisters and brothers in other parts of the world who understand what privilege worship is.
For Reflection
- Do I allow myself to worship freely, giving myself wholeheartedly to God, remembering that I “perform” before an audience of One; or is my worship restrained?
- What would happen if we all, this Sunday, turned loose and let our voices raise in praise and glory of God?
Prayer
God of grace, and God of glory, I confess that too often I feel insecure in my worship, and I restrain myself. I do not allow my soul to sing or pray freely. Forgive me for not giving myself fully to You, as You gave Yourself fully to me in Jesus. Fill me with Holy Spirit, and in worship with holy boldness, that I may worship You in spirit and in truth, and with full joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Devotionals