Songs of Remembrance

This is a post I have been meaning to write for more than a month, so, it's a little overdue ... but, I've been working on it, so I'm going to write it.  :)  As the GCF (InterVarsity at W&L) head worship leader this year, I tried to expose the community to a lot of different types of worship, from different cultural styles to different levels of volume and pace, to worshipping God for different reasons.  One type of worship that we discussed was giving praise to God for what He has done in the past, recognizing that He still works that way today and praying for His help for the present and the future.  This type of worship stresses God's faithfulness and grace to His people, reminding them of His character and His past actions, and assuring them that His grace and mercy and love and holiness remain today, because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

This type of song/prayer is found ALL OVER the Bible, most notably in places such as Miriam and Moses' song of deliverance after the Red Sea, songs in Judges, David's psalms and also songs recorded in 1 Samuel, Mary's prayer (still prayed in churches today as the Magnificat!) after learning that she would be the mother of Jesus, and Zechariah's prayer (also prayed in churches today as the Benedictus).  Some psalms for blessings and remembrance are 18, 30, 34, 40, 68, 77, 78, 92, 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 113, 116, 118, 124, 126, 129, and 146.

Are you seeing my point?  This is a big deal in Scripture.  Remembering what God has done reminds us of His character and His nature, yet we don't often do that in today's churches.  A big part of that has to do with the fact that many people don't read the Bible, so they literally don't know what God has done in the past, and they don't consider the work of God in their own lives.  I didn't want GCF worship to be like that, but the problem is, because of this fact, sometimes using songs of remembrance can be difficult because people don't know WHAT the songs are referring them to.

Two songs that come to mind along this vein are "Your Grace Is Enough" by Chris Tomlin and "Days of Elijah" by Robin Mark.  Both excellent and fantastic songs.  "Your Grace is Enough" is much easier to understand, but there is a lot of imagery used there, and the bridge asks God to, "Remember Your people, remember Your children, remember Your promise," just as He has done in the past.  However, it's "Days of Elijah" that requires a little more explanation.  We started singing this song at GCF in May and it holds a special place in my heart because it's been very important to my home church in Northern Virginia, The Falls Church.  While we were introducing it in GCF, I thought it would be cool to go through the song and find scripture references for the stories it refers to ... I didn't anticipate that this would take so much time!  But it was well worth the effort.  So, here are my notes from that venture.

"Days of Elijah"

These are the days of Elijah, declaring the Word of the Lord

• 1 Kings 12-16 string of evil kings after Solomon's death
• 1 Kings 17-2 Kings 2 Elijah declares God's law to King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in hope of repentance; Elijah also prays intensely and prophesies destruction
• See esp. 18:16-19:21
• Days of declaring truth to a people following idols of their own making, and calling them to see the glory and power of God

And these are the days of your servant Moses, righteousness being restored

• Exodus and Numbers for Moses' life
• Leviticus and Deuteronomy for the Law
• Expressly chosen by God to lead God's people, despite his failures and weaknesses
• Expressly chosen by God to bring law to the people and show them how to be holy
• Days of remember God's holiness and our inadequacy without Him and His saving grace

And though these are days of great trials, of famine and darkness and sword, still we are the voice in the desert crying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!"

• Refers to the struggles of God's people throughout Scripture
• See especially the psalms
• Direct reference to John the Baptist, found in Matt 3, 11, 14; Mark 1, 6; Luke 1, 3, 7, 9; John 1
• This is the whole idea, even though this world is hard, we're here to declare who God is and tell of His saving grace through Jesus Christ
• This is a proclamation of the Messiah

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, at the trumpet's call

• Matt 26:64, Mark 14:62, Luke 22:66-71 Jesus' declaration of being the Messiah before the Sanhedrin, when He used these words almost exactly
• Revelation 1:7-18, 19:11-8 He's coming back!  description of this

Lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee, and out of Zion's hill salvation comes

• Jubilee = Leviticus 25, a year of rest every 50 years in which there is liberty for all, servants and slaves are set free, land is at rest, debts are cancelled, there is a redistribution of wealth --> remember that you, too, were once a slave, and all that you have comes from God
• Zion is another name for Jerusalem

These are the days of Ezekiel, the dry bones becoming as flesh

• Ezekiel 36-37 prophecy of breathing life into what is dead, trading the heart of stone for a heart of flesh
• This is about restoration! you're far away, repent and have life
• Hope for the day when we will look to God alone as king

And these are the days of Your servant David, rebuilding a temple of praise

• Judges - 1 Samuel Israel in a cycle of sin and repentance, falling away and disobedience; worst offense is when they ask for a king in 1 Samuel 8
• 1 Samuel 16 - 1 Kings 2: 12 David's story: from anointing to death, David worshipped the Lord with his entire being, but he also messed up in big ways; yet God still chose to do work through Him and for his line to be in the lineage of His Son
• David inspires Israel to worship, though God calls his son, Solomon, to be the one who actually builds His temple

And these are the days of the harvest, the fields are white in the world, and we are the laborers in Your vineyard, declaring the Word of the Lord!

• Matt 9:35-10, Matt 13, Matt 28:16-20, Luke 10 the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few, go out and prepare the fields for harvest
• Idea in Scripture that there will be a harvest at the end of time (Rev 14) and those who believe will be gathered but those who don't will be trampled
• God's people are those who take His message to the world

Back to the chorus:

Behold He comes, riding on the clouds

Shining like the sun at the trumpet's call

Lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee

And out of Zion's hill salvation comes

So, this song requires a good deal of explanation!  but it's really about God's redemptive power throughout history, and how He continues to work today, and as His children, we have a role in that redemptive history.  Pretty cool stuff.  :)

Obviously, this is NOT a complete listing of all scriptures that could go along with these lines from the song, but it's an attempt to get you started if you want to examine this song further.  I'd love to hear other things you find, too!