Christ Church

The Nature of National Repentance

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

In God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis has a very fine short essay on the dangers of national repentance. In short, what he cautions us against is the prayerful form of “don’t blame me, I wanted to do something else.” In other words, every form of true repentance is hard, while there is a form of blaming others (while using we language) that gives us a carnal pleasure. In everything else that we consider today, this wise caution should be kept in the forefront of our minds, and at the very top of our hearts.

The Text

“And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey” (Deut. 26:6-9).

Summary of the Text

At the tail end of their time in the wilderness, the Israelites are being reminded out how it was that they came to be delivered in the first place. The Egyptians treated them oppressively, and laid hard bondage upon them (v. 6). The people of Israel cried out to God as a consequence, and God heard them, and considered their afflictions (v. 7). As a result, God rose up and scattered their enemies with an outstretched arm (v. 8), and brought them to the threshold of a land filled with promise (v. 9). And by no stretch of the imagination is this a “one off ” situation; it is a biblical theme (Judg. 3:9; 4:3; 6:6; 10:10; 1 Sam. 12:9-10; and many other places).

How Individuals Repent

Repentance is always a function of things going wrong somehow. Nobody converts because every day they get happier and happier, and finally they are so happy they decide to turn to Christ. Some convert even though they are externally blessed—but only because they feel and see the hollowness of it (Ecc. 1:14). Others do it in a more straightforward way—they have their whole life come apart in their hands (divorce, financial ruin, disease), and in their affliction they turn to God.

Horses and Mules

We should far prefer to be taught (Ps. 32:8). We should not be like the horse or mule, needing a bit and bridle to direct us (Ps. 32:9). But when we refuse teaching, the Lord is fully capable of ramping it up. He always sends prophets before He sends the pestilence. But when men are sleek in their conceits, they think the mere fact of a prophet means there will be no pestilence.

Lord, Do What It Takes

National repentance is not a nebulous dislike of ourselves, and it does not consist of being accusative toward others. Jesus teaches us what our value system ought to be. We ought to prefer losing our right hand to keeping our right hand to go to Hell with (Matt. 5:30). We ought to prefer to go to Heaven missing our right eye than to go to Hell with both eyes (Matt. 5:29).

Translate this to our national situation. What do we actually prefer? Would you rather have America spend the next ten years doubling our GDP, or the next ten years repenting? Now some might think a sensible response would be to ask why we couldn’t have had a doubled GDP and the repentance too. I don’t know why we couldn’t have had that. You tell me.

So if we are true Christians, our prayer will be, “Lord, do whatever it takes. Lord, break us down.”We do not ask for more than it takes (obviously), but we must not ask for less than it takes. It is not lawful for us to arrange any of this for ourselves, taking matters into our own hands. But it is lawful and right to accept it with gratitude and humility when the Lord takes up the rod. Behold the kindness and severity of God (Rom. 11:22).

What Sins?

Remember that in calling for national repentance, we are not calling for a generic or nebulous kind of “feeling bad.” Repentance is an activity of the mind (the word means “changing your mind”) and consequently it is an activity filled with content.

These are not “partisan issues” at all—the call to repentance is genuinely bipartisan. God calls all men to repent and believe, and it is possible to come to Him from any direction—from left, right, and center. You can come to Him from the polished marble floors of Washington, and you can come to Him from the fever swamps. You can come to Him from a gay pride parade in San Francisco, and you can come to Him by climbing down off your step ladder of Pharisaism. Come.

Some might object that this really is partisan—that I am somehow targeting the Democrats, and not the Republicans. Not a bit of it. I am preaching against Suleiman the Magnificent, and against his harem.

What do you let go of when you come? I mentioned that repentance is an activity filled with content. Let’s consider two general areas, one from the first Table of the law, and the other a cluster of three commandments from the second Table of the law.

First, we must repent of secularism (Ex. 20:3). We have no right to worship, pray to, invoke, or claim the name of any other God. The only God that any nation has a right to claim is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secularism is a sin, a grievous one.

As far as our national hatred of our neighbor goes, think about our complicity with abortion (Ex.20:13), pomosexuality (Ex. 20:14), and statist piracy (Ex. 20:15). Three commandments, three verses, right in a row. And remember that secularism started off by justifying its neglect of the true God for the sake of our neighbor. Where is all that neighbor love now?

Three Stark Realities

We have some great challenges before us. This is not going to be easy—whether to declare or to endure. At the same time, we may embrace what God sends, even though we do not have the authority to send those hard challenges down upon ourselves.

Here are the three central issues we must keep central to our thinking about all of this. First, there is no deliverance without Jesus. Second, there is no deliverance with the sin. And third, there are no other options, or other alternatives. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. If the Lord is God, serve Him. If Mammon is god, then let us all go to that great Federal Reserve temple, where we may follow our god of green liquidity in solemn procession as it circles the drain.

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Joy and Sin

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

This message is the first of three on the subject of joy. I want to consider, each in turn, three basic challenges to a believer’s joy. The first challenge will be sin—disobedience. The second challenge will be suffering or affliction. The third challenge we will address will be melancholy, the blues, or what our generation frequently calls depression. It is important for us to avoid the easy trap of a pious assertion that personal sin must be the reason for everything bad. At the same time, let us not kid ourselves either. Sin does bring in lots of troubles.

The Text

“Make me to hear joy and gladness; That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice . . . Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” (Ps. 51: 10, 12).

Summary of the Text

The Bible teaches us that God chastises every son that He receives. If we do not receive discipline, then we are not true sons (Heb. 12:8). But what form does this divine spanking take? How does God deal with us when we have slipped or fallen into sin? Joy is a function of our unimpeded relationship with Him, and when our misbehavior disrupts that fellowship, the most evident thing about it is our loss of joy. We see that in David’s case here. This psalm is a great psalm of confession, where he is putting things right with God. What does he ask for in that restoration? He asks for joy and gladness (v. 10), that the spiritual bones which God has broken may be restored. He asks, not for his salvation to return, but for the joy of it to return (v. 12). Restore unto me the joy. Unrepented sin and joy cannot be companions. They don’t travel together at all.

The Solution

The solution to unrepentant sin is, not surprisingly, repentance. We should take care not to over-engineer this:

“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Ps. 32:5).

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

The central reason we don’t do this is pride. Pride has various shifts and evasions which we will get to in a moment, but the attitude that seeks out such shifts and evasions is the attitude that does not want, under any circumstances, to humble itself. It causes no end of trouble, and is the true enemy of all joy.

Traits of True Confession

In the verse from 1 John, the word for confess is homologeo, which means to acknowledge, to “speak the same thing.” If we confess, God forgives. If we confess, God is faithful and just in His forgiveness. If we confess, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness. If we confess, God restores us in our joy. So what are the traits of true confession?

First, true confession is honest, brutally honest. The wages of spin is death. Saying the same thing that God says about it is not the same thing as saying something different from what God says. Sometimes we say “different” in a way that is harder on ourselves than God is being, but this is rare. And when it happens, it is because we are being softer on ourselves with regard to the true sin that has us tied up. So confession asks God what it should say, and then says that.

Second, true confession is not something you get to apply to the sins of others. You can confess other people’s sins all day long and your joy will not be restored. Unwillingness to forgive, reluctance to let go of resentment and bitterness, and every other form of “contextualizing” your sin, is a good way to remain joyless.

And third, true confession occurs in the present. Today if you hear His voice . . . A man can know that his sin was sin, he can know that it was not the sin of another, and yet not confess it “yet.” He can say that the time for confession is “next Sunday,” or “soon,” or “after the circumstances are better.” In other words, there is a difference between standing on the high dive, knowing what you have to do, and actually doing it.

What Becomes Visible

We tend to believe that if we confess our sins, then others will know all about the sin and will think less of us. With the exception of hidden scandalous sins (like adultery or embezzlement, say), this is usually not the case. Usually, the people we are refusing to confess sin to are the people who know all about them already.

Confession would not bring them knowledge of your sin. It would bring them knowledge of your sorrow and repentance. Are you an angry person? Petty? Inconsistent? Vain? Dictatorial? Greedy? Lustful? What on earth makes you think that other people can’t see this? If you snap at your employees, or children, or spouse, and tell God how sorry you are about it in the middle of the night, how is it that you don’t see that it is your repentance that is invisible? The sin is right out there. Repentance humbles us, but not by making the sin visible. Repentance humbles us by making the humility visible.

What God Does

Scripture teaches us that God lifts up the humble, and He opposes the proud (Jas. 4:6). Those who refuse to confess their sins are proud, and this means that God is opposing them. He trips them up. He puts obstacles in the way. He makes things go wrong. He takes away their joy. Those who confess their sins are humble, and God exalts the humble. He lifts them up. He restores them. He blesses their endeavors. And measure these things by the video, not by the snapshot.

We think (in the carnality of our hearts) that confession takes us down a peg or two. We think that our sin put us in a hole, and confession would just dig the hole deeper. But this reveals our unbelief. God says the opposite.

What has happened to all your joy? Do you remember what it was like when you were first converted? Why would God want week-old Christians to experience that, but deny it to the older Christians? The answer is that He wouldn’t.

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Psalm 70: On Telling God to Hurry Up

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

There are two fundamental approaches to God, as far apart as Heaven and Hell. One sees the Lord God Almighty, high and lifted up. The other is the domestic animal approach to God, where the ostensible worshipper keeps a god on hand, the way you might keep a cow, for the milk. We know the former is the way to go. But then we don’t know what to do when the Lord, high and lifted up, tells us to ask for anything. We act like Ahaz, and in the name of a high view of God, refuse to obey Him (Is. 7:12).

The Text

“Make haste, O God, to deliver me; Make haste to help me, O LORD. . .” (Ps. 70:1-5).

Summary of the Text

This psalm is a shorter version of Psalm 40, with some changes—YHWH for Elohim, for example. The psalmist is in trouble, as he frequently is, and he cries out to God. He beseeches God to get a move on (v. 1). Not only does he want God to come quickly, he knows what he wants God to do when He arrives. He wants Him to shame and confound the adversaries of his soul (v. 2). Those who desire his hurt he wants to be turned all around and put to confusion (v. 2). Those who taunt the godly, saying aha, aha, need to be turned around as recompense (v. 3). By way of contrast, those who seek God should be blessed—let them rejoice and be glad in the Lord (v. 4). Let those who love the salvation of the Lord be continuous in magnifying the God of Heaven (v. 4). The psalmist is poor and needy, and this is the argument he uses to plead for God’s need to make haste (v. 5), God is his help and deliverer, and so he urges God again—do not tarry (v. 5).

Hurry Up, O Lord

The psalmist urges divine haste four times in this psalm. He begins with it, repeating himself, and he repeats this twice at the end as well. But this is not the command of a superior, commanding a servant to get the lead out. He knows his condition—he is poor and needy— and that is the basis for the urgent plea. Praying this way magnifies the Lord. When He delivers us, we boast in His mighty works.

It is not a high view of God to magnify a pristine definition of a God of the philosophers. The triune God of Scriptures sent His Son down to earth in order that He might have His diapers changed. You think this irreverent? If that is irreverent, who is less reverent of His majesty than God? Who redefined reverence forever when that same boy grew up to be a man, a teacher of upside down things, who offended the religious elite (the reverent), had His skin shredded in a brutal flogging, and who was then nailed to a cross of wood? Reflect again. What sort of religion is this?

It does not reflect a high view of God to refuse to do what He says, or to refuse to think about Him in the categories He gives us. To throw yourself upon His mercies in urgent desperation does not dishonor Him. When we are concerned to magnify the Lord in accordance with His Word, that is what we will do.

To Plead in Faith

Be that as it may, how can we know if we are out of line? Can this teaching not be abused? Of course it can! But why should that even slow us down?

What kind of prayer honors God, and what kind of prayer dishonors Him? The answer of the Bible is constant from beginning to end—without faith it is impossible to please Him. Urgent faith pleases Him. Urgent unbelief just sins faster. Urgent unbelief that wants to be something else pleases Him (Mark 9:24).

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark11:24).

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith arises in response to what God has said. Are you doing what He invites you to do? Are you running ahead with the health-and-wealthers, or lagging behind with the Reformed? Do all your prayers meet the building code requirements for emergency egress? “O God, if it be thy will, which we all know it isn’t”? We often want deliverance from the burden of asking God for things more than we want deliverance from our troubles.

Note the context of the promise. On one side of it we have prayers of imprecation—the fig tree of Israel was cursed. And if you say to this mountain, be cast into the sea, it will be. What mountain? The one they were standing on at the time, this mountain. On the other side of the promise, there is the requirement to forgive all of the slights and sins committed against you. So there it is—pray for God’s judgments first, forgive all your enemies second, and then shoot the moon.

Aha, Aha

The petty and vindictive spirit that the psalmist complains about reaches its zenith in the account of the crucifixion.

“And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe” (Mk 15:29-32).

When Christ was condemned by the Sanhedrin, the motion was made, seconded, and entered in the minutes. The rules were scrupulously followed, down to what account the blood money went into when Judas returned it. But the whole thing was a sham, a farce. When the nails went in, the malice could not be contained, and out it came like hot lava.

The veneer of hypocrisy is not thick enough to cover everything it needs to cover. Dogs will bark, roosters will crow, and haters will hate. In our day, the haters of righteousness have tried preemptively to seize the high ground, so that they could be the peace and love faction —but the realities remain what they are. They wanted to define what hatred was (differing with them), but it has not come close to working. It is striking how the slightest provocation is sufficient to bring out the vitriol. So for us, believing the propaganda the enemy produces would be a bad move. In Proverbs, Wisdom declares that all who hate her love death (Prov. 8: 36). This is a reality that cannot be undone; God has fixed it in stone. However much they strive to redefine righteousness, the secularists are just polishing turds.

So when we come to the crux of the matter, which is of course the cross, there are only two ways to go. There are only two options. You either trust in Him for the salvation of your everlasting soul . . . Or you mock Him. Which is it? Which will it be?

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Psalm 69: What Makes the Humble Glad

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

The wisdom of Scripture does not just offend the carnal heart here or there. Rather, God’s ways of operating are offensive to the unconverted heart across the board.

The Text

“Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God . . .” (Psalm 69:1-36).

Summary of the Text

As this is a longer psalm, we are going to summarize it from an altitude that is just a bit higher. The first section lays out the complaint of the psalmist to God (vv. 1-4). His enemies are numerous (v. 4). The reason he gives for this trouble he is in is the zeal that he carries for the house of God (vv. 5-12). All of this is for God’s sake (v. 7). In the third section, the psalmist is pleading for help (vv. 13-21). Reproach is what has broken his heart (v. 20). In the next section, he calls for justice to be meted out against his enemies (vv. 22-28). The wrath of God is real, in both testaments (vv. 24-25). In the last section, he returns to his petitions, and anticipates a positive response (v. 33). The Lord prefers thanksgiving to ritual (vv. 30-31).

Anchor Points

This is a psalm that is frequently quoted in the New Testament, and from those citations we see it is clearly messianic. At the same time, it is a prophetic life, a type with an antitype, which means that not every detail is fulfilled in the life of the Messiah (e.g. v. 5). Jesus quotes v. 4 and explicitly applies the fulfillment to himself (Jn. 15:25), saying “that the word might be fulfilled.” The same phrase is found in Ps. 35:19. If God knows the number of hairs on your head, and your enemies are the same as the hairs on your head, then God knows the number of your enemies.

The first part of v. 9 is quoted as something the disciples recalled after Jesus cleansed the Temple (Jn. 2:17). And the second half of v. 9 is quoted by Paul in Rom. 15:3, applying it in another way to Christ.

The last two quotations from this psalm are from the imprecatory section. Paul is talking about Israel closed up in unbelief, and he applies vv. 22-23 to the judicial blindness and unbelief that has closed up the Jewish nation for a time (Rom. 11:9-10). We should note the allusion to vinegar as a drink in v. 21. And a few verses later, we find v. 25 cited in Acts 1:20 when Peter was explaining the fate of Judas. This would seem to entail Judas in the same kind of judicial blindness that had overtaken the Jewish nation as a whole.

A Word About Judas

We do not have this laid out explicitly, and so we shouldn’t call this anything more than educated speculation. But Judas had seen the power of Jesus. He had cast out demons, and had healed the sick himself. He saw Jesus walk on the water, and feed the multitudes. He knew the Lord’s power, front row seats. Combine this with the fact that he, as soon as he saw that Jesus was going to die, hanged himself. What was his motivation? I believe that the only narrative that makes sense of this is that Judas was trying to force Christ’s hand, trying to make Him devastate the Romans. And he wasn’t above helping himself as he tried to manipulate the Messiah into delivering them all from Rome.

When Zeal Consumes

When zeal consumes a servant of God, this is what creates a desire among the ungodly to consume that servant as well. Zeal consumes the way fire consumes the burning bush, engulfing it without devouring it. The ungodly want to devour, and leave nothing behind.

Late Night Comedians

David knows that God knows his foolishness (v. 5). His sins are fully in view, and God knows them all. Nevertheless, it is not because of his sins that he is mocked, even though those sins give occasion. It is for God’s sake that he bears reproach (v. 7). The drunkards sing about him, and the late night comedians have a field day, and what they are pointing at and laughing at is the unrighteousness. But the reason they are doing so is because of the surrounding context of righteousness. This is why the godly who wait upon God are ashamed because of some sin or other (v. 6). But there is a larger picture.

Add Iniquity to Iniquity

There is a glib assumption made by many Christians that treats David’s deadly imprecations as somehow unworthy of him, or of the Bible, or of God, or something. It is also assumed, with very little reflection, that the arrival of the New Testament does away with “all that.” The problem lies with passages like this one. The imprecations are not erased here; they are fulfilled.

Not only so, but they are fulfilled in terrible ways. Damnation is a horrible reality, and the hellfire and damnation preacher of the Bible is the Lord Jesus. People like to pretend that the God of the Old Testament was a God of (all together now) wrath, and the God of the New Testament is a God of (all together now) love. But where do we get this idea?

What Makes the Humble Glad

David resolves to give thanks to God with a song. That song will be one of thanksgiving (v. 30). He then makes a comparison which lies at the heart of all evangelical religion. He sets a thankful heart over against external ritual conformity to the sacrificial laws of God (v. 31). He says bluntly that the Lord will be pleased with a thankful song more than with an ox, or a bullock with horns and hooves. This reality is seen and acknowledged by the humble, and it will make them glad.

Why make this contrast at all? Why does the Bible do it repeatedly? The reason is that there is a kind of person who latches onto the external requirements that God gives us, and manipulates those externals in a way that is conducive to their pride. When something comes along to topple pride, that is what makes humility rejoice.

 

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Psalm 68: Let God Arise

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

This psalm is possibly a psalm to accompany the transport of the ark of the covenant to its new home on Mt. Zion. In the song it reenacts the great victories of God, and appropriately became the battle hymn of the Covenanters and the Huguenots. The reach of this psalm is high, although some of the passages are obscure.

The Text

“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: Let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: As wax melteth before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God . . .” (Psalm 68:1-35).

Summary of the Text

Let God scatter His enemies (v. 1). Let their destruction be total (v. 2). In contrast, let the righteous be glad (v. 3). Extol the Lord (v. 4). God defends the defenseless (v. 5), and He blesses the lonely (v. 6). When God went before His people, the earth was moved (vv. 7-8). God blesses the earth with rain (v. 9). God is good to the poor (v. 10). God gives the word, and God creates a company great enough to publish that word (v. 11). Armies flee from Him (v. 12), and the spoil is rich (v. 13). God’s victory over the kings is thorough (vv. 14-15). God has chosen His dwelling place (v. 16). A myriad of angelic chariots is around Him (v. 17). A prophecy of the Ascension is next (v. 18). Bless the Lord, who loads us up with benefits (v. 19). God is the saving God (v. 20). God strikes the scalp of His adversaries (v. 21), and will bring His people to victory (vv. 22-23). They have seen the Lord’s processional (v. 24), and the musicians with Him (v. 25). The Lord should be blessed in all the congregations (v. 26). The invitation ranges from Benjamin to Judah to Zebulun to Naphtale (v. 27). God strengthens what He has given (v. 28). Kings will bring tribute to the Temple (v. 29). Those who love war will be repulsed (v. 30). Kings will come from all over (v. 31). All the kingdoms are invited to praise the one who rides the heaven of heavens (vv. 32-33). Ascribe excellency to Him (v. 34), and the God of Israel is the one who gives strength and power (v. 35).

No Trace of Smoke Left

When God moves, what He intends is what happens. When God refrains from moving, the distress this causes is what He intends. We, down in the midst of it, plead with Him to stir Himself. All it would take to put everything right is just one nod from Him. If He were to rise up for battle, what then? Smoke blows away, and no trace is left (v. 2). Like wax before the fire, the enemies of God prove that they are a puff of air in His presence. We are therefore pleading with God to accomplish His purposes in the world—and this is not seeking for an accommodation.

Father of the Fatherless

Spurgeon says that God is the President of Orphanages. In verse 5, we see what kind of warrior the Lord is. He fights, and He fights to victory, but He fights in order to accomplish the work of peace. He is a judge. His name is Jah Elohim, and He rises to defend. He is father to the fatherless (v. 5), and a

judge of widows (v. 5). What does the victorious warrior do? He puts the lonely into families (v. 6). He is a liberator. He fights, He scatters, He scatters His enemies like smoke (v. 2). But those who are scattered are described another way—they are the ones who delight in war (v. 30).

The Lord Gave the Word

When the Lord gave the word (v. 11), this is likely the word that tells His armies to get ready for battle. That word spread through the camp like fire—there is an eagerness for battle, and it is the right kind of eagerness. This is not bloodlust, but rather righteousness-lust. And that desire to see God’s great vindication is shared by the women. They are the ones who rejoice in the spoil when the battle is over (v. 12).

Ascended on High

This verse of the psalm is quoted by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:8, and he applies it to the Ascension of the Lord Jesus into Heaven. We can tell from this that the entire psalm is messianic and typological. God destroyed the enemies of Israel on the field of battle. He destroyed them in worship as the ark of the covenant was carried from the house of Obed-edom to the Tabernacle of David on Mt. Zion. And He destroyed them finally and completely when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven in order to receive universal dominion, and power, and glory, and majesty.

Loaded with Benefits

One time when we were dealing with a particular challenge, my son said this to my wife: “Baskets of fruit are heavy.” God does not parcel out His benefits with a tea-spoon. Blessed be the Lord God, who daily loads us with benefits (v. 19). The fact that we miss so much of this is more a testimony to our ingratitude than it is a tribute to His stinginess. We stagger around underneath the things that God has given us, and we do this every day.

The Singers Went Before

Music glorifies the Word, and not the other way around. The psalmist had seen the “processional” of the Lord God in the sanctuary. The singers went first, and the instrumentalists followed afterward. The Word has priority, and this priority is seen two ways. One is that the vocalists go first; the music (both vocal music and instrumental music) are servants. But secondly, the lyrics, the words, are royalty and they require servants. They require such help; they need it, and are worthy of it.

So the Word by itself needs to be glorified—it calls out for something else. The singers need reinforcements—but the instruments are to carry the lyrics, not bury them. But at the same time— important note—if your singing sometimes reaches the decibel level of a plaintive cough of a sheep on a distant hillside, don’t blame the instruments for burying you. That’s your fault.

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